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Union of South Africa

Self-governing British dominion uniting the four southern colonies, precursor of apartheid South Africa.

The Union of South Africa became the Republic of South Africa on 31 May 1961 following a whites-only referendum held in October 1960; under pressure from African and Asian Commonwealth members over its apartheid policies, Prime Minister Verwoerd withdrew South Africa's application for continued Commonwealth membership, so the country simultaneously left the Commonwealth.

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Borders over time

The atlas holds 5 border frames for Union of South Africa — the shape you scrub through changes in 1910 · 1917 · 1925 · 1934 · 1942.

Further reading

• A History of South Africa Leonard Monteath Thompson · 1990

  Covers the founding of the Union and the road to apartheid.

• Democratic Liberalism in South Africa David Welsh · 1998

  Narrative history spanning the Union of South Africa period.

• Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton · 1948 · fiction

  Landmark South African novel published in 1948 (the year the National Party won power), set in the late-1940s Union of South Africa just before apartheid was formalized.

• Mine Boy Peter Abrahams · 1946 · fiction

  Classic novel of a migrant worker's life in Johannesburg's mines and townships under the pre-apartheid Union of South Africa.

Sources

• Union of South Africa — Wikipedia