Union of South Africa

From 1838 to 1906, the British and Zulu Kingdom There were a number of wars, including ten major battles that left the British in Natal unable to suppress the Africans. While at this time The Afrikaners ( Boer The upper layer appeared to Bota and SMuts The first few Anglophile They advocated the union of the two white races so that the Afrikaners could pursue greater interests for themselves under British rule. Their efforts paid off. In 1905, the new United Kingdom came to power Liberal Party The government allowed the Afrikaners to return to power in the Transvaal and Orange through elections, establishing self-government. In 1908, Afrikaners were also successful in elections in the Cape Colony. Thus, three of the four colonies were held by Afrikaners. Afrikaners were desperate for a "united South Africa".

For post-war Britain, it also hoped to gain economic benefits from South Africa's mining production and foreign trade as soon as possible, in order to achieve the purpose of long-term rule over South Africa. The creation of a "united South Africa" was therefore a common aspiration of both the British and the Afrikaners. After several years of negotiations, in October 1908, representatives of the four colonies met Durban They discussed the establishment of the Union of South Africa and drafted a draft constitution. In January 1909, British parliament The South Africa Act (also known as the Federation Act) was formally ratified. 20 September 1909, United Kingdom Edward VII The bill was approved.

On 31 May 1910, the Constitution of the Union of South Africa came into force. Since then, the four colonies of Cape, Natal, Transvaal and Orange have been united into "the Unionof South Africa" dominion The status of joining the United Kingdom.

After the establishment of the Union of South Africa, the number of Afrikaners living in the four colonies of the Union of South Africa reached 600,000, far outnumbering the number of British whites. They share the same culture, religion ( Calvinism Reformed Church) and language (evolved from Dutch Afrikaans ). As a result, the colonial Afrikaner parties soon formed a single political party, the South African Party, chaired by Louis Botha. In South Africa's first general election in September 1910, the South African Party defeated the British Union Party and officially formed South Africa in November 1911 Federal government . The British appointed the pro-British Botha as the first federal Prime Minister and formed a government, which was succeeded by Smug after Botha's death until 1924. From 1924 to 1939, the KMT, founded by Herzog, was in coalition with the Workers' Party, and from 1948, the KMT, led by Malan, came to power until 1994 New South Africa The birth of...

South Africa was first ruled by the British Empire (later The British Commonwealth The identity of the dominion emerged, and its sovereignty and independence were incomplete. It was not until 1919 that representatives of the Union of South Africa attended Paris Peace Conference For the first time, it appeared on the world stage as a sovereign, independent and equal nation. In 1926, according to the British Balfour Declaration South Africa was founded Ministry of Foreign Affairs And began to exercise one in international affairs Independent state The power. In 1931, the British Parliament passed a law Westminster law ", Parliament of South Africa In 1934, the Federal Status Act was passed, formally establishing South Africa as a state Sovereign state The status was settled. Since then, South Africa has not only Sovereign state The identity participated World War II Also become The United Nations initiate Member state . Its sovereign and independent status is subject to International community Universal recognition and respect.

1960 South Africa withdrew from the Commonwealth. On May 21, 1961, the National Government of South Africa promulgated the law Constitution of the Republic of South Africa ". It was the second major law in South Africa and was largely unchanged in content and form from the South Africa Act of 1910, which remained white racism The rule of... On 31 May 1961, the Republic of South Africa was formally established.