The Union of South Africa towards the Outbreak of the Second World War

Authors

  • Arkadiusz Żukowski Warmia and Mazury University in Olsztyn, Poland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.13.2016.42.03

Keywords:

Union of South Africa, Second World War, the Allies, Afrikaners, Jan C. Smuts

Abstract

At the outbreak of the Second World War the Union of South Africa was military unprepared and divided politically. The division into supporters and opponents of the war against Germany was clear, both in the Parliament, as well as in South African society, particularly among large parts of the Afrikaners it manifested itself as significant political support and public acceptance of the ideology of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. The moderate Afrikaners and first of all the English‑speaking population supported joining the war on the side of the Allies. In the parliament, the issue has led to a government crisis. The Union of South Africa as a British Dominion finally declared war on Nazi Germany. In a relatively short time the state was able to prepare its institutions, society and economy for participation in the war. An important role in the consolidation of the political elite and society in the fight against Nazi Germany on the side of to the Allies was played J.C. Smuts.

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Author Biography

  • Arkadiusz Żukowski, Warmia and Mazury University in Olsztyn, Poland

    Research worker and lecturer, political scientist, Africanist, Head of the Division of International Political Relations, Director of the Institute of Political Science, Warmia and Mazury University in Olsztyn, Vice-chairman of the Committee on Political Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Member of the Board of the Polish Africanist Society.

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Published

21-04-2016

How to Cite

“The Union of South Africa towards the Outbreak of the Second World War”. 2016. Politeja 13 (3 (42): 17-31. https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.13.2016.42.03.

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