Explain why did the Afrikaners set up and establish an Apartheid state, [in the period 1948-56]

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Rochelle Findley 10L        Miss Wolfson                

The word Apartheid means apartness. An Apartheid state was established in South Africa in 1948 by Prime Minister Malan who wanted a ‘white South Africa’. The Apartheid state was established due to racial, religious, economical and political reasons. Such as, the Boer War, the World Wars and the National lands act of 1913.

        In 1652 South Africa’s first white settlers came from Holland, France and Germany; they fled Europe because of religious persecution. They settled in Cape Town. By the early 1800’s the British had made permanent base in the Cape, this created a need for the Boers to separate themselves from the British as they had different views on government. In 1834 the British abolished slavery, this conflicted with the Boers ideals, therefore the Boers left the cape to go inland on what is known as the Great Trek, on the Great Trek The Battle of Blood River occurred in 1838 between the Boers and the Zulus (an African tribe) 464 to 10,000 respectively, because the Boers wanted Zulu occupied land. The Boers won with no deaths or serious injuries and believed they owed their victory to their covenant (agreement) with God. The Boer leader Pretorius had a dream were god promised victory. The event was a religious reason for the establishment of Apartheid, because the Boers believed that white predominance over Blacks was Gods own will. This was a long standing argument for Apartheid. The event is linked to nationalism because the Boers won with no deaths; they had fewer soldiers so they felt that they were superior to the Zulus because they were white. This is linked to 1948 because it was a start to Boer nationalism.

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        From 1867 there were discoveries of gold and diamonds in South Africa. The British wished to control the gold mines and this was a large contributing factor to the Boer War 1899-1902. The Boers used guerrilla tactics during the war; they would return to their farms occasionally for supplies, knowing this the British burned down the Boer farms and took their wives and children to concentration camps. Many of the women and children died from malnourishment and disease although this was not the aim of the concentration camps. The word Boer means farmer in Afrikaans. After the war the ...

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