GRADE LEVEL THEME TOPIC DURATION
12 SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY 1924 -1948: SOUTH AFRICAN FOREIGN RELATIONS x LESSONS

1924 - 1948: South African Foreign Relations
South Africa’s role in establishing the UNO

BACK TO LESSON MENU

The UN emblem
(Source: www.un.org)

The League of Nations, established after WWI, had failed to prevent a second war. The Second World War was the most destructive and comprehensive war known to the modern world. When it broke out, the League of Nations disintegrated. The Allied powers motivated for another body to maintain and promote world peace and security. Discussions about the formation of this new body, to be called the United Nations Organisation (UNO or UN), had already begun during the War.

Just as with the League of Nations, Jan Smuts played an important role in the formation of the UN. He was one of the main authors of the UN Charter, which laid down the ideals and structure of the organisation. Smuts also drafted the original preamble to the Charter, which contained the main ideas of the UN, and he took part in discussions on what should be done to make the UN more successful than the League of Nations.

Despite Smuts’ role in setting up the UN which supported decolonisation and the independence and equality of former colonies, he remained a segregationist when it came to South African internal affairs.

General Smuts signing the agreement at the first meeting of the UN General Assembly.
(Source: P. Joyce, Suid-Afrika in die 20ste eeu (Kaapstad: Struik, 2000), p.107.

Learning Outcomes: Gathering, analysing, interpreting and evaluating relevant evidence to answer questions.

General Jan Smuts
(Source: http://www.frontiersmenhistorian.info/intro.htm)

Smuts
(Source: http://www.unisa.ac.za/Default.asp?Cmd=
ViewContent&ContentID=3255

Activity 3

  1. Find out as much as you can about General Jan Smuts. Start with our biography. , and find some information in your school and/or town library. If you live close to Pretoria, organise a field trip to the Jan Smuts house in Irene near Pretoria, where Smuts lived. There are some interesting displays there.

    Here are some Internet links:
    www.frontiersmenhistorian.info/ intro.htm
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Smuts
    http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWsmuts.htm
    http://www.ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/armstrng/

    Note – when you use these or any Internet sources, you must be very careful of who wrote the site, what their purposes was and whether or not all their facts are true. Always check it with information in printed books!

  2. List some of Smuts’ greatest achievements in political and/or non-political spheres.

  3. What was Smuts’ view on segregation and racial discrimination?
  4. What was the name of Smuts’ political party?
  5. Which party won the 1948 elections?
  6. Why did Smuts lose the elections? Write a page on this, as there were a number of interacting reasons.
  7. Assess Smuts leadership achievements in foreign affairs?

Learning Outcomes: Developing, sustaining and defending an independent line of historical argument; communicating and presenting it reliably and accurately verbally.

Activity 4

After finishing Activity 3, hold a class debate on the following topic:

If Smuts had won the 1948 elections, apartheid would not have been introduced in South Africa.

This is a question that many historians and scholars have asked. When developing your argument, keep the following in mind:

  • Smuts’ racial policy;
  • His views on segregation;
  • The white South Africans’ views on segregation;
  • Why Smuts did not win the 1948 elections; and
  • His biographical information (tip: when did Smuts die?)


Learning Outcome: Learning about ideologies and debates around heritage and public representations; exploring ways in which the past is memorialised.

Activity 5

If you have been able to visit the Smuts museum in Irene, answer the following questions:

  1. Which part(s) of Smuts’ life is represented at the museum? (eg. political, private, intellectual)
  2. How did you feel about Smuts when you saw the house he had lived in?
  3. How is Smuts as an individual represented at the museum? (eg. favourably, critically)
  4. With everything else that you have learnt about Smuts, his government and his racial policies, do you think that the museum gives a balanced view of this figure?
  5. How do you think Smuts would be represented at a museum like the apartheids museum? Why?
  6. Why could there be different representations of a figure like Smuts at different museums? You might have to discuss this in groups or as a class, because it is not an easy question!

 

< PREVIOUS / NEXT >