Volume 49, Issue 2, 2004
Historia - Volume 49, Issue 2, November 2004
Volume 49, Issue 2, November 2004
In memoriam : Vale Leonard Thompson (1916-2004)
Author T.R.H. Davenport
Source: Historia 49, pp 1 –2 (2004)
Storie van die natuur : omgewingsgeskiedenis as groeiende navorsingsveld
Source: Historia 49, pp 3 –21 (2004)
The story of nature : environmental history as growing research field
Both internationally and in South Africa, environmental history has become one of the most dynamic and fast-growing branches of the historical sciences. This article focuses on the origin and development of environmental history. The concept "environmental history" is defined, its interdisciplinary nature explicated and its role in bridging the nature-culture divide explained. Its international and South African growth is traced, and some trends in environmental history are identified. In conclusion, some remarks are made about the future prospects of environmental history.
Beide op internasionale gebied en in Suid-Afrika het omgewingsgeskiedenis een van die mees dinamiese en snelgroeiendste vertakkings van die historiese wetenskappe geword. Hierdie artikel fokus op die oorsprong en ontwikkeling van omgewingsgeskiedenis. Die konsep "omgewingsgeskiedenis" word gedefinieer, die interdissiplinêre aard daarvan word verklaar en die rol wat dit in die oorbrugging van die natuur-kultuur gaping speel, word aangedui. Die internasionale en Suid-Afrikaanse groei daarvan word verder nagespoor en enkele neigings in omgewingsgeskiedenis word geïdentifiseer. Ten slotte word &apos;n paar opmerkings oor die toekomsvooruitsigte van omgewingsgeskiedenis gemaak.
Building a nation of readers? Women&apos;s organizations and the politics of reading in South Africa, 1900-1914
Source: Historia 49, pp 23 –44 (2004)
Bou &apos;n nasie van lesers? Vroueorganisasies en die leespolitiek in Suid-Afrika, 1900-1914
Vroue en vroueorganisasies het beskikbare geleenthede en ruimtes benut om hulleself in die vroeë twintigste eeu in die Suid-Afrikaanse openbare lewe te laat geld. Hulle opvoedkundige ingrypings was &apos;n kombinasie van &apos;n besondere belangstelling in nasiebou en in die tipe geskiedenis wat deur skoolkinders gelees is. Hierdie artikel ondersoek die leesinisiatiewe van &apos;n aantal vroueorganisasies in Suid-Afrika van 1900 tot 1914. Dit bekyk hulle politieke, opvoedkundige, kulturele, ekonomiese en persoonlike agendas en hulle pogings om lees in diens van nasiebou te gebruik. Hulle veelsinnige nalatenskap het die latere groei van lees en geletterdheidskemas, asook die ontwikkeling van gratis openbare biblioteekdienste in Suid-Afrika beïnvloed.
Women and women&apos;s organizations exploited available opportunities and spaces to assert themselves in South African public life in the early-twentieth century. Their educational interventions combined a special concern with nation-building and the kinds of history read by schoolchildren. This article examines the reading initiatives of a number of women&apos;s organizations in South Africa from 1900 to 1914. It reveals their political, educational, cultural, economic and personal entanglements, and their attempts to apply reading to nation-building. Their ambiguous legacy influenced the later expansion of reading and literacy schemes and the development of free public library services in South Africa.
Anti-Semitism in the 1930s : Germany and South Africa
Author Edna Bradlow
Source: Historia 49, pp 45 –58 (2004)
Anti-Semitisme in die 1930&apos;s : Duitsland en Suid-Afrika
Ten einde die Nazitydperk en sy wesenlike antisemitiese karakter te verstaan, is dit nodig om die kontinuïteitsaspek van die Duitse geskiedenis te begryp. In die laat-negentiende eeu was antisemitisme reeds &apos;n potensieel gevaarlike krag in Europa, veral in Frankryk. Dit was egter in die pas-verenigde Duitsland, met sy unieke politieke en sosiaal-ekonomiese eienskappe, afkomstig uit sy verlede, wat &apos;n eksklusiwistiese, konserwatiewe nationalisme voortgekom het wat in teenstryd, saam met &apos;n gereserveerde aanvaarding van Judaïsme, voortbestaan het. Hierdie dubbelsinnigheid was gevestig in die kultuur van die Weimar Republiek en was een van die oorsake van die politiese onaktiwiteit daarvan. Hitler het laasgenoemde vervang met &apos;n aggressiewe nasionale ideologie wat met rassesuiwerheid en sy antitese, die Joodse stereotipe, behep was.
Suid-Afrika was een van die lande waarheen Duitse Jode kon immigreer toe die Nazis se rassistiese wetgewing hulle siviele en wetlike regte begin inkort het. Die bestaande Suid-Afrikaanse Joodse gemeenskap, wat rofweg van die tydperk 1880 tot 1913 dateer het, was hoofsaaklik van Oos-Europese oorsprong. Die lede daarvan was veral geneig om hulleself ekonomies en kultureel met die Engelssprekende bevolking te assosieer. Relatief min het hulle tussen die Afrikaanssprekendes, wat veral die landelike komponent van die wit bevolking uitgemaak het, gevestig, maar tradisioneel is die "Boerejood" en selfs &apos;n hoeveelheid gemengde huwelike tog aanvaar.
Naziïsme se aantrekkingskrag wat deur buite-parlementêre bewegings bevorder is, het beide die Afrikaner se werkersklas en dié intelligentsia wat in pre-Nazi Duitsland studeer het, aangetrek. Die Nasionale Party het gevolglik sy boodskap in antisemitiese terme aan hierdie stemgeregtigdes begin verkondig. Laasgenoemde party het geleidelik sy opinie van die suggestie dat Jode onassimileerbare immigrante was en dat hulle ekonomiese mag skadelik vir Afrikaners was, gewysig na Eric Louw se private wetsontwerp wat onomwonde verklaar het dat Jode (volgens Naziterme gedefinieer) &apos;n ongeskikte ras vir immigrasie na Suid-Afrika was.
Oor die algemeen beskou, was die Suid-Afrikaanse ingesteldheid ver verwyder van die oorheersende antisemitisme van Naziïsme (of sy nasionalistiese herkoms), maar die feit dat die Nasionale Party rassisme kon gebruik om rassisme te beveg, dui tog aan tot watter mate sodanige vooroordele in die 1930&apos;s by Afrikaners aanwesig was.
To understand the Nazi period and its intrinsic anti-Semitic characteristic, it is necessary to understand the question of continuance in German history. In the late nineteenth century anti-Semitism was already a potentially threatening force in Europe, particularly in France. It was, however, in the newly unified Germany, with its specific political and socio-economic features derived from its past, that an exclusivist, conservative nationalism emerged which, contradictorily co-existed with a guarded acceptance of Judaism. This ambiguity inhered in the culture of the Weimar Republic and was one of the causes of its political inertia. Hitler replaced the latter with an aggressive Völkisch (national) ideology which was obsessed with racial purity and its antithesis, the Jewish stereotype.
South Africa was one of the countries to which German-Jews emigrated as Nazi racial laws curtailed their civil and legal rights. The existing South African Jewish community, dating roughly from the period 1880 to 1913 was, predominantly of Eastern European origin. Its members tended to identify economically and culturally the closest with English-speakers. Relatively few settled among Afrikaans-speakers who constituted the rural component of the white population; but traditionally the Boerejood (Boer Jew) and even a measure of intermarriage were acceptable.
Nazism&apos;s appeal, purveyed through extra-parliamentary movements, attracted both the Afrikaner working class and those among the intelligentsia educated in pre-Nazi Germany. Consequently the National Party began pitching its message for these voters in anti-Semitic terms. The latter shifted gradually from the suggestion that the Jews were "unassimilable" and that their economic power was harmful to Afrikaners, to Eric Louw&apos;s private bill which explicitly claimed that Jews (as defined in Nazi terms) were "a race not suitable for immigration into South Africa".
In conclusion, while far from the pervasive anti-Semitism of Nazism (or its Völkisch ancestry), the fact that the National Party could use racism to fight racism, indicates the extent of such prejudice amongst Afrikaners in the 1930s.
Certain destiny : the presentist obsession with "apartheid" in South African history
Author Nicholas L. Waddy
Source: Historia 49, pp 59 –78 (2004)
Gewisse voorland : die presentistiese obsessie met "apartheid" in Suid-Afrikaanse geskiedskrywing
Daar is &apos;n verstaanbare neiging onder historici om alle twintigste eeuse Suid-Afrikaanse geskiedenis in die lig van apartheid en die geweldige gevolge daarvan te interpreteer. In die proses het die meeste historici hulle aandag op die Nasionalistiese regeringstydperk toegespits. Wanneer hulle ander tydperke geanaliseer het, is dit veels te gereeld vanuit &apos;n apartheidsperspektief gedoen, ten einde apartheid se "wortels" te probeer verklaar. Die probleem hiermee is dat die wêreld waarin die meeste Suid-Afrikaners voor 1948 geleef het, en vir baie selfs tot so laat as 1960, nie deur "apartheid" gedomineer is nie. Dit was &apos;n veel meer komplekse wêreld en talle Suid-Afrikaanse historici moet nog die verwikkeldheid daarvan leer waardeer.
There is a tendency among historians, perhaps not surprisingly, to interpret all of twentieth century South African history in the light of apartheid and its terrible consequences. In the process, most historians have turned their attention to the period of Nationalist rule, and if they analysed other periods, they have done so all too often from an apartheid perspective, explaining apartheid&apos;s "roots". The problem, however, is that the world that most South Africans lived in before 1948, and even as late as 1960 for many, was not dominated by "apartheid". It was a complex world, whose intricacies many South African historians have yet to appreciate.
South African diplomats in Australia, 1949-1961
Author David Tothill
Source: Historia 49, pp 79 –100 (2004)
Suid-Afrikaanse diplomate in Australië, 1949-1961
Deur te fokus op die Suid-Afrikaanse Hoë Kommissarisse in Australië vanaf die opening van die Hoë Kommissariaat in 1949 tot 1961, toe Suid-Afrika die Britse Statebond verlaat het, poog hierdie artikel om meer te onthul omtrent die tipe persoon wat die land eens in die buiteland verteenwoordig het, wat sommige van hulle in &apos;n gegewe historiese konteks bereik het, en op indirekte wyse ook meer omtrent hulle werkgewer, die Departement van Eksterne Sake, soos dit gedurende die bespreekte periode bekend gestaan het. Die artikel maak ook melding van &apos;n vroeë uitbarsting van die vete wat in die 1970&apos;s tussen die Departemente van Buitelandse Sake en Inligting geheers het. Hierdie onenigheid het eers tot &apos;n einde gekom toe laasgenoemde Departement in eersgenoemde opgeneem is as &apos;n gevolg van die sogenaamde "Inligtingskandaal", wat die politieke en openbare mening in Suid-Afrika so intens gedurende die laaste gedeelte van dié dekade beïnvloed het.
Focusing on the South African High Commissioners to Australia from the time the High Commission was opened in 1949 until 1961, when South Africa left the Commonwealth, this article tries to say something about the sort of person who once represented the country abroad, what some of them did in a given historical context, and indirectly, something about their employer, the Department of External Affairs, as it was called during the period covered. The article also touches on an early manifestation of the 1970s feud between the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Information, which ended only when the former absorbed the latter as an outcome of the so-called "Information Scandal" that so beguiled political and public opinion in South Africa in the latter part of that decade.
Stellenbosch tussen tye
Source: Historia 49, pp 103 –104 (2004)
The production of literature on the "Red Peril" and "Total Onslaught" in twentieth-century South Africa
Author Wessel Visser
Source: Historia 49, pp 105 –128 (2004)
<b>Literatuurproduksie oor die "Rooi Gevaar" en die "Totale Aanslag" in Twintigste-eeuse Suid-Afrika</b> <br>Gedurende &apos;n groot gedeelte van die twintigste eeu is Suid-Afrikaners, en Afrikaners in die besonder, gefassineer deur die historiese verskynsel van kommunisme, wat. dikwels as &apos;n "bedreiging" of "gevaar" beskou is. Die algemene publiek se bewuswording van kommunisme is gestimuleer deur die sogenaamde "Rooi Opstand" van 1922 aan die Witwatersrand, wat in die nadraai van die Bolsjewistiese Rewolusie van 1917 in Rusland gevolg het. In die 1930&apos;s en die 1940&apos;s is die kommunistiese "Rooi Gevaar" gelykgestel aan die "Swart Gevaar", toe kommuniste uitgebeeld is as voorstanders van rassegelykheid en internasionalisme. Die "Rooi Gevaar" is ook gelyk gestel aan die "Joodse Gevaar", aangesien talle kommunistiese vakbondleiers van Joodse afkoms met Afrikanerkultuurleiers om die steun van die Afrikanerwerkersklas meegeding het. Van die 1930&apos;s tot die 1980&apos;s het Afrikanerkerke ywerig meegedoen aan die toenemende produksie van antikommunistiese retoriek. Die uitgesproke ateïsme van kommunisme is as "dodelike bedreiging" vir die Christendom in Suid-Afrika beskou. Van die 1950&apos;s af het die "Rooi Gevaar" literatuurproduksie &apos;n beheptheid met &apos;n vermeende Sowjet en Rooi Chinese "aanslag" op Suid-Afrika gereflekteer. Met die totstandkoming van die Instituut vir die Studie van Marxisme aan die Universiteit van Stellenbosch in 1980, het kommunisme as historiese faktor ook formele akademiese aandag begin geniet. Hierdie artikel ondersoek die fases en tendense van die literatuurproduksie oor die "Rooi Gevaar" en "Totale Aanslag" in Suid-Afrika in die twintigste eeu.
For much of the twentieth century South Africans, and Afrikaners in particular, were fascinated by the historical phenomenon of communism, which was often perceived as a "threat" or "peril". The general public&apos;s awareness of communism was stimulated by the so-called "Red Revolt" on the Witwatersrand in 1922, which followed in the wake of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. In the 1930s and 1940s, the communist "Red Peril" was equated with the "Black Peril", when communists were depicted as proponents of racial equality and internationalism. The "Red Peril" was also equated with the "Jewish Peril" as many communist trade union leaders of Jewish origin vied with Afrikaner cultural entrepreneurs to gain the support of the Afrikaner working class. From the 1930s to the 1980s, Afrikaner churches contributed vigorously to the increasing production of anti-communist rhetoric. The avowed atheism of communism was perceived as a "deadly threat" to Christianity in South Africa. From the 1950s onwards, production of literature on the "Red Peril" reflected a preoccupation with a presumed Soviet and Red Chinese "onslaught" against South Africa. With the establishment of the Institute for the Study of Marxism at the University of Stellenbosch in 1980, communism as a historical factor also drew serious academic interest. This article investigates the phases in the production of literature on the "Red Peril" and "Total Onslaught" in twentieth-century South Africa.
Military history at the South African Military Academy
Author Deon Visser
Source: Historia 49, pp 129 –146 (2004)
<b>Militêre geskiedenis by die Suid-Afrikaanse Militêre Akademie</b> <br>Wêreldwyd beklemtoon verdedigingsmagte die betekenis van die bestudering van militêre geskiedenis vir die professionele ontwikkeling van hulle offisiere, aangesien &apos;n hoë waarde aan die "lesse" uit ondervindings van die verlede geheg word. Verder dien militêre geskiedenis ook as &apos;n peil waarvolgens die norme en standaarde van militêre professionalisme bepaal, en waardeur die militêre etos versterk kan word. Militêre geskiedenis was dus tradisioneel &apos;n kernvakgebied by die meeste militêre akademies in die wêreld. Hierdie artikel ondersoek die status en inhoud van Militêre Geskiedenis as vak aan die Suid-Afrikaanse Militêre Akademie vanaf laasgenoemde instansie se ontstaan in 1950. Dit bespreek ook die toepaslikheid van die Akademie se Militêre Geskiedenis curricula in die lig van Suid-Afrika se historiese bedreigingspersepsie en die veranderende rol van die land se verdedigingsmag. Ten slotte word gefokus op die vereistes en uitdagings waarvoor Militêre Geskiedenis as vak aan die Militêre Akademie in die twintigste eeu te staan kom.
Defence forces globally emphasize the significance of the study of military history in the professional development of their officers, because they attach significant value to the "lessons" of past experience. Furthermore, military history serves as a benchmark to determine the norms and standards of military professionalism and to buttress the military ethos. Military history has thus traditionally been a core subject at most military academies world-wide. This article traces the status and content of Military History as a subject at the South African Military Academy, since the institution&apos;s inception in 1950. It also explores the relevance of the Academy&apos;s military history curricula with a view to South Africa&apos;s historic threat perception and the changing role of its defence force. In conclusion an evaluation is presented of the requirements and challenges which Military History faces at the Military Academy in the twentyfirst century.
Die Universiteit van Pretoria se Departement Geskiedenis, &apos;n Afrikaanse stem uit die noorde
Author Louis A. Changuion
Source: Historia 49, pp 147 –165 (2004)
<b>Department of History, University of Pretoria - the Afrikaans voice from the north</b> <br>The Transvaal University College&apos;s (TUC) Department of History was established in 1908 as one of the founding departments of the College. In its early years, lecturing at the College was done exclusively in English - a position that gradually changed and led to it becoming an Afrikaans institution in the 1930s. The Afrikaans-only policy of education existed until the early nineties of the twentieth century, when the History Department adopted a fully bilingual policy on both pre- and postgraduate levels, in line with a top management decision. <br>In this article the focus falls, by means of as many firsthand archival sources as possible, on the history of the establishment of the Department of History at the TUC, and its development as a microcosmic reflection of the development of the institution as a whole. To illustrate this development, the succession of the heads of the History Department will be examined, as well as their respective contributions to the lecturing and portrayal of History as a discipline. The contents of the courses and the varying numbers of students will also be discussed.
Die Transvaalse Universiteitskollege (TUK) se Departement Geskiedenis is in 1908 as een van die stigtersdepartemente van die Kollege op die been gebring. Onderrig aan die Kollege het in die vroeë jare in Engels plaasgevind - &apos;n posisie wat geleidelik verander het en op die Afrikaanswording van die universiteit in die dertigerjare uitgeloop het. Hierdie uitsluitlik Afrikaanse doseerbeleid het voortbestaan tot en met die vroeë negentigerjare van die twintigste eeu toe die Departement, in lyn met &apos;n hoofbestuursbesluit, &apos;n volkome tweetalige beleid op beide voor- en nagraadse vlak aangeneem het. <br>Hier word, met behulp van soveel eerstehandse argivale bronne as moontlik, gefokus op die ontstaansgeskiedenis van die Departement Geskiedenis aan die TUK en sy ontwikkeling as &apos;n mikrokosmiese weerspieëling van die ontwikkeling van die organisasie as &apos;n geheel. Om die ontwikkeling te illustreër, word daar gefokus op die opvolging van die departementshoofde en hulle onderskeie bydraes tot die doseer en uitbeelding van geskiedenis as dissipline. Verder word die kursusinhoude en wisselende studentegetalle ook aangeraak.
"Angry Young Men" : F.A. van Jaarsveld, T.S. van Rooyen and the Afrikaner historiographical polemic of 1953-1954
Authors: F.A. Mouton and Albert Van Jaarsveld
Source: Historia 49, pp 167 –185 (2004)
<b>"Angry young men" : F.A. van Jaarsveld, T.S. van Rooyen en die Afrikaner historiografiese polemiek van 1953-1954</b> <br>In 1950 het F.A. van Jaarsveld van sy studies in Nederland teruggekeer. Hy was ambisieus en ongeduldig om homself te laat geld en Afrikaner historiografie te verander en te verbeter. In sy proefskrif het hy verpletterende opmerkings oor die apologetiese en subjektiewe aard van historici verbonde aan die Universiteit van Pretoria (UP) gemaak. Die gevolg was dat hy nie &apos;n akademiese pos kon vind nie. As &apos;n gefrustreerde onderwyser het hy &apos;n reeks artikels gepubliseer waarin hy die historici van UP gekritiseer het. Van Jaarsveld se aanvalle was nie net die gevolg van sy besorgdheid oor die toestand van Afrikanergeskiedskrywing nie, maar ook van sy vyandigheid teenoor sy alma mater se Geskiedenis Departement. In die proses het hy &apos;n surrogaat geword vir die konserwatiewe G.D. Scholtz, &apos;n goeie vriend, wat om persoonlike redes die historici van UP wou bykom. Die hoof teenaanval het van T.S. van Rooyen, &apos;n tydelike dosent in UP se Geskiedenis Departement, gekom. Alhoewel hulle oor die aard van Afrikanergeskiedskrywing gedebatteer het, was dit &apos;n persoonlike konflik om mekaar te klop, aangesien hulle mededingers was vir &apos;n toekomstige, en skaars, akademiese pos by &apos;n Afrikaanse universiteit. Dit was &apos;n polemiek wat nie net die persoonlikhede en loopbane van Van Jaarsveld en Van Rooyen geskaad het nie, maar ook &apos;n negatiewe uitwerking op Afrikaner geskiedskrywing gehad het.
In 1950 F.A. van Jaarsveld returned from his studies in the Netherlands, impatient and ambitious to change, improve and make his mark on Afrikaner historiography. In his dissertation, Van Jaarsveld made scathing remarks about the apologetic and subjective nature of historians associated with the University of Pretoria (UP). The result was that he was unable to secure an academic post. As a frustrated school teacher, he published a succession of articles criticising UP historians. These attacks were not only motivated by Van Jaarsveld&apos;s concerns about the state of Afrikaner historiography, but also by enmity towards his alma mater&apos;s history department. In the process he acted as a surrogate for the conservative G.D. Scholtz, a close friend, who had an axe to grind with UP historians. The main counter-attack came from T.S. van Rooyen, a temporary lecturer in the UP&apos;s History Department. Although they debated the nature of Afrikaner historiography, it was very much a personal clash to beat each other, as they were competitors for any rare future post at an Afrikaans university. The polemic not only harmed the personalities and careers of Van Jaarsveld and Van Rooyen, but also had a stultifying effect on Afrikaner historiography.
Die bydrae van J.S. du Plessis (1919-1990) tot die geskiedskrywing
Source: Historia 49, pp 187 –202 (2004)
"Die universiteit bestaan ter wille van die studente" : geskiedenis en Stellenbosch.
Verantwoorde Verlede. &apos;n Historiografiese Studie. Die Verhaal van die Studie van Geskiedenis aan die Universiteit van Stellenbosch, 1860-2000, P.H. Kapp : book review
Source: Historia 49, pp 203 –205 (2004)
Afrikaanse geskiedskrywing op CD.
Bibliografie van Nederlandse en Afrikaanse Historiese Publikasies in Suid-Afrika 1875-1998 / Bibliograhy of Historical Writings in Afrikaans and Dutch written in South Africa, E.L.P. Stals en P.H. Kapp (reds.) : book review
Author Johan Bergh
Source: Historia 49, pp 205 –207 (2004)
Die kwessie van Afrikanerskuld aan apartheid.
Die Suid-Afrikaanse Verlede en die Skuldvraagstuk. Verslag van &apos;n Simposium oor die Afrikaanse Geskiedskrywing en die Toewysing van Skuld, P.H. Kapp (red.) : book review
Source: Historia 49, pp 207 –209 (2004)
&apos;n Toeganklike boek oor nuwere tendense in die Geskiedeniswetenskap.
De Constructie van het Verleden : een Inleiding in de Theorie van de Geschiedenis, Chris Lorenz : book review
Author Johann Tempelhoff
Source: Historia 49, pp 210 –211 (2004)
&apos;n Vertelling uit die tyd "toe die Kaap nog Hollands was".
Die Wegraak van Frans Joosten, Barend J. Toerien : book review
Author Paul Dunn
Source: Historia 49, pp 212 –213 (2004)
Nederlandse Bronnepublikasie met parallelle Engelse vertaling : &apos;n belangrike nuwe bydrae tot die Geskiedenis van Kaapse wyn en die Kaapse samelewing.
"Hendrik Cloete, Groot Constantia en die VOC, 1778-1799. Dokumente uit die Swellengrebel-argief", , G.J. Schutte (red.) : book review
Source: Historia 49, pp 213 –215 (2004)
&apos;n Biografiese analise van krygsvernuf tydens die Anglo-Boereoorlog.
Generaal Christiaan de Wet as Veldheer, Leopold Scholtz : book review
Source: Historia 49, pp 216 –217 (2004)
Soviet biography of Rhodes now locally available.
Cecil Rhodes and his Time, Apollon Davidson : book review
Author F.A. Mouton
Source: Historia 49, pp 217 –218 (2004)