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Jan Christian Smuts

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Jan Christian Smuts

by Smuts, J. C

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  • Hardcover
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About This Item

London: Cassell & Company Ltd, 1952. First U.K. Edition. Hardcover. Good/Fair. xvi, 568 pages. Illustrations (with 23 pages of halftone illustrations and 5 maps). Appendix. Bibliography Index. Small tears to DJ and small pieces missing Discoloration inside boards and on some pages. This biography is by the subject's son. This biography of one of the greatest and most respected men of our time has a very special intimacy and authenticity. No other man could have brought to it such a full knowledge and understanding, for this is a record of Smuts 's life by his own son. The official biography, freely documented and substantiated in the smallest detail, is in course of preparation by a group of scholars accredited by Smuts's own family and the South African Government, but that work cannot be ready for some years. Meanwhile, this life of the greatest man South Africa has produced is of special interest, both for the portrait it paints and for the inside history of South Africa which it relates. For the story of Smuts is the story of South Africa and his whole fife was spent in a constant struggle against the political creed which is the root cause of the troubles in the Union today. His friendship with President Kruger led him into politics, and a passionate love of his own country into the Boer War. His training in England, however, and his understanding of the British point of view gave him his great opportunity for statesmanship when he and his great friend Botha together brought their country back into prosperity by way of Union at home and peace and friendship with Britain. With the death of Botha the leadership of South Africa fell wholly on the shoulders of Smuts. Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, OM, CH, DTD, ED, PC, KC, FRS (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 Africa from 1919 to 1924 and 1939 to 1948. Smuts was born to Afrikaner parents in the British Cape Colony. He was educated at Victoria College, Stellenbosch before reading law at Christ's College, Cambridge on a scholarship. He was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1894 but returned home the following year. In the leadup to the Second Boer War, Smuts practiced law in Pretoria, the capital of the South African Republic. He led the republic's delegation to the Bloemfontein Conference and served as an officer in a commando unit following the outbreak of war in 1899. In 1902, he played a key role in negotiating the Treaty of Vereeniging, which ended the war and resulted in the annexation of the South African Republic and Orange Free State into the British Empire. He subsequently helped negotiate self-government for the Transvaal Colony, becoming a cabinet minister under Louis Botha. Smuts played a leading role in the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, helping shape its constitution. He and Botha established the South African Party, with Botha becoming the union's first prime minister and Smuts holding multiple cabinet portfolios. As defense minister he was responsible for the Union Defence Force during the First World War. Smuts personally led troops in the East African campaign in 1916 and the following year joined the Imperial War Cabinet in London. He played a leading role at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, advocating for the creation of the League of Nations and securing South African control over the former German South-West Africa. In 1919, Smuts replaced Botha as prime minister, holding the office until the South African Party's defeat at the 1924 general election by J. B. M. Hertzog's National Party. He spent several years in academia, during which he coined the term "holism", before eventually re-entering politics as deputy prime minister in a coalition with Hertzog; in 1934 their parties subsequently merged to form the United Party. Smuts returned as prime minister in 1939, leading South Africa into the Second World War at the head of a pro-interventionist faction. He was appointed field marshal in 1941 and in 1945 signed the UN Charter, the only signer of the Treaty of Versailles to do so. His second term in office ended with the victory of the reconstituted National Party at the 1948 general election, with the new government beginning the implementation of apartheid.
Smuts was an internationalist who played a key role in establishing and defining the League of Nations, United Nations and Commonwealth of Nations.

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Details

Bookseller
Ground Zero Books US (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #
701
Title
Jan Christian Smuts
Author
Smuts, J. C
Format/Binding
Hardcover
Book Condition
Used - Good
Jacket Condition
Fair
Quantity Available
1
Edition
First U.K. Edition
Publisher
Cassell & Company Ltd
Place of Publication
London
Date Published
1952
Keywords
Jan Christian Smuts, South Africa, Boer War, Cecil Rhodes, Cape Town, WW1, WWII, Louis Botha, Winston Churchill, Paul Kruger, Daniel Malan, Milner

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About the Seller

Ground Zero Books

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
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Silver Spring, Maryland

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