Jan Christiaan Smuts

General Jan Christiaan Smuts was not only a world-famed statesman and a soldier, but also a naturalist and philosopher. He was born near Riebeeck West in the Cape Colony on 24 May 1870. His mother taught him the elements of reading and writing in English and he only entered school at the age of twelve at the death of his elder brother. After only five years of formal schooling, he matriculated with distinction at the Victoria College, Stellenbosch, and in 1891 gained a double first in the combined literary and science degree examination of the University of the Cape of Good Hope. This achievement earned him the Ebden scholarship to study at Cambridge University. In October of that year, he entered Christ’s College in Cambridge to study law. His high intellect and methodical method of study enabled him to top the lists for all intercollegiate examinations in law. In 1894 he achieved the unprecedented distinction of first place in the first class in both parts of the law course. He returned in 1895 and practised as an advocate in Cape Town. Smuts was attracted to politics and was a supporter of the Rhodes-Hofmeyr partnership until he was disillusioned by the Jameson Raid (organised by Rhodes) and became a republican and an Afrikaner nationalist. He gave up his private law practice and became State Attorney and advisor to the Executive Council in the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR, South African Republic) under President Paul Kruger at the age of 28.

During the Second Anglo-Boer War he was deeply involved in the planning and execution of the extended guerilla phase of the conflict. He distinguished himself as a military strategist and became a general in the Republican Forces. He attended the Vereeniging Peace Conference in 1902 as legal adviser to the Transvaal government at. After peace was signed, he returned to Pretoria and again went into legal practice. Here he and Louis Botha formed the Het Volk Party. By 1907 he was appointed minister of education and colonial secretary in the Botha government in the Transvaal Colony. During this time he devoted his energies to the achievement of a political union of the four British colonies in South Africa and was largely responsible for the drafting of the Union of South Africa's constitution as a delegate to the National Convention. His view on the treatment of Blacks in the future Union was that, while it was the duty of Whites to deal justly with them and raise them up in civilization, they must not be given political power.

Smuts was a man of daunting intellect and among his friends were Winston Churchill and Mohandas Gandhi. He was minister of interior, defense and mines in the first Union Cabinet. Due to his reconciliatory attitude towards the English he was unpopular with his kinsmen. He also antagonised Afrikaner Nationalists by not reprieving Jopie Fourie, the only rebel executed after the failed Boer rebellion of 1914-1915.

During the First World War he excelled as field general in the German South-West African and East African campaigns and also served on the Imperial War Cabinet. He was instrumental in the creation of the Royal Air Force and ensured the independence of the British dominions. He played an important role in the drafting of the constitution of the League of Nations, forerunner of the United Nations. In 1919 he attended the Paris Peace Conference with Botha and, following Botha's death in August, became prime minister of the Union of South Africa. In 1921 he merged the Union Party and the South African Party and strengthened his power base. Due to his severe handling of the Rand Rebellion in 1922 he lost the next election, in 1924, to J.B.M. Hertzog and his National Party (NP). In 1933 Smuts became deputy prime minister and minister of justice under Hertzog. Their coalition led to the formation of the United Party in 1934.

In 1939 Hertzog and Smuts differed over the war issue and on Hertzog’s defeat in parliament on the motion to remain neutral during the war, Smuts took over as Premier. The decision to enter World War Two (WW2) on the side of Britain alienated many of the Afrikaans-speaking people from his government. Smuts contributed to the policy-making decisions of the Allied forces and was promoted to field marshal of the British Army in 1941. During the years directly following the war he was involved in the formation of the United Nations.

During World War Two (WW2), inspired by the Native Representative Council, the African National Congress (ANC), the Transvaal Indian Council and other organisations, the non-White races became increasingly dissatisfied with their political impotence and economic backwardness. To look into these grievances, Smuts established the Fagan Commission after the war in August 1946, to investigate laws relating to urban Blacks, pass laws, and the socio-economic circumstances of migrant workers. Smuts, on behalf of the United Party, accepted the third suggested policy of the commission, namely that of acceptance of the fact that Whites and the other races existed side by side in South Africa (in opposition to the belief that they were only temporary residents in White areas who should stay in their reserves) and that legislation and administration would have to take into account the differences between them. This commission, and Smuts with them, in effect considered the policy of apartheid or total segregation altogether impractical. In Smuts’ own words:

“The idea that the Natives must all be removed and confined in their own kraals is in my opinion the greatest nonsense I have ever heard.”

In the meantime, the Herenigde National Party appointed the Sauer Commission to formulate guidelines for a future policy towards other races. The Sauer Commission, fearing that a policy steering a middle course between equalisation and apartheid would lead to integration, advocated the policy of apartheid.

The general election of May 1948, won by the Herenigde National Party largely supported by the Afrikaner community, decided the future policy of South Africa for the next fifty years. After the election Smuts resigned and Dr. D.F. Malan took over the government. Jan Smuts died on his farm Doornkloof, near Irene close to Pretoria, on 11 September 1950.

Smuts received throughout his career a large number of decorations, honours and awards. His house at Doornkloof is preserved as a museum, while his birthplace was declared a historical monument in 1955. In 2004 Smuts was listed by voters in an opinion poll held by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) as sixth of the top hundred Greatest South Africans of all time.

Sources:

Kruger, D.W. (ed)(1972). Dictionary of South African Biography, Cape Town: Human Sciences Research Council, v. 1, pp. 737-758.
Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 10, pp. 15-22.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Smuts

	Jan Christiaan Smuts 1870 - 1950


General Jan Christiaan Smuts was not only a world-famed statesman and a soldier, but also a naturalist and philosopher. He was born near Riebeeck West in the Cape Colony on 24 May 1870. His mother taught him the elements of reading and writing in English and he only entered school at the age of twelve at the death of his elder brother. After only five years of formal schooling, he matriculated with distinction at the Victoria College, Stellenbosch, and in 1891 gained a double first in the combined literary and science degree examination of the University of the Cape of Good Hope. This achievement earned him the Ebden scholarship to study at Cambridge University. In October of that year, he entered Christ’s College in Cambridge to study law. His high intellect and methodical method of study enabled him to top the lists for all intercollegiate examinations in law. In 1894 he achieved the unprecedented distinction of first place in the first class in both parts of the law course. He returned in 1895 and practised as an advocate in Cape Town. Smuts was attracted to politics and was a supporter of the Rhodes-Hofmeyr partnership until he was disillusioned by the Jameson Raid (organised by Rhodes) and became a republican and an Afrikaner nationalist. He gave up his private law practice and became State Attorney and advisor to the Executive Council in the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR, South African Republic) under President Paul Kruger at the age of 28. During the Second Anglo-Boer War he was deeply involved in the planning and execution of the extended guerilla phase of the conflict. He distinguished himself as a military strategist and became a general in the Republican Forces. He attended the Vereeniging Peace Conference in 1902 as legal adviser to the Transvaal government at. After peace was signed, he returned to Pretoria and again went into legal practice. Here he and Louis Botha formed the Het Volk Party. By 1907 he was appointed minister of education and colonial secretary in the Botha government in the Transvaal Colony. During this time he devoted his energies to the achievement of a political union of the four British colonies in South Africa and was largely responsible for the drafting of the Union of South Africa's constitution as a delegate to the National Convention. His view on the treatment of Blacks in the future Union was that, while it was the duty of Whites to deal justly with them and raise them up in civilization, they must not be given political power. Smuts was a man of daunting intellect and among his friends were Winston Churchill and Mohandas Gandhi. He was minister of interior, defense and mines in the first Union Cabinet. Due to his reconciliatory attitude towards the English he was unpopular with his kinsmen. He also antagonised Afrikaner Nationalists by not reprieving Jopie Fourie, the only rebel executed after the failed Boer rebellion of 1914-1915. During the First World War he excelled as field general in the German South-West African and East African campaigns and also served on the Imperial War Cabinet. He was instrumental in the creation of the Royal Air Force and ensured the independence of the British dominions. He played an important role in the drafting of the constitution of the League of Nations, forerunner of the United Nations. In 1919 he attended the Paris Peace Conference with Botha and, following Botha's death in August, became prime minister of the Union of South Africa. In 1921 he merged the Union Party and the South African Party and strengthened his power base. Due to his severe handling of the Rand Rebellion in 1922 he lost the next election, in 1924, to J.B.M. Hertzog and his National Party (NP). In 1933 Smuts became deputy prime minister and minister of justice under Hertzog. Their coalition led to the formation of the United Party in 1934. In 1939 Hertzog and Smuts differed over the war issue and on Hertzog’s defeat in parliament on the motion to remain neutral during the war, Smuts took over as Premier. The decision to enter World War Two (WW2) on the side of Britain alienated many of the Afrikaans-speaking people from his government. Smuts contributed to the policy-making decisions of the Allied forces and was promoted to field marshal of the British Army in 1941. During the years directly following the war he was involved in the formation of the United Nations. During World War Two (WW2), inspired by the Native Representative Council, the African National Congress (ANC), the Transvaal Indian Council and other organisations, the non-White races became increasingly dissatisfied with their political impotence and economic backwardness. To look into these grievances, Smuts established the Fagan Commission after the war in August 1946, to investigate laws relating to urban Blacks, pass laws, and the socio-economic circumstances of migrant workers. Smuts, on behalf of the United Party, accepted the third suggested policy of the commission, namely that of acceptance of the fact that Whites and the other races existed side by side in South Africa (in opposition to the belief that they were only temporary residents in White areas who should stay in their reserves) and that legislation and administration would have to take into account the differences between them. This commission, and Smuts with them, in effect considered the policy of apartheid or total segregation altogether impractical. In Smuts’ own words: “The idea that the Natives must all be removed and confined in their own kraals is in my opinion the greatest nonsense I have ever heard.” In the meantime, the Herenigde National Party appointed the Sauer Commission to formulate guidelines for a future policy towards other races. The Sauer Commission, fearing that a policy steering a middle course between equalisation and apartheid would lead to integration, advocated the policy of apartheid. The general election of May 1948, won by the Herenigde National Party largely supported by the Afrikaner community, decided the future policy of South Africa for the next fifty years. After the election Smuts resigned and Dr. D.F. Malan took over the government. Jan Smuts died on his farm Doornkloof, near Irene close to Pretoria, on 11 September 1950. Smuts received throughout his career a large number of decorations, honours and awards. His house at Doornkloof is preserved as a museum, while his birthplace was declared a historical monument in 1955. In 2004 Smuts was listed by voters in an opinion poll held by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) as sixth of the top hundred Greatest South Africans of all time. Sources: Kruger, D.W. (ed)(1972). Dictionary of South African Biography, Cape Town: Human Sciences Research Council, v. 1, pp. 737-758. Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 10, pp. 15-22. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Smuts