South African veterans and the institutionalization of apartheid in South Africa

Abstract

It is a recurring theme of this book that combatants are affected by war in profound and long lasting ways. 1 Veterans form distinct cohorts in postwar polities and as such warrant attention as discreet historical actors. This chapter, by focusing on the attitudes and voting behaviours of veterans of the Second World War, explores how they shaped the postwar socio-political construct in South Africa. By making use of new sources, in particular 234 reports based on the censorship of mail sent between the battle and home fronts during the Second World War, 2 the chapter argues that a coincidence of interest and attitudes emerged as a consequence of the conflict that led white veterans to vote for the Herstigte Nationale Party (HNP) in the 1948 general election. With the Nationalist victory, which ushered in formalised apartheid in South Africa, dependent on 'narrow majorities' in key districts. 3 it is likely that the veterans' franchise proved decisive in this epoch defining election. The chapter explores a number of dynamics that radicalised and politicalised white soldiers during the war. The censorship reports show, for example, that white soldiers were deeply affected by their shared experience of the front line, leading to the development of a new spirit of social solidarity among white South Africans, a sentiment coined 'South Africanism' by some scholars. 4 Another set of dynamics, 1 The idea that the war was a transformative event for South African soldiers is not a new one.