General James Barry Munnik Hertzog (3 April 1866 – 21 November 1942), better known as Barry Hertzog or J. B. M. Hertzog, was a South African general and politician. He was a Boer commander during the Second Boer War who served as the third prime minister of the Union of South Africa from 1924 to 1939. Hertzog advocated for the development of Afrikaner culture and was determined to prevent Afrikaners from being excessively influenced by British culture. He founded the National Party in 1914.
In 1941, Hertzog, who had resigned after South Africa — against his efforts — entered World War II on the side of the Allies, issued a statement in which he openly praised Nazism and said it needed to be adapted to South African needs under a fascist dictatorship.
Early life and career
Hertzog first studied law at Victoria College in Stellenbosch, Cape Colony. In 1889, he went to the Netherlands to read law at the University of Amsterdam, where he prepared a dissertation, on the strength of which he received his doctorate in law on 12 November 1892.
Hertzog had a law practice in Pretoria from 1892 until 1895, when he was appointed to the Orange Free State High Court. During the Boer War of 1899–1902, he rose to the rank of general, becoming the assistant chief commandant of the military forces (Commando units) of the Orange Free State. Despite some military reverses, he gained renown as a resourceful leader of the Boer commandos who chose to continue fighting, the so-called "bitter-enders". Eventually, convinced of the futility of further bloodshed, he signed the Treaty of Vereeniging in May 1902.
Constitutionally, Hertzog was a republican, believing strongly in promoting the independence of the Union of South Africa from the British Empire. His government approved the Statute of Westminster in 1931, and replaced Dutch as the second official language with Afrikaans in 1925, as well as instating a new national flag in 1928. His government approved women's suffrage for white women in 1930, thus strengthening the dominance of the white minority. Property and education requirements for whites were abandoned in the same year, with those for non-whites being severely tightened, and, in 1936, blacks were completely taken off the common voters' roll. Separately elected Native Representatives were instead instated, a policy repeated in the attempts of the later Apartheid regime to disenfranchise all non-whites during the 1950s. Through the system of gradual disenfranchisement spanning half a century, the South African electorate was not made up entirely of whites until the 1970 general election.
Early political career
left|thumb|Botha government 1910
With South Africa then at peace, Hertzog entered politics as the chief organiser of the Orangia Unie Party. In 1907, the Orange River Colony gained self-government and Hertzog joined the cabinet as Attorney-General and Director of Education. His insistence that Dutch as well as English be taught in the schools aroused bitter opposition. He was appointed national Minister of Justice in the newly formed Union of South Africa, and continued in office until 1912. His marked antagonism to the British authorities and Premier Botha led to a ministerial crisis. In 1913, Hertzog led the secession of the Old Boer and anti-British section from the South African Party.
At the outbreak of the Maritz Rebellion in 1914, Hertzog adopted a neutral stance towards the conflict. In the years following the war, he headed the opposition to the government of General Smuts.
Premiership
thumb|right|[[Time (magazine)|Time cover, 27 Apr 1925]]
First government (1924–1929)
In the general election of 1924, Hertzog's National Party defeated the South African Party of Jan Smuts and formed a coalition government with the South African Labour Party, which became known as the Pact Government. In 1934, the National Party and the South African Party merged to form the United Party, with Hertzog as Prime Minister and leader of the new party.
Second government (1929–1933)
thumb|left|The [[Second Cabinet of J. B. M. Hertzog|second Hertzog cabinet in 1929.]]
Hertzog's second term as prime minister saw the establishment (in 1930) of the South African Iron and Steel Industrial Corp which helped to stimulate economic progress,
Third government (1933–1938)
thumb|left|Smuts (furthest left) and Hertzog (furthest right) with their wives, circa 1934.
In foreign policy, Hertzog favoured a policy of distance from the British Empire and, as a lifelong Germanophile, was sympathetic towards revising the international system set up by the Treaty of Versailles in favour of lessening the burdens imposed on Germany. Hertzog's cabinet in the 1930s was divided between a pro-British group led by the Anglophile Smuts, and a pro-German group led by Oswald Pirow, the openly pro-Nazi and anti-Semitic minister of defence, with Hertzog occupying a middle position.
Hertzog's principal adviser on foreign affairs was his external affairs state secretary, H.D.J. Bodenstein, an anti-British Afrikaner nationalist and a republican, who was seen as the eminence grise of South African politics. No other man had the same degree of influence on Hertzog as Bodenstein.
Angered at being outmaneuvered, Hertzog issued a press statement in October 1941 in which he attacked "liberal capitalism" and the party system, while praising Nazism as in keeping with the traditions of the Afrikaners. He said Nazism was a system which simply had to be adapted to South African needs under a dictator.
A Department of Labour was established, while the Wages Act (1925) laid down minimum wages for unskilled workers, although it excluded farm labourers, domestic servants, and public servants. It also established a Wage Board that regulated pay for certain kinds of work, regardless of racial background (although whites were the main beneficiaries of the legislation). and from the widening availability of loans from the Land Bank. The government also assisted farmers by guaranteeing prices for farm produce, while work colonies were established for those in need of social salvage. with improvements including new medical aid provisions, while improvements were made in the standards specified under a contemporary Factory Act, thus bringing the Act into line with international standards, in regard to the length of the working week and the employment of child labour. The law on miners' phthisis (pulmonary tuberculosis) was overhauled, and increased protection of white urban tenants against eviction was introduced at a time when housing was in short supply.
The Department of Social Welfare was established in 1937 as a separate government department to deal with social conditions. Grants for the blind and the disabled were introduced in 1936 and 1937 respectively, while unemployment benefits were introduced in 1937. That same year, the coverage of maintenance grants was extended.
Although the social and economic policies pursued by Hertzog and his ministers did much to improve social and economic conditions for whites, they did not benefit the majority of South Africans, who found themselves the targets of discriminatory labour laws that entrenched white supremacy in South Africa. A Civilised Labour Policy was pursued by the Pact Government, which involved replacing black workers with whites (typically impoverished Afrikaners), and which was enforced through three key pieces of legislation: the Industrial Conciliation Act No 11 of 1924, the Minimum Wages Act No. 27 of 1925, and the Mines and Works Amendment Act no. 25 of 1926.
The Industrial Conciliation Act (No 11 of 1924) created job reservation for whites while excluding blacks from membership of registered trade unions, which therefore prohibited the registration of black trade unions. The Minimum Wages Act (No. 27 of 1925) bestowed upon the Minister for Labour the power to force employers to give preference to whites when hiring workers, while the Mines and Works Amendment Act (No. 25 of 1926) reinforced a colour bar in the mining industry, while excluding Indian miners from skilled jobs. In a sense, therefore, the discriminatory social and economic policies pursued by the Pact Government helped pave the way for the eventual establishment of the Apartheid state.
Death and legacy
thumb|right|Plaque on James Barry Munnik House, Paarl, erected in honour of General JBM Hertzog
Hertzog died on 21 November 1942, at the age of 76.
A 4-metre-high statue of Hertzog was erected in 1977 at the front lawns of the Union Building. The statue was taken down on 22 November 2013 and moved to a new location in the gardens. It was still in good condition, save for the removal of the spectacles that were originally included on the statue. The statue was removed to make way for a 9-metre-high statue of Nelson Mandela.
Supporters of Hertzog invented the Hertzoggie, a jam-filled tartlet with a coconut meringue topping, that is still a popular confection in South Africa.
He is the only South African Prime Minister to have served under three monarchs: George V, Edward VIII, and George VI, due to serving the year of 1936.