World War I split the country, and there was actually some armed rebellion against the Botha government, which joined in the war against Germany, Austria, and Turkey. Then during the 1930s, the Nationalist party and other Afrikaner elements turned toward Hitler in Germany. They added a hatred of Jews to their hatred of the English-speaking South Africans, the native colored, and the Indian population. Further, they advocated a one-party dictatorship in which the English-speaking population would have some of their rights taken from them, and the Indian, native, and black populations would have almost no legal rights at all.
When Germany attacked Poland, and France and Britain then declared war, the question of whether or not South Africa would enter the war on Britain's side was doubtful, but the Smuts government won and Parliament passed a declaration of war by a slim majority.
The postwar years brought a great deal of upheaval to South Africa. The United party and more liberal parties were anxious to further industrialize the country, to bring in immigrants, to promote a policy of gradual or partial equalization of the various races — in other words, to bring South Africa more and more into line with twentieth-century ways and beliefs. The Nationalist party wanted to control immigration and keep the various non-European peoples "in their place." The Nationalists managed to win a very narrow majority in Parliament in the 1948 elections.
They began a program of apartheid ("apartness," or complete segregation) for the three main non-European groups: the largest group, the Indian population (many of whom were merchants and store-owners), the natives (known as Bantus by the government), and the coloreds (of mixed European and native blood). These groups were to lose parliamentary representation so they would have no political rights and no means of protesting government policy. The next step was to eliminate racially integrated universities, schools, labor unions, and any other organizations where races might meet, mix, discuss, and learn to understand each other. The final step was to segregate the whole nation into white and black areas, with native reserves set up where the natives could be kept in strict control. This policy of apartheid was called "separate development" by the government.
