GRADE LEVEL THEME TOPIC DURATION
12 SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY 1924 -1948: SOUTH AFRICAN FOREIGN RELATIONS 5 x LESSONS

1924-1948: South African Foreign Relations
Glossary

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Allied forces The nations that formed an alliance to fight against the Axis powers during the Second World War. The Allies were mainly Russia, Britain, France and later America.

Autonomy Independence; self-rule; self-government.

Axis powers During the Second World War, this term referred to the countries that signed the Axis Pact of cooperation, namely Germany and Italy.

British Crown Figurative speech that is used to refer to the British monarch (king or queen). Loyalty to the British Crown means loyalty to its monarch, and so to Britain itself.

Commonwealth Association of independent states. The British Commonwealth consists of countries formally ruled by Britain (some, like Australia and Canada still fall under the British Crown); and the Commonwealth of Independent States are made up of republics that used to be part of the Soviet Union.

Compromise Put in a dishonourable and difficult position.

Contentious Controversial; causing disagreements and friction.

Contiguity Nearness. The adjective is ‘contiguous’, which means very near; touching.

Dominion Land governed by one ruler or government. Formerly, it also referred to the self-governing divisions within the British Empire.

General Assembly (UN) The principal deliberating body of the United Nations (UN) in which each member nation is represented and has one vote.

Genocide Mass murder of a specific nation or race.

Governor-General An official appointed to govern over a colony on behalf of the colonial power, for example the Governor-General of South Africa represented the British Crown in the South African government, which were headed by the Prime Minister.

High Commissioner Senior diplomatic and political representative, senior to an ambassador, sent by one Commonwealth country to another.

Korps The German spelling of ‘corps’. An army corps is a military unit with a specific function. The African Korps was the German unit sent to fight in Africa.

Mandate An official command. South Africa had a UN mandate over South West Africa, meaning that the UN commanded South Africa to handle the country’s administration for a certain period.

Plight Troubles; difficulty.

Political climate Political trend, eg. if a country’s political climate is one of racism, it means that that country’s politics lean towards racism and that many people stick to racist
ideas.

Preamble Introduction; foreword.

Round table Meeting of people on equal terms for discussions. The term comes from the legends of King Arthur, who consulted with his knights at the Round Table. Since nobody can sit at the head of the table (eg. at a rectangular table), nobody is more important in the discussion than somebody else.

Safeguard Protect; uphold; look after.

Segregation Separation. It usually refers to policies of racial segregation, in other words separating or keeping people from different races apart.

Stature Importance; status.

Subordinate Inferior; less important.

Tacit Unspoken; implied.

UN, UNO United Nations Organisation.

UN General Assembly The general body of the UN in which all the member states take part.

 

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