If a mere seven more MPs had voted with Prime Minister JBM Hertzog in favour of neutrality, South Africa’s history would have been quite different.
Parliament’s narrow decision to go to war in 1939 led to a seismic upheaval throughout the 1940s: black people streamed in their thousands from rural areas to the cities in search of jobs; volunteers of all races answered the call to go ‘up north’ to fight; and opponents of the Smuts government actively hindered the war effort by attacking soldiers and committing acts of sabotage. It also sparked debates among nationalists, socialists, liberals and communists such as the country had never previously experienced.
- Webinar on Zoom. Wednesday November 25 at 11h00
- Entry details on payment of R60.00
- MACH Standard Bank 01 507 402 1. Ref name
- mike@meerhoflodge.co.za
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