nl, Zuidafrikaanse Partij , leader1_title = Leader (s) , leader1_name =

Louis Botha Louis Botha (; 27 September 1862 – 27 August 1919) was a South African politician who was the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa – the forerunner of the modern South African state. A Boer war hero during the Second Boer War, ...

Jan Smuts Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as prime minister of the Union of South Af ...

,
Barry Hertzog , foundation = , dissolution = , merger = Het Volk

South African Party nl, Zuidafrikaanse Partij , leader1_title = Leader (s) , leader1_name = Louis Botha,Jan Smuts, Barry Hertzog , foundation = , dissolution = , merger = Het Volk South African PartyAfrikaner BondOrangia Unie , merged ...

Afrikaner Bond The Afrikaner Bond (Afrikaans and Dutch for "Afrikaner Union"; South African Dutch: Afrikander Bond) was founded as an anti-imperialist political party in 19th century southern Africa. While its origins were largely in the Orange Free State, ...

Orangia Unie Orangia Unie (United Orange) was a political party established in May 1906 in the Orange River Colony (formerly the Orange Free State) under the leadership of Abraham Fischer, Martinus Theunis Steyn and J. B. M. Hertzog. When the colony gained sel ...

, merged = United Party , headquarters =

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legislative capital Cape To ...

, ideology = Liberal conservatism
Afrikaners' interests , position = Right-wing , colours =

Light blue The first use of "light blue" as a color term in English is in the year 1915. In Russian and some other languages, there is no single word for blue, but rather different words for light blue (, goluboy) and dark blue (, siniy). The ancient Gree ...

, country = South Africa The South African Party ( af, Suid-Afrikaanse Party, nl, Zuidafrikaanse Partij) was a political party that existed in the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Tran ...

from 1911 to 1934.

History

The outline and foundation for the party was realized after the election of a 'South African party' in the

1910 South African general election Year 191 ( CXCI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Apronianus and Bradua (or, less frequently, year 944 ''Ab urbe condit ...

under the leadership of

. It was made up predominantly of Afrikaner parties: * Het Volk from the Transvaal *

and

from the Cape Colony *

from the Orange River Colony The South African Party of the Cape Colony was launched by

William Schreiner William Philip Schreiner (30 August 1857 – 28 June 1919) was a barrister, politician, statesman and Prime Minister of the Cape Colony during the Second Boer War. Early life Schreiner was born at Wittebergen Mission Station near Hersche ...

, the former attorney-general under the leadership of Cecil Rhodes. The party was intended to project a more moderate platform than that of the

. This party also advocated more peaceful relations with neighboring states, especially the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

. Schreiner originally formed the party to oppose the "personal domination of Mr. Rhodes." Eventually, the Afrikaner Bond would lend their support to form a new government. Initially its main political opposition came from Unionist Party, which supported similar policies, but was more English-speaking and took an instinctively pro-British stance. The SAP would solidify after the departure of Barry Hertzog and more radical Boer nationalists who formed the National Party. Rising discontent with the economic policies of the SAP during the bad economic times of the early 1920s culminated in a general strike in 1922. Though a combination of military intervention and negotiation ended the strike, the memory of it remained when the government, now a SAP- Unionist coalition government under the leadership of

, faced the

1924 South African general election General elections were held in South Africa on 19 June 1924 to elect 135 members of the House of Assembly. Considered a realigning election, rising discontent with the government of Jan Smuts led to the defeat of his government by a coalition ...

, in which it was defeated by a

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

coalition. The SAP remained in opposition with its Unionist allies until the unrest of the Great Depression forced Prime Minister Barry HertzogJoyce, Peter. 1989. The South African Family Encyclopaedia of the Nationalists to form a coalition government and on 5 December 1934 a merger which created the United South African National Party (more commonly known as the United Party). From the beginning, a hardliner nationalist faction refused to accept the merger. The remaining nationalists later withdrew from the United Party in 1939, after which what remained was essentially the old SAP under a new name. Nevertheless, the United Party name was retained.

Electoral history

House of Assembly elections

Note

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:South African Party (Union of South Africa) Political parties established in 1911 Defunct political parties in South Africa 1911 establishments in South Africa Political parties disestablished in 1934 Afrikaner organizations Afrikaner nationalism Conservative parties in South Africa Liberal parties in South Africa Protestant political parties