Afrikaner Nationalism

Term Paper # 95453

History > African
History > British
Political Science

An examination of the reasons behind the rise of Afrikaner nationalism during the period of 1910 to 1948.

2,488 words () | 10 sources | MLA | 2006 United Kingdom

Paper Summary:

In order to account for the rise of Afrikaner nationalism between 1910 and 1948, this paper considers a number of social, political and economic factors. More specifically, it analyses the significance of historical factors such as the legacy of the Anglo-Boer War. It also considers the significance of the Great Depression and the urbanisation of poor whites as well as the roles of Jan Smuts, James Hertzog and Daniel Malan and the issue of 'Petty White Politics'. It also assesses the significance of social factors such as the Centenary Celebrations of the Great Trek and the role of the Dutch Reformed Church.

From the Paper:

"A further influencing factor behind the development of Afrikaner Nationalism between 1910 and 1948 was the economic problems facing the Afrikaner community. Many historians contend that the economic plight of the poor rural Afrikaners brought the group together. In 1932 the Carnegie Commission produced a report on white poverty and classified betweens 200,000 and 300,000 whites as very poor - the vast majority of whom were Afrikaners. This figure equated to approximately one fifth of the Afrikaner population being classed as very poor. During the 1930s a large proportion of the Afrikaner population was moving away from the countryside to large industrial towns and cities in search of jobs. However, historians maintain that for many, rural poverty was merely replaced with urban poverty; during the 1930s nearly 40% of Afrikaners were employed in menial jobs such as manual labourers or railway workers. However, T.R.H. Davenport, 'South Africa, A Modern History' claims that the government attempted to reduce white poverty through the introduction of measures such as The Mines and Works Amendment (or 'Colour Bar') Act of 1926 which removed many jobs from Africans and reserved them for whites; R.H. Davies, 'Capital, State and White Labour in South Africa, 1910 - 1960' estimates that between 1924 and 1932 the Hertzog Government transferred over 8,000 jobs from black to white hands. Despite attempts by the government to eradicate white poverty, historians maintain that many Afrikaners still resented the relative prosperity of the British and English-speaking industrialists and mine-owners."