The Rise of Afrikaner Nationalism in South Africa

The rise of Afrikaner nationalism was incumbent on Afrikaners' attitudes towards. Reactions to and engrained social identity of class. Class was significant to Afrikaner nationalism both internally, in reference. To class structure within the Afrikaner culture, and externally. In relation to Afrikaners in the wider South African class structure. A mutual understanding of the importance of class structure. Was a foundational way that Afrikaners mobilised their separate factions. Joining together to battle against British imperialism and the prospect of Black domination. Throughout this paper, I shall identify and explain the primary two turning points in South African history. That forced unity amongst the Afrikaner people, through a common ideology towards, and experience of, class.

The first turning point was the Great Trek, undertaken from 1836-1854. Arguably the most significant period in its history. It saw Afrikaners migrating away from the British inhabited. Cape to escape the jingoistic foreign policy plaguing their land. The second turning point was known as the poor White problem that beleaguered Afrikaners following the loss of the Anglo-Boer War. This period saw factions carefully orchestrating a planned economy. That would go on to solidify their superiority over Black South Africans. And fight to level their status with educated, English speaking White immigrants. The key question to note is just how vital was the recurrent rhetoric and practices of class structure necessary in the unification of the Afrikaner people? I shall now go on to analyse these turning points in Afrikaner history, with an intent focus on the role that class played in this story of perceived human supremacy, leading to their collective victory under the Nationalist Party in 1948.

Having suffered from continuous wars since 1815 (known as Mfecane), Afrikaners were suffering from an increased loss of habitable land, as well as their once held rights to the land their ancestors had claimed as home in the 18th century (Ibid). Gallant figures in the Afrikaner community lead the longing for a new life, true to the Afrikaner culture, and away from the reach of the British. The Great Trek refers to the consequent migration of some six thousand Afrikaner men, women and children by 1840. Their destination was East away from the Cape, towards fertile land found north of the Orange River and south of the Tugela River (Thompson, 2000). Thompson includes in African Wars and White Invaders: Southeast Africa, 1770-1870 a statement sent to the Grahamstown Journal by Piet Retief, a key Boer leader, which outlines the motivations behind the Afrikaner's Great Trek:

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"We are resolved, wherever we go, that we will uphold the just principles of liberty; but, whilst we will take care that no one shall be held in a state of slavery, it is our determination to maintain such regulations as may suppress crime, and preserve proper relations between master and servant."

The motivation to preserve proper relations between master and servant is crucial in understanding the role of class in the rise of Afrikaner nationalism. Afrikaners held deeply rooted beliefs and assumptions about race and ethnicity that influenced their views of what a just class system, in the eyes of God, looks like. The Afrikaner people asserted that they were assigned to Southern Africa, by God, as the chosen people to fulfill God's mission (Van Jaarsveld, 1964). Van Jaarsveld highlights a clear link between this assertion of manifest destiny, the growth of a historical legend and national ideology. This connection solidifies the importance of the Great Trek, due to Afrikaners' interpretation that it was their God-given mission, in increasing Afrikaner nationalism through a sense of national identity. The embedded assumptions about race dictated Afrikaner attitudes towards class forevermore.

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