The state and “die volk” versus communism, 1922–1941

ABSTRACT

Tracing the origins of anti‐communism in South Africa, this paper focuses firstly on the state's response to the radicalisation of labour movements in the 1920s, in which anti‐communist rhetoric was invoked to divide and emasculate both black and white movements. Secondly, it examines the ways in which anti‐communism served the political purposes of Afrikaner Nationalism in the 1930s. By 1941 Afrikaner survival was being premised on the need to develop a comprehensive plan to combat class divisions within the “volk”, the black “peril”, Jewish immigration, and the threat of Soviet world domination – behind all of which communism was seen as the driving force. It is contended that the “total onslaught” doctrine of the P.W. Botha era may be traced back to these roots.