Afrikaner nationalist politics and anti-communism, 1937-1945

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:This study is an analysis of the origins and early evolution ofthe conception of a communist menace in South African politics.While anti-communist sentiments in the South African politicalarena does not know any racial or ethnic bounds, it was in thecontext of white and, more specifically, Afrikaner nationalistpolitics that the conception of a communist menace, during thelatter half of the 1930's, developed a stature and characterwhich placed it on a level distinctively different from earlierreferences to this perceived menace. Chapter One discusses someof the functions of remarks on communism before 1937.Of importance in this analysis is not simply anti-communism asa political sentiment or an indication of political preference,but rather the origins of a specific kind of anti-communismwhich developed into an organic part of the larger ideology ofAfrikaner nationalism. In this regard attention is focussed onthe content, place and role of anti-communism in the mainpolitical embodiments of Afrikaner nationalism between 1937 andMay 1945, viz. the Gesuiwerde/Herenigde Nasionale Party, theOssewa-Brandwag, New Order and the Greyshirt-movement.Relating to the content, place and role of anti-communism inthe aforementioned organisations, the evolution thereof wasaffected by a multiplicity of factors which, included, interalia, the following: World War II, a variety of ideologicalelements relating to communism as well as other ideologies,differences between Afrikaner nationalist oppositionalgroupings, campaigns against Smuts and the ruling United Partyand specific campaigns e.g. the colour question. Chapters Two,Three and Four discusses some of these elements.Chapters Five and Six discusses the three main component partsof the campaign against communism, namely the Colour Question,2Jewish Immigration and the promotion of Christian-nationalisttrade unionism as alternative to the perceived communistapproach. While the campaign against alleged Jewish compassionfor communism had already reached a climax prior to theoutbreak of war in 1939, the struggle for the soul of theAfrikaner working class and the integration of the 'red menace'(communism) and the 'black peril' (the colour question)progressively grew in stature. Particularly the integration ofovert anti-communism and the colour question serves toillustrative the earlier referred to character of anticommunismas an organic part of the ideology of Afrikanernationalism.In conclusion, some remarks are presented on the functionalrole of anti-communism in Afrikaner nationalist as well asSouth African society between 1937 and 1948. Given the factthat this dissertation is a study of conceptions and does notaim to evaluate the factual content or even fairness of remarksattributed to communism, these comments, by nature, will haveto be of a tentative nature.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University