Reasons for the NP victory in 1948

• The changing government

  In the 1948 elections, the National Party won 79 seats to the United Party's 71. The new government was committed to an extensive policy of apartheid in which the races were segregated as far as possible. The National Party was to win every further decision until the demise of apartheid in 1994.
• National Party leaders of government, 1948-94

  Name - Years - Reason for leaving

  • D.F. Malan - 1948-54 - retirement
  • J.G. Strijdom - 1954-58 - Death from cancer
  • H. Verwoerd - 1958-66 - Assassination
  • J. Vorster - 1966-79 - Resignation
  • P.W. Bortha - 1979-89 - Ill-health
  • F.W. de Klerk - 1989-94 - Electoral defeat
• The impact of WW2

  The outbreak of WW2 divided white people. English speakers were more likely to support the Allies while Afrikaner people often felt affinity with Nazi Germany.
• Economics effects of war

  The need for labour meant many of the laws relating to the employment of African people were relaxed: of the 125,000 extra workers employed in manufacturing during the war years, just 25% were white. Although African people received far less pay than white people, many Afrikaner people feared Africans would take their jobs once the war is over.
• The growth of Afrikaner nationalism

  Afrikaner people were becoming more assertive and developing the National Party: they were organising at local levels to win support and developing strategies for the achievement of power
• Fear of United Party moderation of racial policies. Many white people distrusted the United Party on its racial policies. During the election campaign Smuts suggested the influx of African people into white areas for employment could continue. Although he emphasised African people should continue to live in strictly segregated and regulated communities, the NP focused much of their campaign on attacks of this policy.
• Afrikaner support for the Nazis

  While half the white South African male population of military age -180,00 men- joined the Allied forces, some Afrikaner people actively worked for a Nazi victory, for example by broadcasting and publishing pro-Nazi material.
• International pressures for change

  The international response to the National Party victory was muted because many European countries such as Britain and France still had empires in which the indigenous population were subservient.

  SA, was surrounded by pliant neighbours such as Rhodesia, part of the British Empire, and Angola and Mozambique, governed by Portugal
• United Nations

  The first international discussion on apartheid had been initiated by India concerned about the treatment of Indian people in South Africa as early as 1946. Thereafter the UN General Council condemned apartheid every year from 1952.

  SA avoided pressure to change as it was seen as a reliable ally against the growth of Communism