1924
- 1948: South African Foreign Relations
South Africa’s role in the Second World
War
| GRADE LEVEL | THEME | TOPIC | DURATION |
| 12 | SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY | 1924 -1948: SOUTH AFRICAN FOREIGN RELATIONS | x LESSONS |
1924
- 1948: South African Foreign Relations |
In 1938, the South African Prime Minister Hertzog announced that in the event of a war, South Africa would remain neutral, unless the country’s interests were threatened. The cabinet agreed with this. On 3 September 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Once again, Hertzog repeated his intention to stay neutral. By then the cabinet had become divided on the issue. As a Commonwealth country under the British Empire, involvement in the war implied fighting with the British against the Germans. Many Afrikaners found this unacceptable. Some Afrikaners were of German descent and supported Hitler. Supporters of General Smuts, the Deputy Prime Minister, disagreed with Hertzog. Smuts felt that South Africa had a duty towards Britain and the Commonwealth to fight the Germans. He assured parliament that if South Africa joined the war, it would be to protect its own border and South Africans would not fight outside Africa. Participation in the war would also be voluntary. The division in cabinet around this issue led to Hertzog resigning as Prime Minister and being succeeded by Smuts. Preparing for War South
Africa was ill prepared for war. Military supplies and equipment were
insufficient and the South African army consisted of less than 20
thousand men. Yet Smuts was determined to take part in the war and
to organise an effective army as quickly as possible. He succeeded
and
the army grew to around 200
000 men and almost 25 000 women. The state’s large industrial enterprises, like South African Railways (SAR), the mines, the Mint and Iscor, began producing war materials such as anti-tank guns, ammunition, shells, bombs and rifles. South Africa’s involvement in the War In January 1940 the Seaward Defence Force was established, and in August 1942 it merged with the South African division of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve to form the South African Naval Force. This Force was responsible for clearing sea mines off the South African coast and also operated in the Mediterranean Sea. At its peak in 1944 the South African Navy had 78 vessels in operation, mainly minesweepers and anti-submarine vessels. South Africa played an important role in mainly four areas during the war ie. East Africa between July 1940 and November 1941, North Africa between May 1941 and November 1942, Madagascar between June and November 1942 and in Italy between April 1943 and May 1945. East Africa Even before the war, Italian troops invaded Ethiopia in an attempt to conquer the country for Italy. In 1940 the British started the process to liberate Ethiopia, and together with troops from west, central, east and southern Africa, they restored the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa by May 1941. South African volunteers were about 200 000. About a third of these were black volunteers. South African soldiers under the command of British Lieutenant-General Alan Cunningham, helped defeat the Italian forces at El Wak. In April 1941, 5 000 Italians under the Duke of Aosta surrendered to South African General Dan Pienaar in the Battle of Amba Alagi. This effectively broke the power of the Axis powers in East Africa. The South African forces contributed towards many Allied successes in East Africa, but this cost more than 150 lives. North Africa
The battle of El Alamein In 1941 Hitler sent troops to north Africa to support the Italians, in their fight against the Allies in Libya. The German Korps commanded by General Erwin Rommel succeeded in driving the Allies out of Libya, but the Allied soldiers struck back at the famous battle of El Alamein in Egypt, October 1942. Allied reinforcements arrived and the Germans and Italians were defeated. South African soldiers were exceptional in battles at Sidi Rezegh, Taib El Esem and Bardia and Sollum. They had to face set-backs at Tobruk, which Major-General HB Klopper was ordered to protect with his force of South Africans comprising English and Indian men. Klopper could not hold against the Germans, and on 21 June 1942, 25 000 men of which over 10 000 were South Africans, surrendered to Rommel. Although this demoralised the South Africans, their role in north Africa marked the beginning of the Allied offensive against Rommel. On 13 May 1943 the entire African Korps laid down their weapons, and the war in Africa was over. In the war in north Africa, 2104 South Africans were lost. Madagascar The island of Madagascar was a French colony. In the Second World War it was controlled by the French Vichy government, which was cooperating with Germany. The Allied forces invaded the island to wrest it from the Vichy government. The Vichy French forces surrendered at Diego Suarez and Antsirane in May. On 25 June the Seventh South African Infantry Brigade landed at Diego Suarez to help the Allies win control of the island. Italy Despite his promise to keep South African engagement in the war within Africa, General Smuts wanted to contribute to the war effort in Europe. The government agreed to allow South Africans to serve in Europe if they volunteered to do so and in April 1943 the Sixth South African Armoured Division under Major-General WHE Poole entered the war in Italy. Here, over 750 South Africans died. Smuts’ role
General Jan Smuts
Smuts Apart from South Africa’s military contribution, Smuts also had an important impact on war politics through his strategy, skills and powerful intellect. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and American President Franklin D. Roosevelt valued his advice and he became a respected world figure. During the war Smuts visited Egypt five times and London four times for talks with military and political leaders. In 1942 he was made a Field Marshal of the British Army, the highest rank in the army. As a country, South Africa rose in stature internationally because of Smuts’ role and the contribution of the South African military. Back home in South Africa, support for Smuts was very high during wartime. But after the war many felt he fell short in dealing with the country’s numerous problems. Whereas Smuts was a brilliant politician in external affairs, this was not the same for internal issues. In 1948, three years after the Second World War ended, Smuts lost his position as Prime Minister to the Reunited National Party’s DF Malan, who introduced the policy of apartheid. Learning Outcome: Gathering, analysing, interpreting and evaluating relevant evidence to answer questions.
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