tha thereupon devised a unique method of ridding himself of his
uncongenial Minister. He resigned, the Government fell, and the Cabinet
dissolved automatically. Hertzog was left out in the cold. The
Governor-General immediately re-appointed Botha Prime Minister and he
reorganized his Cabinet without the undesirable Hertzog.
Hertzog became the Stormy Petrel of South Africa, vowing vengeance
against Botha and Britain. He galvanized the Nationalist Party, which up
to this time had been merely a party of opposition, into what was
rapidly becoming a flaming secession movement. The South African Party
developed into the only really national party, while its opponent,
although bearing the name of National, was solely and entirely racial.
The first real test of strength was in the election of 1915. The
campaign was bitter and belligerent. The venom of the Nationalist Party
was concentrated on Smuts. Many of his meetings became bloody riots. He
was the target for rotten fruit and on one occasion an attempt was made
on his life. The combination of the Botha personality and the Smuts
courage and reason won out and the South African Party remained in
power.
Undaunted, Hertzog carried on the fight. He soon had the supreme
advantage of having the field to himself because Botha was off fighting
the Germans and Smuts had gone to England to help mould the Allied
fortunes. The Nationalist leader made hay while the red sun of war
shone. Every South African who died on the battlefield was for him just
another argument for separation from England.
When Ireland declared herself a "republic" Hertzog took the cue and
counted his cause in with that of the "small nations" that needed
self-determination. "Afrika for the Afrikans," the old motto of the
_Afrikander Bond_, was unfurled from the masthead and the sedition
spread. It not only recruited the Boers who had an ancient grievance
against Great Britain, but many others who secretly resented the Botha
and Smuts intimacy with "the conquerors." Some were sons and grandsons
of the old "_Vortrekkers_," who not only delighted to speak the "_taal_"
exclusively but who had never surrendered the ideal of independence.
While the Dutch movement in South Africa strongly resembles the Irish
rebellion there are also some marked differences. In South Africa there
is no religious barrier and as a result there has been much
intermarriage between Briton and Boer. The English in South Africa bear
the
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