What did Jan Smuts do for South Africa?

Smuts played a leading role in the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, helping shape its constitution. He and Botha established the South African Party, with Botha becoming the union’s first prime minister and Smuts holding multiple cabinet portfolios.

Who is Smuts in Churchill movie?

Smuts, who was older than Churchill, was an Afrikaner who fought the British and Churchill in the Boar War but then became a committed subject of the British Empire. He was more racially liberal than most Afrikaaners and his postwar electoral defeat by the National Party tragically led to Apartheid.

Was Jan Smuts clever?

Smuts was an Afrikaner whose ancestors came from Holland in the mid-17th century, at the very start of Dutch settlement. A clever young man, Smuts came to England to read Law at Christ’s College Cambridge. He came in first in both parts of the Law tripos (final honours examinations)—an unprecedented achievement.

What did Jan Smuts?

Jan Smuts was a South African lawyer and statesman who ultimately became deputy prime minister of the Union of South Africa. During the war, Smuts was Minister of Defence, Finance and Mines. He served for a time in German South West Africa before commanding the Imperial forces in East Africa for ten months in 1916.

Who succeeded Jan Smuts?

James Barry Munnik Hertzog
Jan Smuts

Jan Christiaan Smuts
Preceded by Louis Botha
Succeeded by James Barry Munnik Hertzog
Born May 24 1870 Bovenplaats, near Malmesbury, Cape Colony (now South Africa)
Died September 11, 1950 (aged 80) Doornkloof, Irene, near Pretoria, South Africa

Was Jan Smuts a Boer?

See Second Boer War. Jan Christiaan Smuts, OM (24 May 1870 – 11 September 1950) was a prominent South African and Commonwealth statesman and military leader. He served as a Boer General during the Boer War, a British General during the First World War and was appointed Field Marshal during the Second World War.

Why is Jan Smuts famous?

Smuts played a major role in the achievement of responsible government for the Transvaal (1906) and the Union of South Africa (1910). When Smuts went to England at the end of 1905 to urge the Cabinet to give the Transvaal self-government he came to know a new English world.

Was Jan Smuts a botanist?

Irene, near Pretoria, South Africa, 11 September 1950), lawyer, politician, general, prime minister, scientist, philosopher. Smuts was a South African statesman, an idealist philosopher, and a botanist who coined the word holism.

Who caused apartheid in South Africa?

The Great Depression and World War II brought increasing economic woes to South Africa, and convinced the government to strengthen its policies of racial segregation. In 1948, the Afrikaner National Party won the general election under the slogan “apartheid” (literally “apartness”).

Who started apartheid in South Africa?

Called the ‘Architect of the Apartheid’ Hendrik Verwoerd was Prime Minister as leader of the National Party from 1958-66 and was key in shaping the implementation of apartheid policy.

How many black South Africans died in ww2?

About 334,000 men volunteered for full-time service in the South African Army during the war (including some 211,000 white, 77,000 black and 46,000 coloured and Indian servicemen). The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has records of 11,023 known South Africans who died during World War II.

How did Nelson Mandela end apartheid?

Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years for his fight against apartheid. Upon his release, he negotiated an end to the racist policy and was elected president of South Africa. Now 71, Mandela negotiated with de Klerk for a new constitution that would allow majority rule.