SOUTH AFRICA 600 SOUTH AFRICA years. Both the English and Dutch lan- guages are official. The Governor-Gen- eral in 1920 was Viscount Buxton, and the Prime Minister, General J. C. Smuts. The Union is represented in London by a High Commissioner. The administra- tion of justice is in the hands of the various courts, consisting of the Appel- late Division and several provincial di- visions of the Supreme Court of South Africa. History. — The history of the Union of South Africa, properly speaking, of course, begins only with the formation of the Union in 1910. Previous to that jlate the history is identical with ^ that of its several provinces, where it is treated more extensively. The first Governor-General was Vis- count Gladstone, the son of the famous British statesman. The first cabinet of the Union was headed by General Botha and included among others, Generals Smuts, Hertzog, and Fischer. In 1912 a cabinet crisis developed as a result of General Hertzog's claims that Premier Botha over-emphasized the interests of the British Empire as compared to those of the Union, and showed too strong leanings toward imperialism. The points i at issue were closely connected with the' opposition to the presence of large num- bers of Hindoo laborers, and with the restrictive legislation against these Hin-^ doo laborers which had been passed. The; crisis finally resulted in the splitting of the Nationalist Party into two factions. The matter eventually was settled, at least partially. In 1913 an extensive strike of the miners on the Rand oc- curred. In spite of considerable violence and the calling out of troops, the strike was eventually settled by the interven- tion of the government. A general strike of all miners attempted in 1914 failed as a result of the quick action of the government in arresting the leaders and in forcibly deporting them to England. The Union Parliament passed stringent Jaws against all forms of picketing, strikes on public works were made a penal offense, and the Government was given permission to deport anyone con- victed of public violence or sedition. The working classes of the Union met this legislation by organizing a Labor Party, in opposition to the Nationalist and Unionist parties. At the outbreak of the World War in 1914, both the Government and the Par- liament of the Union immediately pledged their unfaltering loyalty to the Empire. The government, as early as September, 1914, determined upon the invasion of German Southwest Africa. The details of the campaigns of the Union forces in this former German colony, as well as those of the later campaigns in German East Africa, are given in the article on the World War (q. v.). The first campaign against German pouth Africa, however, was interrupted in October, 1914, by a revolt led by three former Boer leaders, Lieutenant-Colonel Maritz, General Christian de Wet, and General Christian F. Byers. General Botha immediately assumed command against his three former comrades at arms, and by December, 1914, the revolt had practically collapsed after General de Wet had been made a prisoner and General Byers had been killed. Lieuten- ant-Colonel Maritz had been forced to flee into German territory. An internal revolt under the leadership of General Hertzog broke out in February, 1915, but was quickly suppressed by the arrest of most of the leaders. All these were tried and sentenced to fines and terms of imprisonment of varying degrees. In 1915 the Union sent an expedition- ary force to the western front. Anti- German feeling throughout the Union was intense, and serious demonstrations occurred, especially in 1916, in many of the larger cities. In August, 1915, Parliament was dissolved. The new Par- liament elected in October contained a majority for the Government indicating strong popular support of General Bo- tha's policies. Soon after the meeting of Parliament, General de Wet and many of his followers, all of whom had been convicted of high treason, were pardoned. Parliament passed various important bills providing for the reorganization oi higher education and for the unifying of the laws of the separate provinces. A "Trading with the Enemy Act" was also passed. In January, 1917, General Smuts, then in command of the Union forces operating in German East Africa, was sent to Europe as the representa- tive of the Union Government at the Imperial War Conference in London. Although the Nationalists continued their opposition to the government and to its principle of active participation in the war, this opposition did not reflect truly the popular attitude, and the Botha gov- ernment was not only able to maintain itself, but even to increase its majority in Parliament. Late in 1917, a slight rapprochement between the Unionists and Nationalists took place. At the Peace Conference the Union was represented by General Botha and General Smuts, both of whom took an active and influential part in the delib- erations of the Conference. In May, 1919, the Supreme Council awarded the mandate over German Southwest Africa to the Union of South Africa. At the time the Peace Treaty came up for sig-
