91-513: Louis Botha ( locally / ˈ b ʊər t ə / BOOR -tə , Afrikaans pronunciation: [ˈlu.i ˈbuəta] ; 27 September 1862 – 27 August 1919) was a South African politician who was the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa , the forerunner of the modern South African state. A Boer war veteran during the Second Boer War , Botha eventually fought to have South Africa become
182-622: A peace conference at Bloemfontein to settle each side's grievances. With an intimate knowledge of the British, Smuts took control of the Transvaal delegation. Sir Alfred Milner , head of the British delegation, took exception to his dominance, and conflict between the two led to the collapse of the conference, consigning South Africa to war. Smuts was the first South African to be internationally regarded as an important psychologist. During Smuts's undergraduate years at Cambridge University, he produced
273-643: A 'B', are household words. They are General Booth , General Botha and General Baden-Powell ..." After Botha's death in 1919, Annie Botha settled on a farm in Rusthof and spent winters in Sezela, where she died in 1937. Sculptor Raffaello Romanelli won the competition to create the equestrian statue of Botha that stands in front of the South African Parliament building but died before completing it. His son Romano Romanelli , and his grandson's family Arend Botha
364-462: A British Dominion . Louis Botha was born in Greytown , Natal one of seven sons and eight daughters born to Louis Botha Senior ( Somerset East , Eastern Cape , 26 March 1827 – Harrismith , Orange Free State , 5 July 1883) and Salomina Adriana van Rooyen (Somerset East, 31 March 1829 – Harrismith, 9 January 1886). Louis Botha briefly attended the school at Hermannsburg before his family relocated to
455-417: A career in psychology. He considered psychology as "too impersonal to study great personalities", and believed that the holistic tendency of the personality would be studied best through personology. Smuts, however, never inquired further into the idea of personology due to him wanting to continue laying the foundation of the concept of holism. He never returned to either of the topics. Holism Although
546-614: A coalition with Hertzog; in 1934 their parties subsequently merged to form the United Party . Smuts returned as prime minister in 1939, leading South Africa into the Second World War at the head of a pro-interventionist faction. He was appointed field marshal in 1941 and in 1945 signed the UN Charter , the only signer of the Treaty of Versailles to do so. His second term in office ended with
637-518: A commander "of the dashing type" for the Middle East in succession to Murray , but Smuts refused the command (late May) unless promised resources for a decisive victory, and he agreed with Robertson that Western Front commitments did not justify a serious attempt to capture Jerusalem . Allenby was appointed instead. Like other members of the War Cabinet, Smuts's commitment to Western Front efforts
728-506: A diverse number of subjects in addition to law. He wrote a book, Walt Whitman : A Study in the Evolution of Personality . It was not published until 1973, after his death, but it can be seen that Smuts in this book had already conceptualized his thinking for his later wide-ranging philosophy of holism . Smuts graduated in 1894 with a double first . Over the previous two years, he had received numerous academic prizes and accolades, including
819-487: A friend from Victoria College. In reply, Professor Marais enclosed a cheque for a substantial sum, by way of loan, encouraging Smuts to let him know if he ever found himself in need again. Thanks to Marais, Smuts's financial standing was secure. He gradually began to enter more into the social aspects of the university, although he retained a single-minded dedication to his studies. During this time in Cambridge, Smuts studied
910-599: A great interest in Smuts's book. Adler requested permission from Smuts to have the book translated to German and published in Germany. Although Smuts's concept of holism is grounded in the natural sciences, he claimed that it has a relevance in philosophy, ethics, sociology, and psychology. In Holism and Evolution , he argued that the concept of holism is "grounded in evolution and is also an ideal that guides human development and one's level of personality actualization." Smuts stated in
1001-570: A group of Boers that had supported Dinuzulu against Zibhebhu in 1884. Botha later became a member of the parliament of Transvaal in 1897, representing the district of Vryheid . In 1899, Louis Botha fought in the Second Boer War , initially joining the Krugersdorp Commando , continuing to fight under Lucas Meyer in Northern Natal, and later as a general commanding and leading Boer forces impressively at Colenso and Spion Kop . On
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#17328512524441092-508: A manuscript in 1895 in which he analysed the personality of the famous American poet Walt Whitman . Due to his manuscript being considered unviable, it was only published 23 years after his death in 1973. Smuts went on to produce his next manuscript, which he completed in 1910, entitled An Inquiry into the Whole . His manuscript was then revised in 1924 and published in 1926 with the title Holism and Evolution . Smuts had no interest in pursuing
1183-535: A prominent part in politics, advocating always measures which he considered as tending to the maintenance of peace and good order and the re-establishment of prosperity in the Transvaal. His war record made him prominent in the politics of Transvaal and he was a major player in the postwar reconstruction of that country, founding with Jan Smuts the Het Volk Party in the Transvaal Colony in 1904, which served as
1274-574: A rebellion of 500 to 600 people, of which 200 were said to be armed (although only about 40 weapons were captured after the Bondelswarts were crushed). Gysbert Hofmeyr , the Mandatory Administrator, organised 400 armed men, and sent in aircraft to bomb the Bondelswarts. Casualties included 100 Bondelswart deaths, including a few women and children. A further 468 men were either wounded or taken prisoner. South Africa's international reputation
1365-528: A return to a Westminster-style split executive with a Prime Minister as head of government, which is part of its overarching goal of avoiding a single-party South African state. South African Party United Party National Party Jan Smuts Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts , OM , CH , DTD , ED , PC , KC , FRS (baptismal name Jan Christiaan Smuts , 24 May 1870 – 11 September 1950)
1456-658: A scholarship. He was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1894 but returned home the following year. In the leadup to the Second Boer War , Smuts practised law in Pretoria , the capital of the South African Republic . He led the republic's delegation to the Bloemfontein Conference and served as an officer in a commando unit following the outbreak of war in 1899. In 1902, he played a key role in negotiating
1547-601: A springboard to campaign for responsible self-government for the colony. After the grant of self-government to the Transvaal on 6 December 1906 and the success of his Het Volk Party at the first elections in February 1907, Botha was called upon by Lord Selborne to form a government as Prime Minister on 4 March 1907, and in the spring of the same year he took part in the conference of colonial premiers held in London. During his visit to England on this occasion General Botha declared
1638-687: Is why we stand with them today side by side in the cause which has brought us all together." At the end of the War he briefly led a British Military Mission to Poland during the Polish–Soviet War . He argued that the terms of the Versailles Treaty were too harsh on the Central Powers , but signed the treaty. Botha was unwell for most of 1919. He was plagued by fatigue and ill health that arose from his robust waistline. Botha married Annie Emmett at
1729-622: The American Expeditionary Forces lacked the proper leadership and experience to be effective quickly. He supported the Anglo-French amalgamation policy towards the Americans. In particular, he had a low opinion of General John J. Pershing 's leadership skills, so much so that he proposed to Lloyd George that Pershing be relieved of command and US forces be placed "under someone more confident, like [himself]". This did not endear him to
1820-641: The Boer republics declared war and launched an offensive into the British-held Natal and Cape Colony areas, beginning the Second Boer War of 1899–1902. In the early stages of the conflict, Smuts served as Paul Kruger 's eyes and ears in Pretoria, handling propaganda, logistics, communication with generals and diplomats, and anything else that was required. In the second phase of the war, from mid-1900, Smuts served under Koos de la Rey , who commanded 500 commandos in
1911-464: The Dutch Reformed Church , of which he had once been a dedicated member, which demanded Calvinist teachings in schools. As Colonial Secretary, he opposed a movement for equal rights for South Asian workers, led by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi . During the years of Transvaal self-government, nobody could avoid the predominant political debate of the day: South African unification. Ever since
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#17328512524442002-624: The Jameson Raid , in the summer of 1895–96, Smuts was outraged. Feeling betrayed by his employer, friend and political ally, he resigned from De Beers, and left political life. Instead he became state attorney in the capital of the South African Republic , Pretoria . After the Jameson Raid, relations between the British and the Afrikaners had deteriorated steadily. By 1898, war seemed imminent. Orange Free State President Martinus Steyn called for
2093-539: The Orange Free State . The name Louis runs throughout the family, with every generation since General Louis Botha having the eldest son named Louis. Botha had three brothers who also served as generals in the Second Boer War: an older brother Philip Rudolf (1851–1901), and two younger brothers, Chris (1864–1902), a police officer, and Theunis Jacobus Botha (1867–1930). Louis Botha led " Dinuzulu's Volunteers ",
2184-471: The South African Party , a new pan-South African Afrikaner party. The harmony and co-operation soon ended. Smuts was criticised for his overarching powers, and the cabinet was reshuffled. Smuts lost Interior and Mines, but gained control of Finance. That was still too much for Smuts's opponents, who decried his possession of both Defence and Finance, two departments that were usually at loggerheads. At
2275-738: The South African Party , with Botha becoming the union's first prime minister and Smuts holding multiple cabinet portfolios. As defence minister he was responsible for the Union Defence Force during the First World War. Smuts personally led troops in the East African campaign in 1916 and the following year joined the Imperial War Cabinet in London. He played a leading role at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 , advocating for
2366-574: The South-West Africa Campaign for details). In 1916 General Smuts was put in charge of the conquest of German East Africa . Col (later BGen) J. H. V. Crowe commanded the artillery in East Africa under General Smuts and published an account of the campaign, General Smuts' Campaign in East Africa in 1918. Smuts was promoted to temporary lieutenant general on 18 February 1916, and to honorary lieutenant general for distinguished service in
2457-549: The Treaty of Vereeniging , which ended the war and resulted in the annexation of the South African Republic and Orange Free State into the British Empire. He subsequently helped negotiate self-government for the Transvaal Colony , becoming a cabinet minister under Louis Botha . Smuts played a leading role in the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, helping shape its constitution. He and Botha established
2548-434: The concentration camps of the enemy". He felt it would have been a crime to continue the war without the assurance of help from elsewhere and declared, "Comrades, we decided to stand to the bitter end. Let us now, like men, admit that that end has come for us, come in a more bitter shape than we ever thought." His opinions were representative of the conference, which then voted by 54 to 6 in favour of peace. Representatives of
2639-710: The 1913 South African Party conference, the Old Boers (Hertzog, Steyn, De Wet), called for Botha and Smuts to step down. The two narrowly survived a confidence vote, and the troublesome triumvirate stormed out, leaving the party for good. With the schism in internal party politics came a new threat to the mines that brought South Africa its wealth. A small-scale miners' dispute flared into a full-blown strike, and rioting broke out in Johannesburg after Smuts intervened heavy-handedly. After police shot dead twenty-one strikers, Smuts and Botha headed unaccompanied to Johannesburg to resolve
2730-496: The Americans once it was leaked. Smuts and Botha were key negotiators at the Paris Peace Conference . Both were in favour of reconciliation with Germany and limited reparations. Smuts was a key architect of the League of Nations through his correspondences with Woodrow Wilson, his work with the Imperial War Cabinet during the First World War and his book League of Nations: A Practical Suggestion . According to Jacob Kripp, Smuts saw
2821-599: The Australian Prime Minister, Billy Hughes , feared the rising power of the Japanese Empire in the post First World War world. When the former German East Africa was divided into two mandated territories ( Ruanda-Urundi and Tanganyika ), Smutsland was one of the proposed names for what became Tanganyika. Smuts, who had called for South African territorial expansion all the way to the River Zambesi since
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2912-610: The British victory in the war, it was an inevitability, but it remained up to the South Africans to decide what sort of country would be formed, and how it would be formed. Smuts favoured a unitary state , with power centralised in Pretoria, with English as the only official language , and with a more inclusive electorate. To impress upon his compatriots his vision, he called a constitutional convention in Durban , in October 1908. There, Smuts
3003-619: The Dutch Reformed Church in Vryheid on 13 December 1886. Annie Botha later converted from Anglicanism to Dutch Reformed Protestantism. Shortly after their wedding, they settled on the Waterval Farm in Vryheid. They had five children together, three sons and two daughters. General Louis Botha died of heart failure at his home following an attack of Spanish influenza on 27 August 1919 in
3094-684: The Ebden scholarship for overseas study. He decided to attend the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom to read law at Christ's College . Smuts found it difficult to settle at Cambridge. He felt homesick and isolated by his age and different upbringing from the English undergraduates. Worries over money also contributed to his unhappiness, as his scholarship was insufficient to cover his university expenses. He confided these worries to Professor J. I. Marais,
3185-608: The Governments met Lord Kitchener and at five minutes past eleven on 31 May 1902, the Acting State President of the South African Republic , Schalk Willem Burger signed the Treaty of Vereeniging , followed by the members of his government, Acting State President of the Orange Free State , Christiaan De Wet , and the members of his government. Despite Smuts's exploits as a general and a negotiator, nothing could mask
3276-522: The Hungarian border. Hungary's rejection led to the conference's approval of a Czechoslovak - Romanian invasion and harsher terms in the Treaty of Trianon . The Treaty of Versailles gave South Africa a Class C mandate over German South-West Africa (which later became Namibia ), which was occupied from 1919 until withdrawal in 1990. At the same time, Australia was given a similar mandate over German New Guinea , which it held until 1975. Both Smuts and
3367-631: The Hungarians that the agreement would not influence Hungary's final borders. He also teased the lifting of the economic blockade of the country and inviting the Hungarian soviet leaders to the Paris Peace Conference. Kun rejected the terms, and demanded the return to the Belgrade armistice line later that day, upon which Smuts ended negotiations and left. On 8 April he negotiated with Masaryk in Prague over
3458-477: The League as necessary in unifying white internationalists and pacifying a race war through indirect rule by Europeans over non-whites and segregation. Kripp states that the League of Nations mandates system reflected a compromise between Smuts's desire to annex non-white territories and Woodrow Wilson's principles of trusteeship. He was sent to Budapest to negotiate with Béla Kun 's Hungarian Soviet Republic . This
3549-563: The Orange leaders began to see a final compromise as necessary to secure the concessions that Smuts had already made. They agreed to Smuts's draft South African constitution, which was duly ratified by the South African colonies. Smuts and Botha took the constitution to London, where it was passed by Parliament and given Royal Assent by King Edward VII in December 1909. The Union of South Africa
3640-513: The Rand, including murderous attacks on non-Europeans, conspicuously on African miners in their compounds, and this culminated in a general assault on the police. Smuts declared martial law and suppressed the insurrection in three days – at a cost of 291 police and army deaths, and 396 civilians killed. A Martial Law Commission was established which found that Smuts used larger forces than were strictly required, but had saved lives by doing so. The second
3731-485: The Transvaal within British South Africa. Using the thorny political issue of South Asian labourers (' coolies '), the South Africans convinced Prime Minister Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and, with him, the cabinet and Parliament . Through 1906, Smuts worked on the new constitution for the Transvaal, and, in December 1906, elections were held for the Transvaal parliament. Despite being shy and reserved, unlike
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3822-482: The Western Transvaal. Consequently, Smuts was left with a small force of 300 men, while another 100 men followed him. By January 1902 the British scorched-earth policy left little grazing land. One hundred of the cavalry that had joined Smuts were therefore too weak to continue and so Smuts had to leave these men with General Kritzinger . Intelligence indicated that at this time Smuts had about 3,000 men. To end
3913-539: The Western Transvaal. Smuts excelled at hit-and-run warfare , and the unit evaded and harassed a British army forty times its size. President Paul Kruger and the deputation in Europe thought that there was good hope for their cause in the Cape Colony . They decided to send General de la Rey there to assume supreme command, but then decided to act more cautiously when they realised that General de la Rey could hardly be spared in
4004-406: The book that "personality is the highest form of holism" (p. 292). Recognition from Adler Adler later wrote a letter, dated 31 January 1931, where he stated that he recommended Smuts's book to his students and followers. He referred to it as "the best preparation for the science of Individual Psychology". After Smuts gave permission for the translation and publication of his book in Germany, it
4095-546: The concept of holism has been discussed by many, the term holism in academic terminology was first introduced and publicly shared in print by Smuts in the early twentieth century. Smuts was acknowledged for his contribution by getting the honour to write the first entry about the concept for the Encyclopaedia Britannica 1929 edition. The Austrian medical doctor, founder of the school of Individual Psychology, and psychotherapist, Alfred Adler (1870–1937), also showed
4186-523: The conflict, Smuts sought to take a major target, the copper-mining town of Okiep in the present-day Northern Cape Province (April–May 1902). With a full assault impossible, Smuts packed a train full of explosives, and tried to push it downhill, into the town, in order to bring the enemy garrison to its knees. Although this failed, Smuts had proved his point: that he would stop at nothing to defeat his enemies. Norman Kemp Smith wrote that General Smuts read from Immanuel Kant 's Critique of Pure Reason on
4277-625: The coveted George Long prize in Roman Law and Jurisprudence. One of his tutors, Professor Maitland , a leading figure among English legal historians, described Smuts as the most brilliant student he had ever met. Lord Todd , the Master of Christ's College, said in 1970 that "in 500 years of the College's history, of all its members, past and present, three had been truly outstanding: John Milton , Charles Darwin and Jan Smuts." In December 1894, Smuts passed
4368-509: The creation of the League of Nations and securing South African control over the former German South-West Africa . In 1919, Smuts replaced Botha as prime minister, holding the office until the South African Party's defeat at the 1924 general election by J. B. M. Hertzog 's National Party . He spent several years in academia, during which he coined the term " holism ", before eventually re-entering politics as deputy prime minister in
4459-678: The death of P. J. Joubert , he was made commander-in-chief of the Transvaal Boers , where he demonstrated his abilities again at Belfast-Dalmanutha . After one of the battles at the Tugela River , Botha granted a twenty-four-hour armistice to General Buller to enable him to bury his dead. Winston Churchill revealed that General Botha was the man who captured him at the Battle of Chieveley. Coetzer 1996 , p. 30 also claims that Botha captured Churchill at train ambush 15 November 1899. Churchill
4550-600: The death of the former American President Woodrow Wilson , Smuts was quoted as saying that: "Not Wilson, but humanity failed at Paris." While in Britain for an Imperial Conference in June 1921 , Smuts went to Ireland and met Éamon de Valera to help broker an armistice and peace deal between the warring British and Irish nationalists. Smuts attempted to sell the concept of Ireland receiving Dominion status similar to that of Australia and South Africa. During his first premiership Smuts
4641-431: The early hours of the morning. He was 56. His wife Annie was at home and was joined by Engelenburg who had acted as a private secretary to Botha. Botha was laid to rest in the Heroes' Acre of the Church Street Cemetery in Pretoria. Of Botha, Winston Churchill wrote in Great Contemporaries "The three most famous generals I have known in my life won no great battles over a foreign foe. Yet their names, which all begin with
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#17328512524444732-415: The end of his career, Smuts supported the Fagan Commission 's recommendations to relax restrictions on black South Africans living and working in urban areas. Smuts was born on 24 May 1870, at the family farm, Bovenplaats , near Malmesbury , in the Cape Colony . His parents, Jacobus Smuts and his wife Catharina, were prosperous, traditional Afrikaner farmers, long established and highly respected. As
4823-441: The evening before the raid. Smith contended that this showed how Kant's critique can be a solace and a refuge, as well as a means to sharpen the wit. Combined with the British failure to pacify the Transvaal, Smuts's success left the United Kingdom with no choice but to offer a ceasefire and a peace conference, to be held at Vereeniging . Before the conference, Smuts met Lord Kitchener at Kroonstad station, where they discussed
4914-432: The examinations for the Inns of Court , entering the Middle Temple . His old Cambridge college, Christ's College, offered him a fellowship in Law. Smuts turned his back on a potentially distinguished legal future. By June 1895, he had returned to the Cape Colony, determined to make his future there. Smuts began to practise law in Cape Town , but his abrasive nature made him few friends. Finding little financial success in
5005-421: The fact that the Boers had been defeated. Lord Milner had full control of all South African affairs, and established an Anglophone elite, known as Milner's Kindergarten . As an Afrikaner, Smuts was excluded. Defeated but not deterred, in January 1905, he decided to join with the other former Transvaal generals to form a political party, Het Volk ('The People'), to fight for the Afrikaner cause. Louis Botha
5096-446: The field on 1 January 1917. Smuts's chief intelligence officer, Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen , wrote very critically of his conduct of the campaign. He believed Horace Smith-Dorrien (who had saved the British Army during the retreat from Mons and was the original choice as commander in 1916) would have quickly defeated the Germans. In particular, Meinertzhagen thought that frontal attacks would have been decisive, and less costly than
5187-457: The first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa. In 1911, together with another Boer war hero, Jan Smuts , he formed the South African Party , or SAP. Widely viewed as too conciliatory with Britain, Botha faced revolts from within his own party and opposition from James Barry Munnik Hertzog 's National Party . He was a South African Freemason . Botha, like Hertzog , advocated for the preservation of black traditions, which ultimately lead to
5278-461: The flanking movements preferred by Smuts, which took longer, so that thousands of Imperial troops died of disease in the field. He wrote: "Smuts has cost Britain many hundreds of lives and many millions of pounds by his caution... Smuts was not an astute soldier; a brilliant statesman and politician but no soldier." Meinertzhagen wrote these comments in October/November 1916, in the weeks after being relieved by Smuts due to symptoms of depression, and he
5369-446: The government side at Bulhoek amounted to one trooper wounded and one horse killed. Once again, there were charges of the unnecessary use of overwhelming force. However, no commission of enquiry was appointed. The third was the Bondelswarts Rebellion , in which Smuts supported the actions of the South African Administration in attacking the Bondelswarts in South West Africa . The mandatory administration moved to crush what they called
5460-406: The governor-general/state president was bound by convention to act on the prime minister's advice. Thus, the prime minister was the country's leading political figure and de facto chief executive, with powers similar to those of his British counterpart . The first prime minister was Louis Botha , a former Boer general and war hero during the Second Boer War . The position of Prime Minister
5551-408: The late 19th century, was ultimately disappointed with the League awarding South-West Africa only a mandate status, as he had looked forward to formally incorporating the territory to South Africa. Smuts returned to South African politics after the conference. When Botha died in 1919, Smuts was elected prime minister, serving until a shocking defeat in 1924 at the hands of the National Party . After
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#17328512524445642-460: The law, he began to devote more and more of his time to politics and journalism, writing for the Cape Times . Smuts was intrigued by the prospect of a united South Africa, and joined the Afrikaner Bond . By good fortune, Smuts's father knew the leader of the group, Jan Hofmeyr . Hofmeyr in turn recommended Jan to Cecil Rhodes , who owned the De Beers mining company. In 1895, Smuts became an advocate and supporter of Rhodes. When Rhodes launched
5733-475: The proposed terms of surrender. Smuts then took a leading role in the negotiations between the representatives from all of the commandos from the Orange Free State and the South African Republic (15–31 May 1902). Although he admitted that, from a purely military perspective, the war could continue, he stressed the importance of not sacrificing the Afrikaner people for that independence. He was very conscious that "more than 20,000 women and children have already died in
5824-439: The second son of the family, rural custom dictated that Jan would remain working on the farm. In this system, typically only the first son was supported for a full, formal education. In 1882, when Jan was twelve, his elder brother died, and Jan was sent to school in his place. Jan attended the school in nearby Riebeek West . He made excellent progress despite his late start, and caught up with his contemporaries within four years. He
5915-472: The segregation of the black and white races. After the First World War started, he sent troops to take German South-West Africa , a move unpopular among Boers, which provoked the Boer Revolt . At Versailles on 1 June 1919, 17 years after the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging, General Botha, now a member of the British Empire Delegation, put his hand on Lord Milner 's shoulder, and said "Seventeen years ago, my friend and I made peace at Vereeniging – it
6006-425: The showman Botha, Smuts won a comfortable victory in the Wonderboom constituency, near Pretoria. His victory was one of many, with Het Volk winning in a landslide and Botha forming the government. To reward his loyalty and efforts, Smuts was given two key cabinet positions: Colonial Secretary and Education Secretary. Smuts proved to be an effective leader, if unpopular. As Education Secretary, he had fights with
6097-400: The situation personally. Facing down threats to their own lives, they negotiated a cease-fire. But the cease-fire did not hold, and in 1914, a railway strike turned into a general strike . Threats of a revolution caused Smuts to declare martial law . He acted ruthlessly, deporting union leaders without trial and using Parliament to absolve him and the government of any blame retroactively. That
6188-410: The unit to capture Churchill was the Italian Volunteer Legion and its commander, Camillo Ricchiardi . After the fall of Pretoria in June 1900, Louis Botha led a concentrated guerrilla campaign against the British together with Koos de la Rey and Christiaan de Wet . The success of his measures was seen in the steady resistance offered by the Boers to the very close of the three-year war. Botha
6279-408: The victory of his political opponents, the reconstituted National Party at the 1948 general election , with the new government beginning the implementation of apartheid . Smuts was an internationalist who played a key role in establishing and defining the League of Nations, United Nations and Commonwealth of Nations . He supported racial segregation and opposed democratic non-racial rule . At
6370-483: The wholehearted adhesion of the Transvaal to the British Empire , and his intention to work for the welfare of the country regardless of racial differences. The following year Botha participated in the National Convention (South Africa) which opened up the way for the passage of the South Africa Act of 1909 by the British parliament which in turn allowed for the formation of the Union of South Africa . When South Africa obtained dominion status in 1910, Botha became
6461-399: Was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as prime minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 to 1924 and 1939 to 1948. Smuts was born to Afrikaner parents in the British Cape Colony . He was educated at Victoria College , Stellenbosch before reading law at Christ's College, Cambridge on
6552-403: Was a bitter peace for us, bitter hard. We lost all for which we had fought – our independence, our flag, our country. But we turned our thoughts and efforts then to saving our people; and they, the victors, helped us. It was a hard peace for us to accept, but as I know it now, when time has shown us the truth, it was not unjust – it was a generous peace that the British people made with us, and that
6643-557: Was abolished in 1984, when the State President was given executive powers after a new constitution was adopted – effectively merging the role of Prime Minister and State President. The last Prime Minister of South Africa, P. W. Botha , became the first executive State President after the constitutional reform in 1984 after Marais Viljoen 's retirement. In post-apartheid South Africa, the Inkatha Freedom Party has called for
6734-701: Was admitted to Victoria College , Stellenbosch , in 1886, at the age of sixteen. At Stellenbosch, he learned High Dutch , German , and Ancient Greek , and immersed himself in literature, the classics , and Bible studies . His deeply traditional upbringing and serious outlook led to social isolation from his peers. He made outstanding academic progress, graduating in 1891 with double first-class honours in Literature and Science. During his last years at Stellenbosch, Smuts began to cast off some of his shyness and reserve. At this time he met Isie Krige , whom he later married. On graduation from Victoria College, Smuts won
6825-463: Was born, and the Afrikaners held the key to political power, as the majority of the increasingly whites-only electorate. Although Botha was appointed prime minister of the new country, Smuts was given three key ministries: Interior, Mines, and Defence. Undeniably, Smuts was the second most powerful man in South Africa. To solidify their dominance of South African politics, the Afrikaners united to form
6916-659: Was contracted to finish his father's work. Sculptor Anton van Wouw created a statue of Botha in Durban unveiled in 1921. Sculptor Coert Steynberg was commissioned to create the equestrian statue of Botha in front of the Union Buildings in Pretoria. It was unveiled in 1946. The General Botha Regiment of the South African Army is named after Botha. Prime Minister of South Africa The prime minister of South Africa ( Afrikaans : Eerste Minister van Suid-Afrika)
7007-564: Was elected leader, and Smuts his deputy. When his term of office expired, Milner was replaced as High Commissioner by the more conciliatory Lord Selborne . Smuts saw an opportunity and pounced, urging Botha to persuade the Liberals to support Het Volk's cause. When the Conservative government under Arthur Balfour collapsed, in December 1905, the decision paid off. Smuts joined Botha in London, and sought to negotiate full self-government for
7098-584: Was in the wake of issues around the neutral zone the Entente dictated in the Vix Note . Smuts arrived on 4 April 1919, and negotiations started the next day. He offered a neutral zone more favorable to Hungary (shifted 25 km east), though making sure its western border passes west of the final border proposal worked in the Commission on Romanian and Yugoslav Affairs, that the Hungarian leaders were unaware of. Smuts reassured
7189-496: Was invalided back to England shortly thereafter. Early in 1917, Smuts left Africa and went to London, as he had been invited to join the Imperial War Cabinet and the War Policy Committee by David Lloyd George . Smuts initially recommended renewed Western Front attacks and a policy of attrition, lest with Russian commitment to the war wavering, France or Italy would be tempted to make a separate peace. Lloyd George wanted
7280-574: Was involved in a number of controversies. The first was the Rand Revolt of March 1921, where aeroplanes were used to bomb white miners who were striking in opposition to proposals to allow non-whites to do more skilled and semi-skilled work previously reserved to whites only. Smuts was accused of siding with the Rand Lords who wanted the removal of the colour bar in the hope that it would lower wage costs. The white miners perpetrated acts of violence across
7371-432: Was no merit in any further advance. He worked with Smuts to draw up plans, using three reinforcement divisions from Mesopotamia , to reach Haifa by June and Damascus by the autumn, the speed of the advance limited by the need to lay fresh rail track. This was the foundation of Allenby's successful offensive later in the year. Like most British Empire political and military leaders in the First World War, Smuts thought
7462-552: Was not aware of the man's identity until 1902, when Botha travelled to London seeking loans to assist his country's reconstruction, and the two met at a private luncheon. The incident is also mentioned in Arthur Conan Doyle 's book, The Great Boer War , published in 1902. However more recent sources claim that Field cornet Sarel Oosthuizen was in fact the Boer soldier who, at gunpoint, captured Churchill. Another version claims that
7553-458: Was prominent in efforts to achieve a peace with the British, representing the Boers at the peace negotiations in 1902, and was signatory to the Treaty of Vereeniging . In the period of reconstruction under British rule, Botha went to Europe with de Wet and de la Rey to raise funds to enable the Boers to resume their former avocations. Botha, who was still looked upon as the leader of the Boer people, took
7644-678: Was shaken by Third Ypres . In 1917, following the German Gotha Raids , and lobbying by Viscount French , Smuts wrote a review of the British Air Services, which came to be called the Smuts Report. He was helped in large part in this by General Sir David Henderson who was seconded to him. This report led to the treatment of air as a separate force, which eventually became the Royal Air Force . By mid-January 1918, Lloyd George
7735-659: Was tarnished. Ruth First, a South African anti-apartheid activist and scholar, describes the Bondelswarts shooting as "the Sharpeville of the 1920s". As a botanist, Smuts collected plants extensively over southern Africa. He went on several botanical expeditions in the 1920s and 1930s with John Hutchinson , former botanist-in-charge of the African section of the Herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens and taxonomist of note. Smuts
7826-473: Was the Bulhoek Massacre of 24 May 1921, when at Bulhoek in the eastern Cape eight hundred South African policemen and soldiers armed with maxim machine guns and two field artillery guns killed 163 and wounded 129 members of an indigenous religious sect known as "Israelites" who had been armed with knobkerries, assegais and swords and who had refused to vacate land they regarded as holy to them. Casualties on
7917-532: Was the head of government in South Africa between 1910 and 1984. The position of Prime Minister was established in 1910, when the Union of South Africa was formed. He was appointed by the head of state—the governor-general until 1961 and the state president after South Africa became a republic in 1961. In practice, he was the leader of the majority party or coalition in the House of Assembly . With few exceptions,
8008-569: Was too much for the Old Boers, who set up their own National Party to fight the all-powerful Botha-Smuts partnership. During the First World War , Smuts formed the Union Defence Force (UDF). His first task was to suppress the Maritz Rebellion , which was accomplished by November 1914. Next he and Louis Botha led the South African army into German South-West Africa and conquered it (see
8099-640: Was toying with the idea of appointing Smuts Commander-in-Chief of all land and sea forces facing the Ottoman Empire , reporting directly to the War Cabinet rather than to Robertson. Early in 1918, Smuts was sent to Egypt to confer with Allenby and Marshall , and prepare for major efforts in that theatre. Before his departure, alienated by Robertson's exaggerated estimates of the required reinforcements, he urged Robertson's removal. Allenby told Smuts of Robertson's private instructions (sent by hand of Walter Kirke , appointed by Robertson as Smuts's adviser) that there
8190-482: Was translated by H. Minkowski and eventually published in 1938. During the Second World War, the books were destroyed after the Nazi government had removed it from circulation. Adler and Smuts, however, continued their correspondence. In one of Adler’s letters dated 14 June 1931, he invited Smuts to be one of three judges of the best book on the history of wholeness with a reference to Individual Psychology. On 11 October 1899
8281-424: Was up against a hard-talking Orange River Colony delegation, who refused every one of Smuts's demands. Smuts had successfully predicted this opposition, and their objections, and tailored his own ambitions appropriately. He allowed compromise on the location of the capital, on the official language, and on suffrage, but he refused to budge on the fundamental structure of government. As the convention drew into autumn,
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