SOLDIERS AND POLITICS: THE POLITICAL RAMIFICATIONS OF THE WHITE UNION DEFENCE FORCES SOLDIERS' DEMOBILISATION EXPERIENCE AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Abstract

The Second World War had a definite influence on the 1943 and 1948 generalelections. Although the war had led to a victory for the United Party in 1943, warrelatedissues led to the defeat of the same party five years later. After 1943,South Africa experienced numerous political, economic and social changes andwithin this context the demobilisation of the UDF soldier took place. As a result ofthese changes, the expectations some soldiers had for the post-war South Africadid not materialise. Few of the promises made to the soldier by the UP governmentwere fulfilled. This led soldiers, experiencing difficulty in adapting to the postwarsituation, to direct their anger towards the government. The aim of this paperis to determine firstly, the nature of the soldiers' problems and, secondly, whethertheir dissatisfaction found political expression.