A shameful episode and I’m glad to see efforts already well afoot to consign it to the dustbin of history. Let’s hope the proverbial moral arc bends a little bit tighter towards justice this time around.
The iberian nations must have been gutted when it happened. They had finally restored their empires with huge and wealthy African colonies, only to be almost immediately press ganged into an alliance against the two major colonial empires and the US. Whatever ended up happening in the war to come, they must have known that the UK wasn't going to ve defeated or invaded, and thus would probably keep everything they managed to seize during the war, which very likely would include most if not all of Africa.
The new world order after that great war will be an interesting one indeed, especially if the British do gain even more of Africa (probably not everything, to get the iberians or at least the Portuguese back on side) and thus have to figure out even more legislation and voting rights for new, pretty much wholly black and African colonies. This could well make the SA situation, far from a duel of wits between the ANP and the white gov, the big issue of the post war federation, since it would inevitably stretch to include all 'native' rights and voting causes across the map.
It would be a mess, yet would also lead to a swifter and possibly juster solution that could well end up saving the federation from eventually seccession.
I am reminded of Tolkien's comment to his son about the situation in South Africa in one of his letters:
"As for what you say or hint of ‘local’ conditions: I knew of them. I don't think they have much changed (even for the worse). I used to hear them discussed by my mother; and have ever since taken a special interest in that part of the world. The treatment of colour nearly always horrifies anyone going out from Britain, & not only in South Africa. Unfort[unately], not many retain that generous sentiment for long."
The last sentence being particularly pertinent.
It is a very 'convenient' system for whites, and those who pass as such. Intoxicating for sure. I recall when my grandfather and father had south Africans as classmates, the bullying was intense. However, whilst the british were a weird symbol of hope for some non-whites in SA, and the british had no end of disdain for SA's policies, they did bugger all to stop it and quietly accepted it (and in cases of commonwealth immigration, Windrush generation etc, aspired to copy the practice themselves).
Probably a good example of majoring in Western hypocrisy.
I'm just kind of wondering about the demographics at this point. IRL, at the turn of the 20th century, for every white man there was in the Transvaal, there was somewhere between 1 or 2 blacks in the republic. Considering that both republics were mentioned as majority white, and I'm assuming that the Cape is now majority British, I'm just left wondering where that majority black population is? The Cape is still filled to the brim with Coloureds (and if you consider them "black" it's just rather cheap, they too joined in on the Great Trek), so it has to be the Xhosa and Zulu making up most of it, with the Swasi and Sotho backing up another large part. Can't imagine the Cape being split at this point, so the other commonwealths must be Bechunaland and Rhodesia (and whatever Namibia might be called as I recall the Brits taking it), which would be the only way for it to work.
But going on quotes, I can recall one from Verwoerd, and I can very well understand the sentiment, that in the multiracial South Africa, not only would the Afrikaners be disenfranchised, but also the British, Coloureds and Indians. Together, they only make up 20% of the population, and since the end of Apartheid, the ANC has ruled without any threat.
I wonder if the South Africans will
Live to regret agreeing to federation with Britain, if the ANPers succeed in bringing their challenge through the High Court - even if they will have to wait for some time yet.
Well...i suppose the inevitable with a federation is uniformity of law and suffrage, at least in the commonwealth realms. 'Colonies', crown dependencies and basically the Raj might get away with some discrepancy or stonewalling, but commonwealths won't. Remember they all meet up in the same parliment now and your peers will censure you if you're obviously flaunting the spirit of the law/suffrage order.
South Africa is basically looking at OTL levels of international and federation condemnation, pretty much as soon as the war is over. I don't know how long they'll mange to keep it going, but I would estimate a decade or so rather than nearly a century. Especially if the Great Depression hits and the federation suddenly has SA over a barrel. But I think apartheid isn't going to work in a federal system for long (indeed, I don't expect the Raj system to last for much longer without some adjustment/partitioning).
A shameful episode and I’m glad to see efforts already well afoot to consign it to the dustbin of history. Let’s hope the proverbial moral arc bends a little bit tighter towards justice this time around.
Well, @BigBadBob, this is a cracker of an AAR, a real treat. I love the familiar feel of your world, despite the butterflies that are running away in your TL.
Vic 2 being Vic 2, I have to confess that I am enjoying the geopolitics more than the domestics, although that is entirely my preference and both are very well written. The whole has the feel of an academic text, and your updates have the authoritative tone of @El Pip's style, the highest compliment that I can bestow...
MR GANDHI GOES TO WESTMINSTER
India and the Early Federation Debate
Henry Cairns-Watson
Imperial Federation, however, offered a potential counter to this. Perhaps Dominion status or independence were not the only routes forward for India. Perhaps the various parts of India could gain Responsible Government, to prove they could handle it.
Gandhi working with the ANP is an interesting development. Some internationalism among the oppressed colonial subjects would be nice to see, but it seems a little way off yet. Very interested to see what happens in India after the War.
The British Empire becoming a sort of (white) British International would, I imagine, absolutely rile up the extreme left and right. I can imagine the Communist response being along the lines of a standard critique of liberal politics (ie, federation is to empire what social democracy is to capital). The fascists may well just go for the full “fortress (greater) Britannia” approach, which considering the history of British border law could well be on the way anyway.
In this sense I guess it would be not unlike attitude to the EU and associated institutions.
It all, then, would seem to await the outcome of the war. I'd be intrigued, here, to see how loosely you follow the game as I've had some bloodily horrific (and therefore realistic) experiences, while some just degenerate in tear-inducingly dull games of 'chase 1000 Germans round Africa'. If the British play to their strengths - maritime independence and dominance, and the ability to sweep up the colonies, they should prevail. I note that Pax Britannica seems stronger here than in OTL.
VOC as an abbreviation is inspired, as it is also the abbreviation for "Volatile Organic Compound" and the old Dutch India Company, the "Vereenigde Ost-Indische Compagnie". Both seemed both inspired and apt!
I do have to wonder how the sectarian divide will affect India's approach to Federation. With the greater degree of granularity that has so far been used to draw up constituencies, I'm holding out hope that the disaster that followed in the wake of our world's 1947 partition can at least mostly be avoided...
I am glad I am not the only one who spotted that first one.VOC as an abbreviation is inspired, as it is also the abbreviation for "Volatile Organic Compound" and the old Dutch India Company, the "Vereenigde Ost-Indische Compagnie". Both seemed both inspired and apt!
and your updates have the authoritative tone of @El Pip's style, the highest compliment that I can bestow...
I am honoured my majestic style has become a useful benchmark of magnificence, even if the pacing is concerning. Concerning mainly because I remain ever envious of those who can produce such excellent quality at such a terrifyingly rapid pace.That is a high compliment indeed. I'm honoured.
I am glad I am not the only one who spotted that first one.
The debate is when they leave and on what terms.