On the eve of World War II, the
Union of South Africa found itself in a unique political and military quandary. While it was closely allied with
Great Britain, being a co-equal
Dominion under the 1931
Statute of Westminster with its head of state being the British king, the South African
Prime Minister on 1 September 1939 was
J.B.M. Hertzog – the leader of the pro-Afrikaner and anti-British
National Party. The National Party had joined in a unity government with the pro-British
South African Party of
Jan Smuts in 1934 as the
United Party.
Hertzog's problem was that South Africa was constitutionally obligated to support Great Britain against
Nazi Germany. The Polish-British Common Defence Pact obligated Britain, and in turn its dominions, to help
Poland if it attacked by the Nazis. When
Adolf Hitler's forces attacked Poland on 1 September 1939, Britain declared war on Germany two days later. A short but furious debate unfolded in South Africa, especially in the halls of power in the Parliament of South Africa. It pitted those who sought to enter the war on Britain's side, led by Smuts, against those who wanted to keep South Africa neutral, if not pro-Axis, led by Hertzog.