1945 Union of South Africa

Union of South Africa
Flag:
Location:
Capital:
Cape Town (legislative)
Pretoria (administrative)
Bloemfontein (judicial)
Official Languages: English, Afrikaans
Government: Constitutional Monarchy
Currency: South African pound
Formation: May 31 1910
Population: 11,759,000 (1945)
Monarch: King George VI
Prime Minister: Prime Minister Jan Smuts
Lower House: House of Assembly
Upper House: Senate
Welcome to the international embassy of the Union of South Africa.
= Diplomatic Relations =
South Africa is a member of the United Nations, and the British Commonwealth, being a founding member state of the former, and a dominion within the latter since the country's foundation as a unitary state in 1910. The nation's most important international partners include the United Kingdom, the southern African colonies of
Bechuanaland, the Rhodesias, South-West Africa (under South African control since 1914), Swaziland and Basutoland and its fellow Commonwealth realms of Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The United States, as a major investor and world power is another key ally, as is to a lesser extent Portugal, which holds the nearby territories of Mozambique and Angola. 
= Brief History =
The Union of South Africa was born as a unitary constitutional monarchy and a dominion within the British Empire on May 311910, as a successful attempt to end the Anglo-Afrikaaner rivalry which had devastated the region in the 1899-1902 Second Boer War. Since then, it has become ever more independent in its domestic affairs, and since the 1931 Statue of Westminster has, like the other dominions, held equal constitutional status to the United Kingdom. However, the basic loyalty of the South African nation to its British mother has never wavered, and under the premiership of Jan Smuts- made a Field Marshall in the British Army, a member of the Imperial War Cabinet and at one point designated the heir to Winston Churchill as British Prime Minister in the event of his death, has indeed become famously strong.
Politically, the Union is dominated by the United Party, which holds a large majority in both houses of Parliament over the opposition National Party. It is the more moderate of the two major political movements in the country- a broadly centrist, though nonetheless staunchly anti-socialist and hawkish party which has in recent years tended to be the home of English-speaking citizens.
1943 General Election Results (House of Assembly)
United Party- 107 seats
Reunited National Party- 43 seats
Independents- 2 seats
Total: 152 seats
= Diplomatic Messages =