National Party (South Africa)

The National Party was a South African political party founded in 1914 that promoted Afrikaner interests and greater independence from Britain. It governed from 1948 to 1994 and made apartheid state policy.

James Barry Munnik Hertzog: A South African politician who founded the National Party and served as prime minister from 1924 to 1939. He established the party in 1914 after breaking with the South African Party over imperial policy.
Apartheid: A system of racial segregation and white minority rule enforced by South African law from 1948 to the early 1990s. The party’s 1948 victory brought apartheid into government as an explicit program.
1948 South African general election: The election in which the National Party won a parliamentary majority despite receiving fewer votes than its opponents. It brought the party to power and enabled its apartheid program.
D. F. Malan: A South African politician who led the National Party to victory in 1948 and served as prime minister until 1954. He led the party when it began implementing apartheid as official government policy.
South African Party: A political party that governed the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1924 under Louis Botha and Jan Smuts. Hertzog left this party over its close ties to Britain and founded a rival Afrikaner movement.
Population Registration Act, 1950: A South African law requiring people to be classified by race for apartheid administration. National Party rule used racial classification to determine rights, residence, and access to public life.
Sharpeville massacre: The 1960 killing of 69 people by police during an anti-pass-law protest in Sharpeville, South Africa. The massacre exposed the violence of National Party rule and prompted a state of emergency and repression.
J. G. Strijdom: A South African National Party leader who served as prime minister from 1954 to 1958. His government intensified the party’s racial separation policies and restricted Black political representation.
Afrikaner nationalism: A political movement promoting the cultural, linguistic, and political interests of Afrikaners. It supplied the identity and political purpose around which the party organized.
Group Areas Act, 1950: A South African law that assigned racial groups to separate residential and business areas. It converted the party’s segregationist program into forced removals and racially divided cities.

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