Reasons for the National Party victory in 1948

In the 1948 elections, the National Party won 79 seats to the United Party’s 71. The new government was committed to an extensive policy of apartheid in which the races were segregated as far as possible. The National Party was to win every further election until the demise of apartheid in 1994.

The National Party won the election for many reasons: the outgoing Prime Minister Jan Smuts was old and tired and his campaign lacked lustre. No new policies were on offer. However, here were fundamental underlying reasons for the victory.

The impact of the Second World War

The outbreak of the Second World War divided the whites. English speakers were more likely to support the Allies while Afrikaners often felt affinity with Nazi Germany. Hendrik Verwoerd, a future prime minister, became the editor of Die Transvaler, the newspaper of the National Party. This became notorious during the war not only for its pro-Nazi stance but also for its anti-Semitism.

Economic effects of the war

The need for labour meant many of the laws relating to the employment of Africans were relaxed: of the 125,000 extra workers employed in manufacturing during the war years, just 25 per cent were white. Although Africans received far less pay than whites, many Afrikaners feared Africans would take their jobs once the war was over. In particular they feared the ruling United Party, under the guidance of Deputy Prime Minister Jan Hofmeyr, was preparing a more moderate racial policy.

The growth of Afrikaner nationalism

Afrikaners were becoming more assertive and developing the National Party: they were organising at local levels to win support and developing strategies for the achievement of power.

• They did not trust the English-speaking parties.

• In 1938 the Voortrekker monument, celebrating the centenary of the Battle of Blood River, was built: it created a real sense of Afrikaner identity.

• Afrikaner finance concerns were developed to help Afrikaners set up their own businesses.

• The Dutch Reformed Church provided Afrikaner schools and cultural activities to develop a pride in Afrikaner identity.

Fear of United Party moderation of racial policies

Many whites distrusted the United Party on its racial policies. During the election campaign Smuts suggested the influx of Africans into white areas for employment could continue. Although he emphasised Africans should continue to live in strictly segregated and regulated communities, the National Party focused much of their campaign attacks on this policy.

Afrikaner support for the Nazis

While half the white South African male population of military age - 180,000 men - joined the Allied forces, some Afrikaners actively worked for a Nazi victory, for example by broadcasting and publishing pro-Nazi material. Many joined the openly pro-fascist Greyshirt movement, or supported the Oxwagon Sentinel formed after the Battle of Blood River centenary and modelled on the Nazi Party. It claimed 250,000 members by 1939. Many were interned as potential traitors during the war years.

International pressures for change

The international response to the National Party victory was muted because many European countries such as Britain and France still had empires in which the indigenous populations were subservient. South Africa was surrounded by pliant neighbours such as Rhodesia, part of the British Empire, and Angola and Mozambique, governed by Portugal. South Africa was itself in charge of South West Africa (Namibia), to its north-east.

However, international criticism grew, particularly as anti-colonial movements developed.

United Nations

The first international discussion on apartheid had been initiated by India concerned about the treatment of Indians in South Africa as early as 1946. Thereafter the UN General Council condemned apartheid every year from 1952.

However, the USA was very influential within the United Nations, especially in its Security Council. South Africa avoided pressure to change because it as seen as a reliable ally against the growth of communism, and profitable for investment. The situation was to change significantly by the end of the 1950s but, initially at least, the South African government was free to act without international coercion.