Louis Botha

Botha, Louis 

Born Sept. 27, 1862, in Greytown, Natal; died Aug. 28, 1919, in Pretoria. Statesman of the Boer Transvaal Republic and subsequently of the Union of South Africa; general.

During the Boer War of 1899–1902, Botha served as commander in chief of the Transvaal forces from 1900. After the war he began cooperating with the British colonizers. In 1907 he became head of the government of the Transvaal colony, and from 1910 to 1919 he was premier of the Union of South Africa. The Botha government put through a number of laws directed at the oppression of and discrimination against the indigenous African population. In 1914, Botha actively promoted the entry of the Union of South Africa into World War I on the side of the Triple Entente. The government put down the uprising of Boer nationalists headed by C. De Wet and supported by Germany. In 1915 the forces of the Union of South Africa, led by Botha, occupied South West Africa.

REFERENCES

Tsetlin, M. Voina burov za nezavisimost’ (1899–1902). Moscow, 1940.
Engelenburg, F. V. General Louis Botha. London, 1929.
Williams, B. Botha, Smuts, and South Africa. London, [1948].