Greater South Africa

Jan Smuts had eyes on Rhodesia, German Southwest Africa, Bostwana, and parts of Mozambique. In 1924 Rhodesia rejected the idea though purchase of southern Mozambique and incorporation of Namibia had more support. Suppose Smuts gets his wish and somehow there is a Greater South Africa by 1935, does it have any significant effect on history?
 
Much depends on what Smuts can do with it, and whether it results in butterflied apartheid or what.

Combining all of that into the Republic of South Africa more than doubles its land area and adds to many of its problems its going to face with black Africans. South Africa has nine black tribes, and you've just added at the very least half a dozen more. What does this do to apartheid (and the struggle against it) is a good question. What this also does to the world's mineral markets, particularly since SA now has a practical stranglehold on the world's diamond market, is another good question.

I think to get a good answer to your question, M79, you need to stipulate a few conditions, namely what the world's political climate is at the time and whether Smuts can do this without serious political problems to himself and others.
 
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The 1922 Rhodesian referendum was a pretty solid vote against joining the Union (60/40 if Wiki is right), but despite this, I think this would be the easiest change, given the small size of the electorate (15k voters?). It wouldn't take a huge amount to swing that I would think.

Not quite sure off the top of my head
 
The 1922 Rhodesian referendum was a pretty solid vote against joining the Union (60/40 if Wiki is right), but despite this, I think this would be the easiest change, given the small size of the electorate (15k voters?). It wouldn't take a huge amount to swing that I would think.

Not quite sure off the top of my head

Their were overall 18,810 eligible voters, but only 14,763 turned out.
 
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Their were overall 18,810 eligable voters, but only 14,763 turned out.

You are quite right. Either way, it would seem like an easier POD although I've never really read a good study (if such a thing exists) on the referendum/campaign, to know quite how it would be done
 
You are quite right. Either way, it would seem like an easier POD although I've never really read a good study (if such a thing exists) on the referendum/campaign, to know quite how it would be done

I sort of wish I'd kept the info, I started working on a TL a few years ago (posted what I'd done at the time actually) in which South Africa ended-up incorporating Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Rhodesia and Swaziland through differing means first under a loose Confederal structure and eventually in a full equal Federation after various events happened removing the local governments in the worse ones (which did'nt include Apartheid).
 
I sort of wish I'd kept the info, I started working on a TL a few years ago (posted what I'd done at the time actually) in which South Africa ended-up incorporating Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Rhodesia and Swaziland through differing means first under a loose Confederal structure and eventually in a full equal Federation after various events happened removing the local governments in the worse ones (which did'nt include Apartheid).

I imagine it wouldn't be too hard to scare up if one had access to a good university library system. I remember my old unis in NZ had a heap of material on southern Africa.

I was wondering if the inclusion of Rhodesia into the Union makes for some sort of domino effect (somehow?) on the list you gave.
 
I was wondering if the inclusion of Rhodesia into the Union makes for some sort of domino effect (somehow?) on the list you gave.

On South West Africa and Bechuanaland, yes that is possible. But for Mozambique, I highly doubt it simply because of the fact that Mozambique was a Portuguese colony and they were rather unlikely to meekly hand it over to South Africa.
 
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