ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the history of South African party politics. Political parties became significant forces in white politics during the twentieth century, evolving most rapidly during the crucial years between the end of the South African War and the beginning of the First World War. The formation of the Progressive Party exacerbated the internal problems of the United Party. The Nationalist entry into the commanding heights of the mining, financial and manufacturing industry was the product of a broad strategy which had evolved since the end of the First World War to develop a specifically Afrikaner interest in business. Afrikaner nationalism during the twentieth century has exhibited many of the features of populism, albeit truncated by the exclusion of the majority of the population from common political rights. The nationalist movement exploited the fears of landless farmers facing the prospect of proletarianisation, and organised the efforts of white workers seeking a privileged position in the labour market.
