Book Review: Commonwealth of Nations: British Supremacy in South Africa 1899–1907
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206702200137 |
| Published date | 01 March 1967 |
| Date | 01 March 1967 |
| Author | J. M. Bélanger |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
126
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
BRITISH
SUPREMACY
IN
SOUTH
AFRICA
18991907.
By
G.
H.
L. Le
May
1965.
(Oxford:
Clarendon
Press.
Toronto:
Oxford
University
Press.
229pp.
$4.25)
It
is
only
natural
that
the
almost universal
condemnation
of
the
Republic
of
South Africa
for
its racial
policies
should
move
its
scholars
to
probe
the
past
in
search
of
their
country's
national
identity
with
a
view
to
establishing the
relative
responsibility
of
its
various
elements
in
the
development
of
the present
situation.
Hence,
the
detailed
exam-
ination
being
made
of
the
period
covering
the
quarter
of
a
century
leading
to
the
union
of
the
four
colonies
in
1910.
The
book
here
reviewed is
no
exception.
It
deals
directly
and
in
great
detail
with
the
administration
of
Sir
Alfred
Milner
as
High
Commissioner
and
Governor
of
Cape
Colony
(1897-1905)
and
the
frus-
tration
of
the
latter's
aims
and
policies
with
the
grant
of
self-govern-
ment
to
the Transvaal
by
the
Campbell-Bannerman
Constitution
of
1907.
Thus,
the title
of
the
book is
misleading in
its
generality.
The
Anglo-Boer
War is
called
"Sir
Alfred
Milner's
War"
or
the
instrument
of
"Milner's
grand
design"
(as
if
the
war
would
have
been
averted,
had
it
not
been
for
Milner!),
and
the
author
himself
states
that
"the
manner
in
which
Milner's
grand
design
was
frustrated
is
the
theme
of
this
book"
(p.
36).
The
last
chapter but
one,
entitled
"The
Failure
of
Milner-
ism,
further
strengthens
the
view
that
the
focal point
of
the
book
is
Milner,
his political
ideas
and
his
attempts
to
put
them
in
practice
in
South Africa
rather
than
"British
Supremacy"
per
se
which
is
given
but
incidental
attention
as
far
as
colonies
other
than
the
Transvaal
are
concerned.
Whatever
the
fundamental
theme
of
the
book
may
be,
it
is
over-
powered
throughout its
215
pages
of
text
by
two
contrapuntal
motifs:
a)
the
bitterness
engendered in
the
hearts
of
the
Boers
by
nearly
32
months
of
ruthless
hostilities; and
b)
the
basic
agreement
between
Boers and
British
South
Africans
with
regard
to
the
non-White
groups.
The
first
would
only
be
an
exercise
in
the
obvious
were
it
not
for
the
fact
that
this
bitterness
brought
about
the
consolidation
of
an
Afrikaner
nationalism
m
place
of
the
traditional
cleavages in
"Boerdom"
that
were
still
apparent
among
the
commandos
even
after
the
opening
of
hostilities
and
greatly
reduced
their
initial
military
successes.
The
second
motif
is
more topical
in
a
sense,
for
it
may
help
the
idealist
of
today
to
understand
better
the
incompatibility
of
the
liberal-
ism
of
the
British
Government
and
people
with
the
determination
of
the
British
in
Rhodesia
to
keep
the
native
in
his
place.
The
parallel
between
the
situation
in
South Africa
in
1907
and
in
Rhodesia
in
1965
is
nearly
perfect.
"I
regret,
Lord
Selborne
telegraphed
to
the
Colonial
Secretary
"that
I have
not
been
in
a
position
to
find
more
ex-burghers
more
sympathetic
to
natives.
They
are
rare
enough
among
British
and
cannot
be
found
among
Boers"
(p.
210).
This
situation has
not
really
changed
over
the
years-save
for
a
very
few
enlightened
individuals-
and the
author rightly states
that,
in
the
process of
moulding
a
South
African
people
out
of
the
bitterness
left
by
the war,
"the
price
of
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