Jan Christiaan Smuts

Jan Christiaan Smuts (1870-1950), South African leader, who promoted the connection of his country with Britain and the Commonwealth of Nations.

Born on May 24, 1870, near Riebeek-Wes in the British-dominated Cape Colony, Smuts was a member of a prominent Afrikaner family and was educated at the University of Cambridge in England. During the Boer War (1899-1902) between the British and the Boer (Afrikaner) republics north of the Cape Colony, he fought on the Boer side, but later advocated cooperation with Britain. He was instrumental in securing self-government under British rule for the defeated Boers (1907) and in arranging the merger of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State with Natal and the Cape Colony to form the Union of South Africa (1910). During World War I Smuts commanded British imperial forces in East Africa (1916-17), represented South Africa in Britain's Imperial War Cabinet (1917-18), and helped plan the organization of the League of Nations. As prime minister of South Africa (1919-24) he enjoyed great prestige among Commonwealth leaders but was disliked at home by Afrikaners for his pro-British attitudes, and he antagonized labor by suppressing a miners' strike in 1922. He was deputy prime minister under J. B. M. Hertzog from 1933 to 1939, when he himself again became prime minister. Over strong opposition from Afrikaner nationalists, who favored neutrality, he brought South Africa into World War II on the Allied side. After leaving office in 1948, Smuts opposed the nationalist government of Daniel F. Malan.