The willing and the not so willing: conscription and resistance to compulsory military service in South Africa, 1968-1989

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorDu Plessis, Tienie
dc.contributor.authorVan der Westhuizen, Gert
dc.contributor.authorLiebenberg, Ian
dc.date.accessioned2016-07-21T06:25:07Z
dc.date.available2016-07-21T06:25:07Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.description.abstractSouth Africa participated in two world wars without implementing compulsory military service. Following the Second World War, the Union Defence Force relied on the Active Citizen Force to supplement its manpower needs. Leaders of the ruling National Party, influenced by the Cold War psychosis, myopically believed that global conflict was defined by two ideologies in a deadly struggle for dominance, nationalism and communism. Apartheid advocates made a distinction between the white “us” and the black “them”; Christianity against barbarism; Marxism-Leninism against Christian- Nationalism. Maintaining Nationalist rule increasingly demanded manpower. Conscription for white men was a reality for twenty years, supplying conscripts for border duty and later for suppressing internal unrest. More than 500 000 served in the military, many of them in northern Namibia, Angola and South African townships. War resisters were monitored, ostracised, ridiculed, forced to emigrate or jailed. This contribution shares some thoughts on the issue, including moral objections to apartheid violence and the militarisation of South African society.en_ZA
dc.description.versionPublisher's version
dc.identifier.citationDu Plessis, T., Van der Westhuizen, G., & Liebenberg, J. C. R. (2012). The willing and the not so willing: conscription and resistance to compulsory military service in South Africa, 1968-1989. Journal for Contemporary History. 37(2), 143-164.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn0258-2422 (print)
dc.identifier.issn2415-0509 (online)
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11660/3546
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherFaculty of Humanities, University of the Free Stateen_ZA
dc.rights.holderFaculty of Humanities, University of the Free State
dc.subjectApartheiden_ZA
dc.subjectMilitarisationen_ZA
dc.subjectNational serviceen_ZA
dc.subjectConscriptsen_ZA
dc.subjectBorder Waren_ZA
dc.subjectTotal onslaughten_ZA
dc.subjectConscientious objectionen_ZA
dc.subjectWar resistersen_ZA
dc.subjectTotal strategyen_ZA
dc.titleThe willing and the not so willing: conscription and resistance to compulsory military service in South Africa, 1968-1989en_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
contemp_v37_n2_a11.pdf
Size:
183.34 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.76 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
JCH 2012 Volume 37 Issue 2