JCH 2013 Volume 38 Issue 1

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Browsing JCH 2013 Volume 38 Issue 1 by Author "Wessels, André"

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    South Africa's land forces, 1912-2012
    (Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2013) Wessels, André
    The South African (SA) Army’s history can be traced back to 1912, when South Africa’s first defence force was established. In this article a review is provided of the development and deployment of South Africa’s land forces in the course of a hundred years (1912-2012), with the emphasis on the role played by these land forces in the First World War (for example in the suppression of the Afrikaner rebellion, in the conquest of German South West Africa, the campaign in German East Africa, on the Western Front in France and in Belgium, and in Palestine), the Second World War (for example in Abyssinia, North Africa, Madagascar, and in Italy), in the war in the north of South West Africa (Namibia) and in Angola (1966-1989), as well as in the efforts to keep law and order in South Africa itself. The developments in transforming the Army of the old South African Defence Force (SADF), together with other armed forces, into a new Army in the post-apartheid South African National Defence Force (SANDF), are also briefly discussed. Throughout, historiographical matters are mentioned by means of references, either in the text or in footnotes, to the most important available sources. For obvious reasons, this is merely a broad introduction to an extensive topic.
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    'n Terugkeer na die "veilige laer": die politek van regse blanke vrese, 1988-1989.
    (Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2013) Du Bruyn, Derek; Wessels, André
    In this article the politics of right-wing fears in the years 1988 and 1989 (i.e. on the cusp of the new political dispensation in South Africa) is analysed. Right-wing politics is compared with the tendency to move to the right in the governing National Party of the time, and contrasted with events in the black political arena; including increasing political unrest and concomitant violence, as well as blackon- black violence. The years 1988 and 1989 were indeed of great significance in the history of South Africa, with PW Botha’s resignation as State President in 1989 paving the way for the watershed events of 1990 and the eventual establishment of a new political dispensation in the country. Issues that are addressed in the article also include the growing tension between the more moderate and more militant right-wing whites; the reasons why far-right whites became ever more militant; the ways in which black people were stereotyped by right-wing whites, and the growth in support for the Conservative Party. The role that fear played in election propaganda is discussed, with special reference to the 1989 “general” election; i.e. the last election in which black people were barred from taking part.