South African War

South African War, sometime called the War of Pretoria, was a conflict fought by South African rebels, Portugal and Japan against the British empire, with the British empire capitulating in the end.

## **Before The Conflict**

South Africa was changed after 1919. Despite the fact that there was no fighting in the country, the Cairo War would dictate the fate of South Africa. Across the nation mass protests were held demanding an end to segregation and an end to British imperialism. Once the war ended, the protests were still ongoing. But the British empire quickly and swiftly quelled the unrest with violence, resulting in 10 dead, 2 being under the age of 14. This horrified the nation, mostly the African population, because the Boers and Whites didn’t experience any violence and chose to not help the protestors. But for many, there was hope. With the rise of Syndicalist Germany, communism became the most popular ideology for underground movements in the dominion. Overtime, they grew in popularity, even with some whites acting as spies for the movements. The biggest movement, was called the Freedom Movement, with Bram Fischer coming into power in 1928. The Freedom Party participated in guerilla activities, and made plans for a staged coup to occur. In the end, the Freedom Movement changed ideologies several times, before settling on Market Socialism.

At the same time, Portugal years earlier became monarchist country again, with the guise of regaining Portuguese colonies and reclaiming Portuguese legacy. Japan had also wanted to expand, and was waiting for the right time to strike the rest of British Malaysia.

## **Conflict Begins**

Starting in April 19th, the Freedom Movement began to raid government buildings and arrested many government officials and killed others who didn’t comply. Later that day, a radio announcement was made, announcing the coup to the public. The British government demanded the Freedom Party step down, but they didn’t. Instead Bram Fischer called on the people of South Africa to throw off their chains and fight the imperialistic British. Thousands of men were conscripted within days and the British declared war against the new South African government. Within days, the Africans of Lesotho so and Swaziland helped the South Africans take their countries, and soon after men were drafted to the battlefield in Botswana. The South Africans were able to take the colony within 3 weeks after slow progress with the immense help of African guerilla forces. The people in Botswana welcomed the South African government. As the British were slowly being pushed out of Southern Africa, Portuguese forces began entering Rhodesia which caused the British government to panic. But they weren’t quick to act. North and south Rhodesia soon fell to Portuguese forces. But as the British began their offensive into Portuguese colonies, it was heard that the Japanese landed in several port cities in mayalsia without a formal declaration of war. 3 days later, the British surrendered on the 2nd of June.

## **Aftermath**

In the aftermath, the British were forced to fully depart from Southern Africa as well as give away several colonies to Portugal and recognize Japanese influence in Malaysia, per the Treaty of Hong Kong. The British would loose the cape of good hope, and would be even more limited in world trading. This impact would exacerbate the poor British economy, which was still struggling after the crash of 1927. It would allow far-right radicals to become even more powerful in the British isles.