Jan Smuts - Wikipedia

Jan Smuts - Wikipedia
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South African statesman and military officer (1870–1950)
The Right Honourable
Jan Smuts
OM
CH
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ED
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Smuts in 1934
2nd
Prime Minister of South Africa
In office
5 September 1939 – 4 June 1948
Monarch
George VI
Governors-General
Sir Patrick Duncan
Nicolaas Jacobus de Wet
Gideon Brand van Zyl
Preceded by
Barry Hertzog
Succeeded by
Daniël Malan
In office
3 September 1919 – 30 June 1924
Monarch
George V
Governors-General
The Viscount Buxton
Prince Arthur of Connaught
The Earl of Athlone
Preceded by
Louis Botha
Succeeded by
Barry Hertzog
Leader of the Opposition
In office
4 June 1948 – 11 September 1950
Monarch
George VI
Prime Minister
Daniël Malan
Preceded by
Daniël Malan
Succeeded by
Jacobus Strauss
Personal details
Born
Jan Christiaan
(or Christian) Smuts
1870-05-24
24 May 1870
Bovenplaats
Cape Colony
Died
11 September 1950
(1950-09-11)
(aged 80)
Irene
Transvaal
Union of South Africa
Party
Het Volk
(1904–1910)
South African Party
(1910/1911–1934)
United Party
(from 1934)
Spouse
Isie Krige
Children
Education
Victoria College, Stellenbosch
Christ's College, Cambridge
Profession
Barrister
Signature
Military service
Allegiance
South African Republic
Union of South Africa
United Kingdom
Rank
Field Marshal
Commands
South African Defence Forces
Battles/wars
Second Boer War
First World War
Field Marshal
Jan Christian Smuts
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FRS
(baptismal name
Jan Christiaan Smuts
, 24 May 1870 – 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military officer and philosopher.
In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as
Prime Minister
of the
Union of South Africa
from 1919 to 1924 and 1939 to 1948.
Smuts was born to
Afrikaner
parents in the British
Cape Colony
. He was educated at
Victoria College
Stellenbosch
, before studying law at
Christ's College, Cambridge
, on a scholarship. He was
called to the bar
at the
Middle Temple
in 1894 but returned home the following year. In the leadup to the
Second Boer War
, Smuts practised law in
Pretoria
, the capital of the
South African Republic
. He led the republic's delegation to the
Bloemfontein Conference
and served as an officer in a commando unit following the outbreak of war in 1899. In 1902, he played a key role in negotiating the
Treaty of Vereeniging
, which ended the war and resulted in the annexation of the South African Republic and
Orange Free State
into the British Empire. He subsequently helped negotiate self-government for the
Transvaal Colony
, becoming a cabinet minister under
Louis Botha
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. As
defence minister
he was responsible for the
Union Defence Force
during the
First World War
. Smuts personally led troops in the
East African campaign
in 1916 and the following year joined the
Imperial War Cabinet
in London. He played a leading role at the
Paris Peace Conference of 1919
, advocating for the creation of the
League of Nations
and securing South African control over the former
German South-West Africa
In 1919, Smuts replaced Botha as prime minister, holding the office until the South African Party's defeat at the
1924 general election
by
J. B. M. Hertzog
's
National Party
. He spent several years in academia, during which he coined the term "
holism
", before eventually re-entering politics as deputy prime minister in a coalition with Hertzog; in 1934 their parties subsequently merged to form the
United Party
. Smuts returned as prime minister in 1939, leading South Africa into the
Second World War
at the head of a pro-interventionist faction. He was appointed
field marshal
in 1941 and in 1945 signed the
UN Charter
, the only signer of the
Treaty of Versailles
to do so. His second term in office ended with the victory of his political opponents, the
reconstituted National Party
at the
1948 general election
, with the new government implementing early
apartheid
policies.
Smuts was an
internationalist
who played a key role in establishing and defining the League of Nations,
United Nations
and
Commonwealth of Nations
. He supported racial segregation and
opposed democratic non-racial rule
. At the end of his career, Smuts supported the
Fagan Commission
's recommendations to relax restrictions on black South Africans living and working in urban areas.
Early life and education
edit
Main article:
Early life of Jan Smuts
Jacobus and Catharina Smuts, 1893
Smuts was born on 24 May 1870, at the family farm,
Bovenplaats
, near
Malmesbury
, in the
Cape Colony
. His parents, Jacobus Smuts and his wife Catharina, were prosperous, traditional
Afrikaner
farmers, long established and highly respected.
Their ancestry included a descent from the
Khoi
interpreter
Krotoa
As the second son of the family, rural custom dictated that Jan would remain working on the farm. In this system, typically only the first son was supported for a full, formal education. In 1882, when Jan was twelve, his elder brother died, and Jan was sent to school in his place. Jan attended the school in nearby
Riebeek West
. He made excellent progress despite his late start, and caught up with his contemporaries within four years. He was admitted to
Victoria College
Stellenbosch
, in 1886, at the age of sixteen.
At Stellenbosch, he learned
High Dutch
German
, and
Ancient Greek
, and immersed himself in literature, the
classics
, and
Bible studies
. His deeply traditional upbringing and serious outlook led to social isolation from his peers. He made outstanding academic progress, graduating in 1891 with double
first-class honours
in Literature and Science. During his last years at Stellenbosch, Smuts began to cast off some of his shyness and reserve. At this time he met
Isie Krige
, whom he later married.
On graduation from Victoria College, Smuts won the Ebden scholarship for overseas study. He decided to attend the
University of Cambridge
in the United Kingdom to read law at
Christ's College
Smuts found it difficult to settle at Cambridge. He felt homesick and isolated by his age and different upbringing from the English undergraduates. Worries over money also contributed to his unhappiness, as his scholarship was insufficient to cover his university expenses. He confided these worries to Professor J. I. Marais, a friend from Victoria College. In reply, Professor Marais enclosed a cheque for a substantial sum, by way of loan, encouraging Smuts to let him know if he ever found himself in need again.
Thanks to Marais, Smuts's financial standing was secure. He gradually began to enter more into the social aspects of the university, although he retained a single-minded dedication to his studies.
During this time in Cambridge, Smuts studied a diverse number of subjects in addition to law. He wrote a book,
Walt Whitman
: A Study in the Evolution of Personality
. It was not published until 1973, after his death,
10
but it can be seen that Smuts in this book had already conceptualized his thinking for his later wide-ranging philosophy of
holism
11
Smuts graduated in 1894 with a
double first
broken anchor
. Over the previous two years, he had received numerous academic prizes and accolades, including the coveted George Long prize in Roman Law and Jurisprudence.
12
One of his tutors,
Frederic William Maitland
, a leading figure among English legal historians, described Smuts as the most brilliant student he had ever met.
13
Alec Todd
, the
Master
of Christ's College, said in 1970 that "in 500 years of the College's history, of all its members, past and present, three had been truly outstanding:
John Milton
Charles Darwin
and Jan Smuts."
14
In December 1894, Smuts passed the examinations for the
Inns of Court
, entering the
Middle Temple
. His old Cambridge college, Christ's College, offered him a fellowship in Law. Smuts turned his back on a potentially distinguished legal future. By June 1895, he had returned to the Cape Colony, determined to make his future there.
15
Career
edit
Law and politics
edit
Jan Smuts, as a young state attorney general in 1895
Main article:
Jan Smuts in the South African Republic
Smuts began to practise law in
Cape Town
, but his abrasive nature made him few friends. Finding little financial success in the law, he began to devote more and more of his time to politics and journalism, writing for the
Cape Times
. Smuts was intrigued by the prospect of a united South Africa, and joined the
Afrikaner Bond
. By good fortune, Smuts's father knew the leader of the group,
Jan Hofmeyr
. Hofmeyr in turn recommended Jan to
Cecil Rhodes
, who owned the
De Beers
mining company. In 1895, Smuts became an advocate and supporter of Rhodes.
16
When Rhodes launched the
Jameson Raid
, in the summer of 1895–96, Smuts was outraged. Feeling betrayed by his employer, friend and political ally, he resigned from De Beers, and left political life. Instead he became state attorney in the capital of the
South African Republic
Pretoria
16
After the Jameson Raid, relations between the British and the Afrikaners had deteriorated steadily. By 1898, war seemed imminent.
Orange Free State
President
Martinus Steyn
called for a
peace conference
at
Bloemfontein
to settle each side's grievances. With an intimate knowledge of the British, Smuts took control of the Transvaal delegation. Sir
Alfred Milner
, head of the British delegation, took exception to his dominance, and conflict between the two led to the collapse of the conference, consigning South Africa to war.
17
Psychology
edit
Smuts was the first South African to be internationally regarded as an important psychologist.
18
During Smuts's undergraduate years at Cambridge University, he produced a manuscript in 1895 in which he analysed the personality of the famous American poet
Walt Whitman
18
Due to his manuscript being considered unviable, it was only published 23 years after his death in 1973. Smuts went on to produce his next manuscript, which he completed in 1910, entitled
An Inquiry into the Whole
. His manuscript was then revised in 1924 and published in 1926 with the title
Holism and Evolution
18
19
Smuts had no interest in pursuing a career in psychology.
18
He considered psychology as "too impersonal to study great personalities",
18
and believed that the holistic tendency of the personality would be studied best through personology.
18
Smuts, however, never inquired further into the idea of personology due to his wanting to continue laying the foundation of the concept of holism. He never returned to either of the topics.
18
Holism
Although the concept of holism has been discussed by many, the term holism in academic terminology was first introduced and publicly shared in print by Smuts in the early twentieth century.
20
18
19
Smuts was acknowledged for his contribution by getting the honour to write the first entry about the concept for the Encyclopaedia Britannica 1929 edition.
19
20
The Austrian medical doctor, founder of the school of Individual Psychology, and psychotherapist,
Alfred Adler
(1870–1937), also showed a great interest in Smuts's book. Adler requested permission from Smuts to have the book translated to German and published in Germany.
18
Although Smuts's concept of holism is grounded in the natural sciences, he claimed that it has a relevance in philosophy, ethics, sociology, and psychology.
20
In
Holism and Evolution
, he argued that the concept of holism is "grounded in evolution and is also an ideal that guides human development and one's level of personality actualization."
19
Smuts stated in the book that "personality is the highest form of holism" (p. 292).
21
Recognition from Adler
Adler later wrote a letter, dated 31 January 1931, where he stated that he recommended Smuts's book to his students and followers. He referred to it as "the best preparation for the science of Individual Psychology".
18
After Smuts gave permission for the translation and publication of his book in Germany, it was translated by H. Minkowski and eventually published in 1938. During the Second World War, the books were destroyed after the Nazi government had removed it from circulation.
18
Adler and Smuts, however, continued their correspondence. In one of Adler's letters dated 14 June 1931, he invited Smuts to be one of three judges of the best book on the history of wholeness with a reference to Individual Psychology.
18
The Boer War
edit
See also:
Military history of South Africa
Main article:
Jan Smuts in the Boer War
Jan Smuts and Boer guerrillas during the Second Boer War,
c.
1901
On 11 October 1899 the
Boer republics
declared war and launched an offensive into the British-held
Natal
and
Cape Colony
areas, beginning the
Second Boer War
of 1899–1902. In the early stages of the conflict, Smuts served as
Paul Kruger
's eyes and ears in Pretoria, handling propaganda, logistics, communication with generals and diplomats, and anything else that was required. In the second phase of the war, from mid-1900, Smuts served under
Koos de la Rey
, who commanded 500
commandos
in the Western Transvaal. Smuts excelled at
hit-and-run warfare
, and the unit evaded and harassed a British army forty times its size. President
Paul Kruger
and the deputation in Europe thought that there was good hope for their cause in the Cape Colony. They decided to send General de la Rey there to assume supreme command, but then decided to act more cautiously when they realised that General de la Rey could hardly be spared in the Western Transvaal. Consequently, Smuts was left with a small force of 300 men, while another 100 men followed him. By January 1902 the British
scorched-earth policy
left little grazing land. One hundred of the cavalry that had joined Smuts were therefore too weak to continue and so Smuts had to leave these men with General
Pieter Hendrik Kritzinger
. Intelligence indicated that at this time Smuts had about 3,000 men.
22
Smuts' forces penetrated the Cape Colony extent that some elements came within sight of Table Mountain.
23
To draw out British forces, Smuts sought to take a major target, the copper-mining town of
Okiep
in the present-day
Northern Cape
Province (April–May 1902), which he laid under siege. Events in the Transvaal overtook the siege before it was resolved: in late April a dispatch from
Lord Kitchener
reached Smuts, inviting him to the peace conference at Veeringen.
24
Smuts agreed a truce and with the garrison and departed to attend the peace negotiations. In his absence Boer officer
Manie Maritz
attempted to break the truce by attacking the town with a train packed full of explosives.
25
This effort failed when the train derailed outside of the town and its deadly cargo burnt off harmlessly.
26
Before the conference, Smuts met Lord Kitchener at
Kroonstad railway station
, where they discussed the proposed terms of surrender. Smuts then took a leading role in the negotiations between the representatives from all of the commandos from the Orange Free State and the South African Republic (15–31 May 1902). Although he admitted that, from a purely military perspective, the war could continue, he stressed the importance of not sacrificing the Afrikaner people for that independence. He was very conscious that "more than 20,000 women and children have already died in the
concentration camps
of the enemy". He felt it would have been a crime to continue the war without the assurance of help from elsewhere and declared, "Comrades, we decided to stand to the bitter end. Let us now, like men, admit that that end has come for us, come in a more bitter shape than we ever thought."
27
His opinions were representative of the conference, which then voted by 54 to 6 in favour of peace. Representatives of the Governments met Lord Kitchener and at five minutes past eleven on 31 May 1902, the Acting
State President of the South African Republic
Schalk Willem Burger
signed the
Treaty of Vereeniging
, followed by the members of his government, Acting
State President of the Orange Free State
Christiaan De Wet
, and the members of his government.
28
A British Transvaal
edit
Jan Smuts around 1905
Despite Smuts's exploits as a general and a negotiator, nothing could mask the fact that the Boers had been defeated.
Lord Milner
had full control of all South African affairs, and established an
Anglophone
elite, known as
Milner's Kindergarten
. As an Afrikaner, Smuts was excluded. Defeated but not deterred, in May 1904, he decided to join with the other former Transvaal generals to form a political party,
Het Volk
('The People'),
29
to fight for the Afrikaner cause.
Louis Botha
was elected leader, and Smuts his deputy.
16
When his term of office expired, Milner was replaced as
High Commissioner
by the more conciliatory
William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne
. Smuts saw an opportunity and pounced, urging Botha to persuade the
Liberals
to support
Het Volk's
cause. When the
Conservative
government under
Arthur Balfour
collapsed, in December 1905, the decision paid off. Smuts joined Botha in London, and sought to negotiate
responsible government
for the
Transvaal
within British South Africa. Using the thorny political issue of South Asian labourers ('
coolies
'), the South Africans convinced Prime Minister Sir
Henry Campbell-Bannerman
and, with him, the
cabinet
and
Parliament
16
Through 1906, Smuts worked on the new constitution for the Transvaal, and, in December 1906, elections were held for the Transvaal parliament. Despite being shy and reserved, unlike the showman Botha, Smuts won a comfortable victory in the
Wonderboom
constituency, near Pretoria. His victory was one of many, with
Het Volk
winning in a
landslide
and Botha forming the government. To reward his loyalty and efforts, Smuts was given two key cabinet positions:
Colonial Secretary
and Education Secretary.
30
Smuts proved to be an effective leader, if unpopular. As Education Secretary, he had fights with the
Dutch Reformed Church
, of which he had once been a dedicated member, which demanded
Calvinist
teachings in schools. As Colonial Secretary, he opposed a movement for equal rights for
South Asian
workers, led by
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
30
During the years of Transvaal self-government, nobody could avoid the predominant political debate of the day: South African unification. Ever since the British victory in the war, it was an inevitability, but it remained up to the South Africans to decide what sort of country would be formed, and how it would be formed. Smuts favoured a
unitary state
, with power centralised in Pretoria, with English as the only
official language
, and with a more inclusive electorate. To impress upon his compatriots his vision, he called a constitutional convention in
Durban
, in October 1908.
31
Jan Smuts,
c.
1914
There, Smuts was up against a hard-talking
Orange River Colony
delegation, who refused every one of Smuts's demands. Smuts had successfully predicted this opposition, and their objections, and tailored his own ambitions appropriately. He allowed compromise on the location of the capital, on the official language, and on suffrage, but he refused to budge on the fundamental structure of government. As the convention drew into autumn, the Orange leaders began to see a final compromise as necessary to secure the concessions that Smuts had already made. They agreed to Smuts's draft South African constitution, which was duly ratified by the South African colonies. Smuts and Botha took the constitution to London, where it was
passed by Parliament
and given
Royal Assent
by King
Edward VII
in December 1909.
31
The Old Boers
edit
Main article:
Jan Smuts and the Old Boers
The
Union of South Africa
was born, and the Afrikaners held the key to political power, as the majority of the increasingly whites-only electorate. Although Botha was appointed
prime minister
of the new country, Smuts was given three key ministries:
Interior
, Mines, and
Defence
. Undeniably, Smuts was the second most powerful man in South Africa. To solidify their dominance of South African politics, the Afrikaners united to form the
South African Party
, a new pan-South African Afrikaner party.
32
The harmony and co-operation soon ended. Smuts was criticised for his overarching powers, and the cabinet was reshuffled. Smuts lost Interior and Mines, but gained control of
Finance
. That was still too much for Smuts's opponents, who decried his possession of both Defence and Finance, two departments that were usually at loggerheads. At the 1913 South African Party conference, the
Old Boers
J. B. M. Hertzog
Martinus Theunis Steyn
Christiaan de Wet
), called for Botha and Smuts to step down. The two narrowly survived a confidence vote, and the troublesome triumvirate stormed out, leaving the party for good.
33
With the schism in internal party politics came a new threat to the mines that brought South Africa its wealth. A small-scale miners' dispute flared into a full-blown strike, and rioting broke out in Johannesburg after Smuts intervened heavy-handedly. After police shot dead twenty-one strikers, Smuts and Botha headed unaccompanied to Johannesburg to resolve the situation personally. Facing down threats to their own lives, they negotiated a cease-fire. But the cease-fire did not hold, and in 1914, a railway strike turned into a
general strike
. Threats of a revolution caused Smuts to declare
martial law
. He acted ruthlessly, deporting union leaders without trial and using
Parliament
to absolve him and the government of any blame retroactively. That was too much for the Old Boers, who set up their own
National Party
to fight the all-powerful Botha-Smuts partnership.
33
First World War
edit
The Imperial War Cabinet (1917). Jan Smuts is seated on the right.
During the
First World War
, Smuts formed the
Union Defence Force
(UDF). His first task was to suppress the
Maritz Rebellion
, which was accomplished by November 1914. Next he and
Louis Botha
led the South African army into
German South-West Africa
and conquered it (see the
South-West Africa Campaign
for details). In 1916 General Smuts was put in charge of the
conquest of German East Africa
. Col (later BGen) J. H. V. Crowe commanded the artillery in East Africa under General Smuts and published an account of the campaign,
General Smuts' Campaign in East Africa
, in 1918.
34
Smuts was promoted to temporary
lieutenant general
on 18 February 1916,
35
and to honorary lieutenant general for distinguished service in the field on 1 January 1917.
36
Smuts's chief intelligence officer, Colonel
Richard Meinertzhagen
, wrote very critically of his conduct of the campaign. He believed
Horace Smith-Dorrien
(who had saved the
British Army
during the
retreat from Mons
and was the original choice as commander in 1916) would have quickly defeated the Germans. In particular, Meinertzhagen thought that frontal attacks would have been decisive, and less costly than the flanking movements preferred by Smuts, which took longer, so that thousands of Imperial troops died of disease in the field. He wrote: "Smuts has cost Britain many hundreds of lives and many millions of pounds by his caution ... Smuts was not an astute soldier; a brilliant statesman and politician but no soldier."
37
Meinertzhagen wrote these comments in October/November 1916, in the weeks after being relieved by Smuts due to symptoms of depression, and he was invalided back to England shortly thereafter.
38
Early in 1917, Smuts left Africa and went to London, as he had been invited to join the
Imperial War Cabinet
and the
War Policy Committee
by
David Lloyd George
. Smuts initially recommended renewed
Western Front
attacks and a policy of attrition, lest with
Russian
commitment to the war wavering,
France
or
Italy
would be tempted to make a separate peace.
39
Lloyd George
wanted a commander "of the dashing type" for the
Middle East
in succession to
Archibald Murray
, but Smuts refused the command (late May) unless promised resources for a decisive victory, and he agreed with
William Robertson
that Western Front commitments did not justify a serious attempt to capture
Jerusalem
Edmund Allenby
was appointed instead.
40
Like other members of the War Cabinet, Smuts's commitment to Western Front efforts was shaken by
Third Ypres
41
In 1917, following the
German Gotha Raids
, and lobbying by
Viscount French
, Smuts wrote a review of the British Air Services, which came to be called the Smuts Report. He was helped in large part in this by General Sir
David Henderson
who was seconded to him. This report led to the treatment of air as a separate force, which eventually became the
Royal Air Force
42
43
Generals
Botha
and Smuts at Versailles, July 1919
By mid-January 1918, Lloyd George was toying with the idea of appointing Smuts Commander-in-Chief of all land and sea forces facing the
Ottoman Empire
, reporting directly to the War Cabinet rather than to Robertson.
44
Early in 1918, Smuts was sent to
Egypt
to confer with Allenby and
William Marshall
, and prepare for major efforts in that theatre. Before his departure, alienated by Robertson's exaggerated estimates of the required reinforcements, he urged Robertson's removal. Allenby told Smuts of Robertson's private instructions (sent by hand of
Walter Kirke
, appointed by Robertson as Smuts's adviser) that there was no merit in any further advance. He worked with Smuts to draw up plans, using three reinforcement divisions from
Mesopotamia
, to reach
Haifa
by June and
Damascus
by the autumn, the speed of the advance limited by the need to lay fresh rail track. This was the foundation of Allenby's successful offensive later in the year.
45
Like most
British Empire
political and military leaders in the First World War, Smuts thought the
American Expeditionary Forces
lacked the proper leadership and experience to be effective quickly. He supported the Anglo-French amalgamation policy towards the Americans. In particular, he had a low opinion of General
John J. Pershing
's leadership skills, so much so that he proposed to Lloyd George that Pershing be relieved of command and US forces be placed "under someone more confident, like [himself]". This did not endear him to the Americans once it was leaked.
46
Statesman
edit
Smuts and Botha were key negotiators at the
Paris Peace Conference
. Both were in favour of reconciliation with
Germany
and limited reparations. Smuts was a key architect of the
League of Nations
through his correspondences with
Woodrow Wilson
, his work with the
Imperial War Cabinet
during the First World War and his book
League of Nations: A Practical Suggestion
47
48
According to Jacob Kripp, Smuts saw the League as necessary in unifying white internationalists and pacifying a race war through indirect rule by Europeans over non-whites and segregation.
48
Kripp states that the
League of Nations mandates
system reflected a compromise between Smuts's desire to annex non-white territories and Woodrow Wilson's principles of trusteeship.
48
He was sent to
Budapest
to negotiate with
Béla Kun
's
Hungarian Soviet Republic
. This was in the wake of issues around the neutral zone the Entente dictated in the
Vix Note
. Smuts arrived on 4 April 1919, and negotiations started the next day. He offered a neutral zone more favorable to Hungary (shifted 25 km east), though making sure its western border passed west of the final border proposal worked out in the Commission on Romanian and Yugoslav Affairs, that the Hungarian leaders were unaware of. Smuts reassured the Hungarians that the agreement would not influence Hungary's final borders. He also teased the lifting of the economic blockade of the country and inviting the Hungarian soviet leaders to the Paris Peace Conference. Kun rejected the terms, and demanded the return to the Belgrade armistice line later that day, upon which Smuts ended negotiations and left. On 8 April he negotiated with
Tomáš Masaryk
in
Prague
over the Hungarian border.
49
Hungary's rejection led to the conference's approval of a
Czechoslovak
Romanian
invasion and harsher terms in the
Treaty of Trianon
50
The
Treaty of Versailles
gave South Africa a
Class C mandate
over German South-West Africa (which later became
Namibia
), which was occupied from 1919 until withdrawal in 1990. At the same time, Australia was given a similar mandate over
German New Guinea
, which it held until 1975. Both Smuts and the Australian prime minister
Billy Hughes
feared the rising power of the
Empire of Japan
in the post-First World War world. When the former
German East Africa
was divided into two mandated territories (
Ruanda-Urundi
and
Tanganyika
),
Smutsland
was one of the proposed names for what became Tanganyika. Smuts, who had called for
South African territorial expansion all the way to the River Zambesi
since the late 19th century, was ultimately disappointed with the League awarding South-West Africa only a mandate status, as he had looked forward to formally incorporating the territory to South Africa.
51
Smuts returned to South African politics after the conference. When Botha died in 1919, Smuts was elected prime minister, serving until a shocking defeat in 1924 at the hands of the
National Party
. After the death of the former American President Woodrow Wilson, Smuts was quoted as saying that: "Not Wilson, but humanity failed at Paris."
52
While in Britain for an
Imperial Conference in June 1921
, Smuts went to Ireland and met
Éamon de Valera
to help broker an armistice and peace deal between the
warring British and Irish nationalists
. Smuts attempted to sell the concept of Ireland receiving
Dominion
status similar to that of Australia and South Africa.
53
During his first premiership Smuts was involved in a number of controversies. The first was the
Rand Revolt
of March 1922, where aeroplanes were used to bomb white miners who were striking in opposition to proposals to allow non-whites to do more skilled and semi-skilled work previously reserved to whites only.
54
Smuts was accused of siding with the
Rand Lords
who wanted the removal of the colour bar in the hope that it would lower wage costs.
55
The white miners perpetrated acts of violence across the Rand, including murderous attacks on non-Europeans, conspicuously on African miners in their compounds, and this culminated in a general assault on the police.
56
Smuts declared martial law and suppressed the insurrection in three days – at a cost of 291 police and army deaths, and 396 civilians killed.
57
A Martial Law Commission was established which found that Smuts used larger forces than were strictly required, but had saved lives by doing so.
57
The second was the
Bulhoek Massacre
of 24 May 1921, when at Bulhoek in the eastern Cape eight hundred South African policemen and soldiers armed with
maxim machine guns
and two field artillery guns killed 163 and wounded 129 members of an indigenous religious sect known as "Israelites" who had been armed with knobkerries, assegais and swords and who had refused to vacate land they regarded as holy to them.
58
Casualties on the government side at Bulhoek amounted to one trooper wounded and one horse killed.
58
Once again, there were charges of the unnecessary use of overwhelming force. However, no commission of enquiry was appointed.
59
The third was the
Bondelswarts Rebellion
, in which Smuts supported the actions of the South African administration in attacking the Bondelswarts in
South West Africa
. The mandatory administration moved to crush what they called a rebellion of 500 to 600 people, of which 200 were said to be armed (although only about 40 weapons were captured after the Bondelswarts were crushed).
60
Gysbert Hofmeyr
, the Mandatory Administrator, organised 400 armed men, and sent in aircraft to bomb the Bondelswarts. Casualties included 100 Bondelswart deaths, including a few women and children.
60
A further 468 men were either wounded or taken prisoner.
60
South Africa's international reputation was tarnished. Ruth First, a South African anti-apartheid activist and scholar, describes the Bondelswarts shooting as "the
Sharpeville
of the 1920s".
61
As a botanist, Smuts collected plants extensively over southern Africa. He went on several botanical expeditions in the 1920s and 1930s with
John Hutchinson
, former botanist-in-charge of the African section of the Herbarium of the
Royal Botanic Gardens
and taxonomist of note. Smuts was a keen mountaineer and supporter of mountaineering.
62
One of his favourite rambles was up
Table Mountain
along a route now known as Smuts' Track. In February 1923 he unveiled a memorial to members of the
Mountain Club
who had been killed in the First World War.
62
In 1925, assessing Smuts's role in international affairs,
African-American
historian and
Pan-Africanist
W. E. B. Du Bois
wrote in an article which would be incorporated into the pivotal
Harlem Renaissance
text
The New Negro
Jan Smuts is today, in his world aspects, the greatest protagonist of the
white race
. He is fighting to take control of
Laurenço Marques
from a
nation
that recognizes, even though it does not realize, the equality of
black folk
; he is fighting to keep
India
from political and social equality in the empire; he is fighting to insure the continued and eternal subordination of black to white in Africa; and he is fighting for peace and good will in a white Europe which can by union present a united front to the yellow, brown and black worlds. In all this he expresses bluntly, and yet not without finesse, what a powerful host of white folk believe but do not plainly say in
Melbourne
New Orleans
San Francisco
Hongkong
Berlin
, and London.
63
64
In December 1934, Smuts told an audience at the
Royal Institute of International Affairs
that:
How can the
inferiority complex
which is obsessing and, I fear, poisoning the mind, and indeed the very soul of
Germany
, be removed? There is only one way and that is to recognise her complete equality of status with her fellows and to do so frankly, freely and unreservedly ... While one understands and sympathises with
French fears
, one cannot, but feel for Germany in the prison of inferiority in which she still remains sixteen years after the conclusion of the war. The continuance of the Versailles status is becoming an offence to the conscience of Europe and a danger to future peace ... Fair play, sportsmanship—indeed every standard of private and public life—calls for frank revision of the situation. Indeed ordinary prudence makes it imperative. Let us break these bonds and set the complexed-obsessed soul free in a decent human way and Europe will reap a rich reward in tranquility, security and returning prosperity.
65
Though in his Rectorial Address delivered on 17 October 1934 at
St Andrews University
he stated that:
The new Tyranny, disguised in attractive patriotic colours, is enticing youth everywhere into its service. Freedom must make a great counterstroke to save itself and our fair western civilisation. Once more the heroic call is coming to our youth. The fight for human freedom is indeed the supreme issue of the future, as it has always been.
66
Second World War
edit
Field Marshal
Smuts, standing left, at the 1944
Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference
After nine years in opposition and academia, Smuts returned as
deputy prime minister
in a 'grand coalition' government under
J. B. M. Hertzog
. When Hertzog advocated neutrality towards
Nazi Germany
in 1939, the coalition split and Hertzog's motion to remain out of the war was defeated in
Parliament
by a vote of 80 to 67.
Governor-General
Sir Patrick Duncan
refused Hertzog's request to dissolve parliament for a general election on the issue. Hertzog resigned and Duncan invited Smuts, Hertzog's coalition partner, to form a government and become prime minister for the second time in order to lead the country into the
Second World War
on the side of the
Allies
67
On 24 May 1941, Smuts was appointed a
field marshal
of the
British Army
68
Smuts's importance to the Imperial war effort was emphasised by a quite audacious plan, proposed as early as 1940, to appoint Smuts as
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
, should Churchill die or otherwise become incapacitated during the war. This idea was put forward by
Jock Colville
, Churchill's private secretary, to Queen
Mary
and then to
George VI
, both of whom warmed to the idea.
69
In May 1945, he represented South Africa in
San Francisco
at the drafting of the
United Nations Charter
70
According to historian
Mark Mazower
, Smuts "did more than anyone to argue for, and help draft, the UN's stirring preamble."
71
Smuts saw the UN as key to protecting white imperial rule over Africa.
72
Also in 1945, he was mentioned by
Halvdan Koht
among seven candidates that were qualified for the
Nobel Prize in Peace
. However, he did not explicitly nominate any of them. The person actually nominated was
Cordell Hull
73
Later life
edit
Smuts House
, Irene,
Pretoria
Jan Smuts Museum library
Smuts, presented with the Order of Merit by George VI
In domestic policy, a number of social security reforms were carried out during Smuts's second period in office as prime minister. Old-age pensions and disability grants were extended to 'Indians' and 'Africans' in 1944 and 1947 respectively, although there were differences in the level of grants paid out based on race. The Workmen's Compensation Act of 1941 "insured all employees irrespective of payment of the levy by employers and increased the number of diseases covered by the law," and the Unemployment Insurance Act of 1946 introduced unemployment insurance on a national scale, albeit with exclusions.
74
Smuts continued to represent his country abroad. He was a leading guest at the 1947
wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
75
At home, his preoccupation with the war had severe political repercussions in South Africa. Smuts's support of the war and his support for the
Fagan Commission
made him unpopular amongst the Afrikaner community and
Daniel François Malan
's pro-apartheid stance won the
Reunited National Party
the
1948 general election
70
In 1948, he was elected
Chancellor of the University of Cambridge
, becoming the first person from outside the United Kingdom to hold that position. He held the position until his death two years later.
76
He accepted the appointment as Colonel-in-Chief of
Regiment Westelike Provinsie
as from 17 September 1948.
77
In 1949, Smuts was bitterly opposed to the
London Declaration
which transformed the British Commonwealth into the
Commonwealth of Nations
and made it possible for
republics
(such as the newly independent India) to remain its members.
78
page needed
79
In the South African context, republicanism was mainly identified with
Afrikaner
Conservatism
and with tighter racial segregation.
80
Death
edit
On 29 May 1950, a week after the public celebration of his eightieth birthday in Johannesburg and Pretoria,
Field Marshal
Jan Smuts suffered a
coronary thrombosis
. He died of a subsequent heart attack on his family farm of Doornkloof,
Irene
, near
Pretoria
, on 11 September 1950.
70
Relations with Churchill
edit
In 1899, Smuts interrogated the young
Winston Churchill
, who had been captured by Afrikaners during the Boer War, which was the first time they met. The next time was in 1906, while Smuts was leading a mission about South Africa's future to London before Churchill, then
Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies
. The
British Cabinet
shared Churchill's sympathetic view, which led to
responsible government
within the year, followed by
dominion
status for the
Union of South Africa
in 1910. Their association continued in the First World War, when Lloyd George appointed Smuts, in 1917, to the war cabinet in which Churchill served as
Minister of Munitions
. By then, both had formed a fast friendship that continued through Churchill's "wilderness years" and the Second World War, to Smuts's death.
Charles Wilson, 1st Baron Moran
, Churchill's personal physician, wrote in his diary:
Smuts is the only man who has any influence with the PM; indeed, he is the only ally I have in pressing counsels of common sense on the PM. Smuts sees so clearly that Winston is irreplaceable, that he may make an effort to persuade him to be sensible.
81
Churchill:
Smuts and I are like two old love-birds moulting together on a perch, but still able to peck.
81
When
Anthony Eden
said at a meeting of the
Chiefs of Staff
(29 October 1942) that
Bernard Montgomery
's
Middle East offensive
was "petering out", after having some late night drinks with Churchill the previous night,
Alan Brooke
had told Churchill "fairly plainly" what he thought of Eden's ability to judge the tactical situation from a distance (Churchill was always impatient for his generals to attack at once). He was supported at the Chiefs of Staff meeting by Smuts.
82
Brooke said he was fortunate to be supported by:
a flow of words from the mouth of that wonderful statesman. It was as if oil had been poured on the troubled waters. The temperamental film-stars returned to their tasks – peace reigned in the dove cot!
Views
edit
Race and segregation
edit
Smuts and his parties supported existing policies of
racial discrimination
in South Africa, taking a more moderate and ambiguous stance than the rival
National Party
, and he later endorsed the relatively liberal proposals of the
Fagan Commission
83
84
At the
1926 Imperial Conference
Smuts stated:
If there was to be equal manhood suffrage over the Union, the whites would be swamped by the blacks. A distinction could not be made between Indians and Africans. They would be impelled by the inevitable force of logic to go the whole hog, and the result would be that not only would the whites be swamped in Natal by the Indians but the whites would be swamped all over South Africa by the blacks and the whole position for which the whites had striven for two hundred years or more now would be given up. So far as South Africa was concerned, therefore, it was a question of impossibility. For white South Africa it was not a question of dignity but a question of existence.
63
64
Smuts was, for most of his political life, a vocal supporter of
segregation
of the races, and in 1929 he justified the erection of separate institutions for black and white people in tones prescient of the later practice of
apartheid
The old practice mixed up black with white in the same institutions, and nothing else was possible after the native institutions and traditions had been carelessly or deliberately destroyed. But in the new plan there will be what is called in South Africa "segregation"; two separate institutions for the two elements of the population living in their own separate areas. Separate institutions involve territorial segregation of the white and black. If they live mixed together it is not practicable to sort them out under separate institutions of their own. Institutional segregation carries with it territorial segregation.
85
In general, Smuts's view of
black Africans
was patronising: he saw them as immature human beings who needed the guidance of whites, an attitude that reflected the common perceptions of most westerners in his lifetime. Of black Africans he stated that:
These children of nature have not the inner toughness and persistence of the European, not those social and moral incentives to progress which have built up European civilization in a comparatively short period.
85
Although
Gandhi
and Smuts were adversaries in many ways, they had a mutual respect and even admiration for each other. Before Gandhi returned to India in 1914, he presented General Smuts with a pair of sandals (now held by
Ditsong National Museum of Cultural History
) made by Gandhi himself. In 1939, Smuts, then prime minister, wrote an essay for a commemorative work compiled for Gandhi's 70th birthday and returned the sandals with the following message: "I have worn these sandals for many a summer, even though I may feel that I am not worthy to stand in the shoes of so great a man."
86
Smuts is often accused of being a politician who extolled the virtues of humanitarianism and liberalism abroad while failing to practise what he preached at home in South Africa. This was most clearly illustrated when
India
, in 1946, made a formal complaint in the UN concerning the legalised racial discrimination against Indians in South Africa. Appearing personally before the
United Nations General Assembly
, Smuts defended the policies of his government by fervently pleading that India's complaint was a matter of domestic jurisdiction. However, the General Assembly censured South Africa for its racial policies
87
and called upon the Smuts government to bring its treatment of the South African Indians in conformity with the basic principles of the
United Nations Charter
87
88
At the same conference, the
African National Congress
President General
Alfred Bitini Xuma
along with delegates of the
South African Indian Congress
brought up the issue of the brutality of Smuts's police regime against the
African Mine Workers' Strike
earlier that year as well as the wider struggle for equality in South Africa.
89
In 1948, he went further away from his previous views on segregation when supporting the recommendations of the
Fagan Commission
that Africans should be recognised as permanent residents of White South Africa, and not merely as temporary workers who belonged in the reserves.
83
This was in direct opposition to the policies of the
National Party
that wished to extend segregation and formalise it into apartheid. There is, however, no evidence that Smuts ever supported the idea of equal political rights for black and white people. Despite this, he did say:
The idea that the Natives must all be removed and confined in their own
kraals
is in my opinion the greatest nonsense I have ever heard.
90
The Fagan Commission did not advocate the establishment of a non-racial democracy in South Africa, but rather wanted to liberalise influx controls of black people into urban areas in order to facilitate the supply of black African labour to the South African industry. It also envisaged a relaxation of the
pass laws
that had restricted the movement of black South Africans in general.
91
Smuts did not believe in racial equality however. During a speech he delivered in the House of Assembly on 21 September 1948, Smuts outlined his own party's policy in regards to race as such:
Our policy has been European paramountcy in this country. Our policy has not been equal rights. We have never had any truck with equal rights. It is an abstraction forced upon us by our opponents. We stand and have always stood for European supremacy in this country. We have said that we have a position of guardianship, of trusteeship, over the non-European peoples in the country, and we must carry out that trust in the true spirit of exploitation but in a way which will justify our claim to be guardians of these people. We have never been in favour of equal rights. We have always stood and we stand for social and residential separation in this country, and for the avoidance of all racial mixture.
92
During the discussion, Smuts also spoke of making the reserves "attractive and keep the Native people who are there and should be there within their own areas," while also seeing "that they are politically developed, and that they can have a position of managing their own affairs in these areas." When one parliamentarian said to Smuts that he was "coming nearer and nearer to Apartheid," Smuts replied
I do not see why the Government party should claim this, it has always been our policy. With regard to the majority of the native people who live in the European areas, they are economically necessary to those areas. They have lived there, they have the right to be there. Every day they work there and they are economically integrated with these areas. We cannot move them away. All we can do is to improve their lots, to prevent these eyesores, these abhorrent conditions which are now arising in the industrial areas in South Africa. Therefore, our party on this side of the House have advocated Native villages, satellite villages or towns in those areas, which will provide proper housing, proper health, proper education and other facilities in those villages alongside and parallel to the White townships. That is what we have stood for. I do not believe members on the other side of the House have a definite policy.
93
Earlier in the discussion however, Smuts did criticise the government taking away (as he put it) the "very small rights" which non-Europeans had, arguing
I want to pin down this House and concentrate the public attention of this country on this issue — that what is contemplated, what is involved now, is not merely the abstract catchword of apartheid, but what is involved is fundamental change in the constitution of this country, a thing which we have never done before and which we did not contemplate doing in the future. Apart from this very grave issue that arises on our constitution I would ask, as a matter of policy, is it wise, is it right for us to take away these very small rights which the non-Europeans have in this country? Their political rights are so limited, there is so little to it, that I should have thought it would be simple elementary political wisdom to leave the matter alone. Here you have three European representatives of the Natives in a House of 153 members. What is the menace, what is the danger? It seems to me that it is simply playing with enormous issues. Here you have millions of people entrusted to our care. They cannot speak for themselves, that is the little voice they have, that is all they have. We gaily and unconcernedly step over them, we almost stamp on them, and we walk across them and take away these small rights, or propose to take away these small rights that have been given to them. How can we face our own public opinion in this country? How can we face the public opinion of the world? How can we face the future of South Africa when we behave in this way to people that have been put in our charge as a sacred trust? How can we defend ourselves? How can we with a clean conscience go forward to the future in such a way? I would therefore ask the House, and the people of this country, to be most careful. These people possess very small rights at present, and there is no question of their being extended in the immediate future. They may be extended according to the wisdom and the insight of those who follow us, but at present there is no such intention at all. The only matter we are faced with is the taking away of these few rights that they have. I think it is the height of folly.
94
In the assessment of South African
Cambridge
professor
Saul Dubow
, "Smuts's views of freedom were always geared to securing the values of western Christian civilization. He was consistent, albeit more flexible than his political contemporaries, in his espousal of
white supremacy
."
95
Holism and related academic work
edit
Main articles:
Holism
and
Holism and Evolution
While in academia, Smuts pioneered the concept of
holism
, which he defined as "[the] fundamental factor operative towards the creation of wholes in the universe" in his 1926 book,
Holism and Evolution
96
48
Smuts's formulation of holism has been linked with his political-military activity, especially his aspiration to create a league of nations. As one biographer said:
It had very much in common with his philosophy of life as subsequently developed and embodied in his Holism and Evolution. Small units must develop into bigger wholes, and they in their turn again must grow into larger and ever-larger structures without cessation. Advancement lay along that path. Thus the unification of the four provinces in the Union of South Africa, the idea of the British Commonwealth of Nations, and, finally, the great whole resulting from the combination of the peoples of the earth in a great league of nations were but a logical progression consistent with his philosophical tenets.
97
Zionism
edit
A 1944 painting of Smuts by
William Timym
in the Imperial War Museum
In 1943
Chaim Weizmann
wrote to Smuts, detailing a plan to develop Britain's African colonies to compete with the United States. During his service as premier, Smuts personally fundraised for multiple
Zionist
organisations.
98
His government granted
de facto
recognition to Israel on 24 May 1948.
99
However, Smuts was deputy prime minister when the
Hertzog government
in 1937 passed the
Aliens Act
that was aimed at preventing Jewish immigration to South Africa. The act was seen as a response to growing
anti-Semitic
sentiments among Afrikaners.
100
Smuts lobbied against the
White Paper of 1939
101
and several streets and a
kibbutz
Ramat Yohanan
, in Israel are named after him.
99
102
He also wrote an
epitaph
for Weizmann, describing him as "the greatest Jew since
Moses
."
103
Smuts once said:
Great as are the changes wrought by this war, the great world war of justice and freedom, I doubt whether any of these changes surpass in interest the liberation of Palestine and its recognition as the Home of Israel.
104
Legacy
edit
Statue
in
Parliament Square
, London, by
Jacob Epstein
One of his greatest international accomplishments was aiding in the establishment of the
League of Nations
, the exact design and implementation of which relied upon Smuts.
105
He later urged the formation of a new international organisation for peace – the
United Nations
. Smuts wrote the first draft of the
preamble to the United Nations Charter
, and was the only person to sign the charters of both the League of Nations and the UN. He played a key role in the development of
trusteeship
and the
League of Nations mandate
system.
106
He sought to redefine the relationship between the United Kingdom and her colonies, helping to establish the
British Commonwealth
, as it was known at the time. This proved to be a two-way street; in 1946 the
General Assembly
requested the Smuts government to take measures to bring the treatment of
South African Indians
into line with the provisions of the
United Nations Charter
87
In 1932, the kibbutz
Ramat Yohanan
in Israel was named after him. Smuts was a vocal proponent of the creation of a
Jewish state
, and spoke out against the rising
antisemitism
of the 1930s.
107
A street in the
German Colony
neighbourhood of Jerusalem and a boulevard in
Tel Aviv
are named in his honour.
108
In 1917, part of the
M27 route
in
Johannesburg
was renamed from
Pretoria Road
109
to
Jan Smuts Avenue
110
: 39
The
international airport serving Johannesburg
was known as Jan Smuts Airport from its construction in 1952 until 1994. In 1994, it was
renamed
to Johannesburg International Airport following the fall of apartheid. In 2006, it was renamed again to its current name, OR Tambo International Airport, after the
ANC
politician
Oliver Tambo
111
In 2004, Smuts was named by voters in a poll held by the
South African Broadcasting Corporation
(SABC) as one of the top ten
Greatest South Africans
of all time. The final positions of the top ten were to be decided by a second round of voting but the programme was taken off the air owing to political controversy and
Nelson Mandela
was given the number one spot based on the first round of voting. In the first round, Field Marshal Smuts came ninth.
112
Mount Smuts
, a peak in the
Canadian Rockies
, is named after him.
113
In August 2019, the
South African Army
Regiment Westelike Provinsie was renamed after Smuts as the
General Jan Smuts Regiment
114
115
The
Smuts House Museum
at Smuts's home in Irene is dedicated to promoting his legacy.
116
Orders, decorations and medals
edit
Field Marshal Smuts was honoured with orders, decorations and medals from several countries.
117
South Africa
Africa Service Medal
Dekoratie voor Trouwe Dienst
Efficiency Decoration
Medalje voor de Anglo-Boere Oorlog
Union of South Africa Commemoration Medal
Victory Medal
United Kingdom
1914–15 Star
1939–1945 Star
Africa Star
British War Medal
Defence Medal
France and Germany Star
Italy Star
King George V Silver Jubilee Medal
King George VI Coronation Medal
Order of Merit
1947
Order of the Companions of Honour
1917
War Medal 1939–1945
Belgium
Grand Cordon of the
Order of Leopold II
(1946)
Grand Cross of the
Order of the African Star
(1948)
Grand Officer of the
Order of Leopold
(1917)
Croix de Guerre
(1917)
Denmark
King Christian X's Liberty Medal
(1947)
Kingdom of Egypt
Grand Cross of the
Order of Muhammad Ali
(1947)
France
Commander of the
Legion of Honour
(1917)
Kingdom of Greece
Grand Cross of the
Order of the Redeemer
(1949)
Gold Cross of Valour
(1943)
Netherlands
Grand Cross of the
Order of the Netherlands Lion
(1946)
Portugal
Grand Cross of the
Order of the Tower and Sword
(1945)
United States
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
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edit
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9789634752509
Steiner, Zara (2005).
The lights that failed: European international history, 1919–1933
. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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978-0-19-151881-2
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, p. 38.
Howe 1949
, p. 74.
Smuts 1952
, p. 252.
Hancock 1968
, pp. 63–88.
Hancock 1968
, p. 69.
Hancock 1968
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Foreign Affairs
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"The Negro Mind Reaches Out"
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(ed.).
The New Negro: An Interpretation
(1927 ed.). Albert and Charles Boni. p. 385.
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"J.B.M. Hertzog: prime minister of South Africa"
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"No. 35172"
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Heathcote 1999
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Mazower 2013
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"Social assistance in South Africa: Its potential impact on poverty"
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Colville 2004
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Coutenay, Paul H.,
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. 1st U.S. ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1988
"Race Segregation In South Africa New Policies and Factors in Race Problems"
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2010
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2011
"Unverified article attributed to the Delhi News Chronicle"
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2015
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SOUTH AFRICAN PARTIES AND POLICIES 1910-1960 A SELECT SOURCE BOOK Edited with an introduction by D.W. KRÜGER, M.A., D.LITT, 1960, P.426-427
SOUTH AFRICAN PARTIES AND POLICIES 1910-1960 A SELECT SOURCE BOOK Edited with an introduction by D.W. KRÜGER, M.A., D.LITT, 1960, P.424-425
Dubow, Saul H.
(January 2008). "Smuts, the United Nations and the Rhetoric of Race and Rights".
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0022-0094
JSTOR
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S2CID
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Smuts, J.C. (1927).
Holism and evolution
. Рипол Классик.
ISBN
978-5-87111-227-4
{{
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}}
ISBN / Date incompatibility (
help
Crafford, p. 140
Hunter, pp 21–22
Beit-Hallahmi 1988
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"Untold story of Jan Smuts and the founding of Israel"
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2026
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"Jan Smuts given honor where honor was due"
The Jerusalem Post
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0792-822X
. Retrieved
21 November
2021
"JAN SMUTS AVENUE"
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2016
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(PDF)
City of Johannesburg
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2017
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2013
"SA se gewildste is Nelson Mandela"
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the original
on 6 October 2011
. Retrieved
17 May
2013
Place-names of Alberta
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hdl
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defenceWeb
. 7 August 2019
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2021
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www.iol.co.za
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28 June
2021
"Smuts House"
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. Retrieved
30 June
2021
Alexander, E. G. M., Barron G. K. B. and Bateman, A. J. (1985).
South African Orders, Decorations and Medals
(photograph page 109)
Sources
edit
Primary
edit
Hancock, W. K.
; van der Poel, J. (1966–1973).
Selections from the Smuts Papers, 1886–1950
. Vol. 7.
Smuts, J. C. (1934).
Freedom
. Alexander Maclehose & Co.
ASIN
B006RIGNWS
Smuts, J. C. (1940).
The Folly of Neutrality – Speech by the Prime Minister
. Johannesburg: Union Unity Truth Service.
OCLC
10513071
Secondary
edit
Alanbrooke, Field Marshal Lord
(2001).
War Diaries 1939–1945
. Phoenix Press.
ISBN
1-84212-526-5
Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin (1988).
The Israeli Connection: Whom Israel Arms and Why
. I. B. Tauris.
ISBN
978-1850430698
Cameron, Trewhella (1994).
Jan Smuts: An Illustrated Biography
. Human & Rousseau.
ISBN
978-0-798-13343-2
Colville, John (2004).
The Fringes of Power
. Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
ISBN
978-0-297-84758-8
Crafford, F. S. (1943).
Jan Smuts: A Biography
. Kessinger Publishing.
ISBN
1-4179-9290-5
{{
cite book
}}
ISBN / Date incompatibility (
help
Crawford, Neta (2002).
Argument and Change in World Politics: Ethics, Decolonization and Humanitarian Intervention
. Cambridge University.
ISBN
0-521-00279-6
Crossman, R. H. S. (1960).
A nation reborn;: A personal report on the roles played by Weizmann, Bevin and Ben-Gurion in the story of Israel
. Atheneum Publishers.
ASIN
B0007DU0X2
Crowe, J. H. V. (2009).
General Smuts' Campaign in East Africa
. Naval and Military Press.
ISBN
978-1-843-42949-4
Dugard, John (1973).
The South West Africa/Namibia Dispute: Documents and Scholarly Writings on the Controversy Between South Africa and The United Nations
. University of California Press.
ISBN
0-520-02614-4
First, Ruth (1963).
South West Africa
. Penguin.
ASIN
B004F1QT50
Gooch, John (2000).
The Boer War: Direction, Experience and Image
. Routledge.
ISBN
978-0-714-65101-9
Hancock, W. K. (1962).
Smuts: 1. The Sanguine Years, 1870—1919
. Cambridge University.
ASIN
B0006AY7U8
Hancock, W. K. (1968).
Smuts: 2. Fields of Force, 1919–1950
. Cambridge University.
ISBN
978-0-521-05188-0
Heathcote, Tony (1999).
The British Field Marshals 1736–1997
. Leo Cooper.
ISBN
0-85052-696-5
Howe, Quincy (1949).
A World History of Our Own Times
. Simon and Schuster.
ASIN
B0011VZAL6
Hunter, Jane (1987).
Israeli Foreign Policy: South Africa and Central America
. Spokesman Books.
ISBN
978-0-851-24485-3
Kee, Robert (1988).
Munich
. Hamish Hamilton.
ISBN
978-0-241-12537-3
Klieman, Aaron S.
(1991).
Recognition of Israel: An End & a New Beginning: An End and a New Beginning
. Routledge.
ISBN
978-0-824-07361-9
Mazower, Mark (2013).
No Enchanted Palace: The End of Empire and the Ideological Origins of the United Nations
. Princeton University Press.
ISBN
978-0-691-15795-5
Smuts, J. C. (1952).
Jan Christian Smuts by his son
. Cassell.
ISBN
978-1-920-09129-3
{{
cite book
}}
ISBN / Date incompatibility (
help
Spies, S.B.; Natrass, G. (1994).
Jan Smuts: Memoirs of the Boer War
. Jonathan Ball, Johannesburg.
ISBN
978-1-868-42017-9
Woodward, David R. (1998).
Field Marshal Sir William Robertson
. Praeger.
ISBN
0-275-95422-6
Further reading
edit
Armstrong, H. C. (1939).
Grey Steel: A Study of Arrogance
. Penguin.
ASIN
B00087SNP4
Friedman, Bernard
(1975).
Smuts: A Reappraisal
. Allen & Unwin.
ISBN
978-0-049-20045-6
Geyser, Ockert (2002).
Jan Smuts and His International Contemporaries
. Covos Day Books.
ISBN
978-1-919-87410-4
Hutchinson, John
(1946).
A Botanist in Southern Africa
. PR Gawthorn Ltd.
ASIN
B0010PNVVO
Ingham, Kenneth (1986).
Jan Christian Smuts: The Conscience of a South African
. Palgrave Macmillan.
ISBN
978-0-312-43997-2
Joubert, Anton (2023).
Jan Smuts, 1870–1950: A Photobiography
. Pretoria: Protea.
ISBN
9781485313847
OCLC
1372393402
Katz, David Brock (2022).
General Jan Smuts and His First World War in Africa, 1914–1917
. Casemate Publishers.
ISBN
978-1-63624-017-6
Kraus, René (1944).
Old Master—The Life of Jan Christian Smuts
. Longmans, Green & Company.
Lentin, Antony
(2010).
General Smuts: South Africa
. Haus.
ISBN
978-1-905791-82-8
Millin, Sarah
(1936).
General Smuts
. Vol. 2. Faber & Faber.
ASIN
B0006AN8PS
External links
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"Revisiting Urban African Policy and the Reforms of the Smuts Government, 1939–48", by Gary Baines
Africa and Some World Problems
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Holism and Evolution
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The White man's task
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ZBW
Political offices
Preceded by
New office
Minister for the Interior
1910–1912
Succeeded by
Abraham Fischer
Preceded by
New office
Minister for Defence
(first time)
1910–1920
Succeeded by
Hendrik Mentz
Preceded by
Henry Charles Hull
Minister for Finance
1912–1915
Succeeded by
Sir David Pieter de Villiers Graaff
Preceded by
Louis Botha
Prime Minister
(first time)
1919–1924
Succeeded by
James Barry Munnik Hertzog
Preceded by
Oswald Pirow
Minister for Justice
1933–1939
Succeeded by
Colin Fraser Steyn
Preceded by
James Barry Munnik Hertzog
Prime Minister
(second time)
1939–1948
Succeeded by
Daniel François Malan
Preceded by
Oswald Pirow
Minister for Defence
(second time)
1939–1948
Succeeded by
Frans Erasmus
Preceded by
James Barry Munnik Hertzog
Minister for Foreign Affairs
1939–1948
Succeeded by
Daniel François Malan
Party political offices
Preceded by
Louis Botha
Leader of the
South African Party
1919–1934
Merged into United Party'
Preceded by
James Barry Munnik Hertzog
Leader of the
United Party
1939–1950
Succeeded by
Jacobus Gideon Nel Strauss
Academic offices
Preceded by
Sir Wilfred Grenfell
Rector of the University of St Andrews
1931–1934
Succeeded by
Guglielmo Marconi
Preceded by
The Prince of Wales
later became
King Edward VIII
Chancellor of the University of Cape Town
1936–1950
Succeeded by
Albert van der Sandt Centlivres
Preceded by
Stanley Baldwin
Chancellor of the University of Cambridge
1948–1950
Succeeded by
The Lord Tedder
Jan Smuts
Life
Early life
The South African Republic
The Boer War
The Old Boers
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II
III
in other positions
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Statue of Jan Smuts, Parliament Square
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Prime ministers
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Jan Smuts
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Smuts
Apartheid-era (1948–1994)
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Louw
Muller
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Post-Apartheid (1994–present)
Nzo
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Nkoana-Mashabane
Sisulu
Pandor
Lamola
Note: Until the appointment of Louw in 1955 the
prime minister
was also foreign minister.
Home affairs ministers
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Fischer
Smuts
Watt
Duncan
Malan
Hofmeyr
Stuttaford
Lawrence
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Heunis
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Smuts
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Manuel
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Nene
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Gordhan
Gigaba
Nene
Mboweni
Godongwana
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Jameson
Smartt
Hertzog
Smuts
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Malan
Hertzog
Malan
Smuts
Strauss
Graaff
Cadman
Eglin
Slabbert
Eglin
Treurnicht
Hartzenberg
vacant
(1994–1996)
de Klerk
van Schalkwyk
Leon
Botha
Trollip
Mazibuko
Maimane
Lotriet
Steenhuisen
Hlophe
*acting
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Jan Smuts
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