Diamonds, War and Union: South Africa 1880–1948
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Flip to reveal answersWhat two mineral discoveries transformed South Africa's economy and politics?
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All 12 Flashcards — Diamonds, War and Union: South Africa 1880–1948
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Question
What two mineral discoveries transformed South Africa's economy and politics?
Answer
Diamonds near the Orange River (1867) and gold on the Witwatersrand in the Transvaal (1886).
Question
Uitlanders
Answer
Foreign, mostly British, immigrants who flooded into the Transvaal to work the goldfields but were denied the vote by President Kruger.
Question
Name three types of causes of the South African War (1899–1902).
Answer
Economic (control of gold), political (Uitlander franchise dispute), and strategic (fear of German influence and protecting the route to India).
Question
What was the Jameson Raid (1895–96)?
Answer
A failed British-backed attempt to overthrow Kruger's government in the Transvaal by force; it hardened Boer distrust of Britain before the war.
Question
Describe the three phases of the South African War.
Answer
1) Conventional war with Boer sieges (1899–1900). 2) Guerrilla war led by Boer commandos (1900–02). 3) Kitchener's scorched-earth policy and concentration camps forced Boer surrender.
Question
What did the Treaty of Vereeniging (1902) decide about African voting rights?
Answer
It left the question to be settled later by self-governing white colonial administrations, effectively guaranteeing Africans would be excluded from the political settlement.
Question
What did the Act of Union (1909, in force 1910) create?
Answer
A single self-governing British dominion, the Union of South Africa, merging the Cape, Natal, Transvaal and Orange Free State — with a whites-only Parliament.
Question
Compare Smuts's and Hertzog's approaches to South Africa's white communities.
Answer
Smuts (South African Party) prioritised reconciling Boer and British whites within the British Empire. Hertzog (National Party) championed Afrikaner nationalism and full independence from Britain.
Question
Natives Land Act (1913)
Answer
Banned Africans from buying or renting land outside designated reserves (about 7–8% of the country), passed under Louis Botha and Jan Smuts's government.
Question
Representation of Natives Act (1936)
Answer
Passed under Hertzog; removed African voters in the Cape from the common voters' roll, ending the last African parliamentary franchise in the Union.
Question
How did early African protest (before 1948) typically operate?
Answer
Through legal, cautious methods — petitions, deputations to London, and court appeals — led by groups like the SANNC (founded 1912, renamed ANC in 1923), with little success against the segregationist state.
Question
What is the key difference between segregation (1910–1948) and apartheid (after 1948)?
Answer
Segregation restricted African rights piecemeal through separate laws on land, labour, and voting. Apartheid was a far more total, systematic ideology governing every part of life.
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Full study notes for Diamonds, War and Union: South Africa 1880–1948
Topic 21.15 hub
Developments in South Africa 1880–1994
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