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JBM Hertzog

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James Barry Munnik Hertzog, better known as JBM Hertzog (born April 3, 1866 near Wellington, Cape Colony - died November 21, 1942 in Pretoria, Union of South Africa) was a Boer general and the Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa from 1924 to 1939. Throughout his life he encouraged the development of the Afrikaner culture, determined to protect the Afrikaner from British influence.

Hertzog received his law degrees from Victoria College in Stellenbosch, Cape Colony and the University of Amsterdam. He had a law practice in Pretoria from 1892 until 1895, when he was appointed to the Orange Free State High Court. During the Boer War of 1899-1902 he rose to the rank of general, becoming the assistant chief commandant of the military forces of the Orange Free State. Despite some military reverses, he gained renown as a daring and resourceful leader of the guerilla forces continuing to fight the British. Eventually, convinced of the futility of further bloodshed, he signed the May 1902 Treaty of Vereeniging.

With the country now at peace, Hertzog plunged into politics as the chief organizer of the Orangia Unie Party. In 1907, the Orange River Colony gained self-government and Hertzog joined the cabinet as Attorney-General and Director of Education. His insistence that Dutch as well as English be taught in the schools met bitter opposition. He was appointed Minister of Justice in the new nation formed on May 31, 1910 called the Union of South Africa. He continued in office until 1912. His antagonism to imperialism and to Premier Botha led to a ministerial crisis. In 1913 he led a secession of the Old Boer and anti-imperialist section from the South African party.

At the outbreak of the South African rebellion in 1914, he kept aloof, not opposing either side. In the years following the war, he headed the opposition to the government of General Smuts.

In the general election of 1924, his National Party defeated the South African Party of Jan Smuts and became the government. In 1934, the National Party and the South African Party merged to form the United Party.

Hertzog was a republican who believed strongly in promoting the independence of the Union of South Africa from the British Empire. His government approved the Statute of Westminster in 1931, and in 1937 after King Edward VIII abdicated as King of the United Kingdom (and thus King of South Africa), Hertzog insisted the South African parliament "approve" this decision in a vote. On September 4, 1939, the United Party caucus refused to accept Hertzog's stance of neutrality in World War II and deposed him in favor of Smuts.