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Grade 10 History

Download Grade 10 History Past Papers, Model Papers, Term Test Papers, Short notes in Sinhala, English, and Tamil Medium.

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• 1 Concluding Paragraph

Explanations for how to structure and write each of these paragraphs can be found below, along with examples of each: 

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Attacks on Walz’s Military Record

By Robert Farley , D'Angelo Gore and Eugene Kiely

Posted on August 8, 2024 | Corrected on August 9, 2024

Este artículo estará disponible en español en El Tiempo Latino .

In introducing her pick for vice presidential running mate, Kamala Harris has prominently touted Tim Walz’s 24 years of service in the Army National Guard. Now, however, GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance and the Trump campaign are attacking Walz on his military record, accusing the Minnesota governor of “stolen valor.”

We’ll sort through the facts surrounding the three main attacks on Walz’s military record and let readers decide their merit. The claims include:

• Vance claimed that Walz “dropped out” of the National Guard when he learned his battalion was slated to be deployed to Iraq. Walz retired to focus on a run for Congress two months before his unit got official word of impending deployment, though the possibility had been rumored for months.
• Vance also accused Walz of having once claimed to have served in combat, when he did not. While advocating a ban on assault-style weapons, Walz said, “We can make sure that those weapons of war that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.”
• The Republican National Committee has criticized Walz for misrepresenting his military rank in campaign materials. The Harris campaign website salutes Walz for “rising to the rank of Command Sergeant Major.” Walz did rise to that rank, but he retired as a master sergeant because he had not completed the requirements of a command sergeant major.

A native of West Point, Nebraska, Walz joined the Nebraska Army National Guard in April 1981, two days after his 17th birthday. When Walz and his wife moved to Minnesota in 1996, he transferred to the Minnesota National Guard, where he served in 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery.

“While serving in Minnesota, his military occupational specialties were 13B – a cannon crewmember who operates and maintains cannons and 13Z -field artillery senior sergeant,” according to a statement released by Army Lt. Col. Kristen Augé, the Minnesota National Guard’s state public affairs officer.

According to MPR News , Walz suffered some hearing impairment related to exposure to cannon booms during training over the years, and he underwent some corrective surgery to address it.

On Aug. 3, 2003, “Walz mobilized with the Minnesota National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery … to support Operation Enduring Freedom. The battalion supported security missions at various locations in Europe and Turkey. Governor Walz was stationed at Vicenza, Italy, during his deployment.” Augé stated. The deployment lasted about eight months.

“For 24 years I proudly wore the uniform of this nation,” Walz said at a rally in Philadelphia where he was announced as Harris’ running mate on Aug. 6. “The National Guard gave me purpose. It gave me the strength of a shared commitment to something greater than ourselves.”

Walz’s Retirement from the National Guard

In recent years, however, several of his fellow guard members have taken issue with the timing of Walz’s retirement from the National Guard in May 2005, claiming he left to avoid a deployment to Iraq.

Vance, who served a four-year active duty enlistment in the Marine Corps as a combat correspondent, serving in Iraq for six months in 2005, advanced that argument at a campaign event on Aug. 7.

“When the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it,” Vance said. “When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him, a fact that he’s been criticized for aggressively by a lot of the people that he served with. I think it’s shameful to prepare your unit to go to Iraq, to make a promise that you’re going to follow through and then to drop out right before you actually have to go.”

In early 2005, Walz, then a high school geography teacher and football coach at Mankato West High School, decided to run for public office. In a 2009 interview Walz provided as part of the Library of Congress’ veterans oral history project, Waltz said he made the decision to retire from the National Guard to “focus full time” on a run for the U.S. House of Representatives for Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District (which he ultimately won in 2006). Walz said he was “really concerned” about trying to seek public office and serve in the National Guard at the same time without running afoul of the Hatch Act , which limits political speech by federal employees, including members of the National Guard.

Federal Election Commission records show that Walz filed to run for Congress on Feb. 10, 2005.

On March 20, 2005, Walz’s campaign put out a press release titled “Walz Still Planning to Run for Congress Despite Possible Call to Duty in Iraq.”

Three days prior, the release said, “the National Guard Public Affairs Office announced a possible partial mobilization of roughly 2,000 troops from the Minnesota National Guard. … The announcement from the National Guard PAO specified that all or a portion of Walz’s battalion could be mobilized to serve in Iraq within the next two years.”

According to the release, “When asked about his possible deployment to Iraq Walz said, ‘I do not yet know if my artillery unit will be part of this mobilization and I am unable to comment further on specifics of the deployment.’ Although his tour of duty in Iraq might coincide with his campaign for Minnesota’s 1st Congressional seat, Walz is determined to stay in the race. ‘As Command Sergeant Major I have a responsibility not only to ready my battalion for Iraq, but also to serve if called on. I am dedicated to serving my country to the best of my ability, whether that is in Washington DC or in Iraq.'”

On March 23, 2005, the Pipestone County Star reported, “Detachments of the Minnesota National Guard have been ‘alerted’ of possible deployment to Iraq in mid-to-late 2006.”

“Major Kevin Olson of the Minnesota National Guard said a brigade-sized contingent of soldiers could be expected to be called to Iraq, but he was not, at this time, aware of which batteries would be called,” the story said. “All soldiers in the First Brigade combat team of the 34th Division, Minnesota National Guard, could be eligible for call-up. ‘We don’t know yet what the force is like’ he said. ‘It’s too early to speculate, if the (soldiers) do go.’

“He added: ‘We will have a major announcement if and when the alert order moves ahead.’”

ABC News spoke to Joseph Eustice, a retired command sergeant major who served with Walz, and he told the news organization this week that “he remembers Walz struggling with the timing of wanting to serve as a lawmaker but also avoiding asking for a deferment so he could do so.”

“He had a window of time,” Eustice told ABC News. “He had to decide. And in his deciding, we were not on notice to be deployed. There were rumors. There were lots of rumors, and we didn’t know where we were going until it was later that, early summer, I believe.”

Al Bonnifield, who served under Walz, also recalled Walz agonizing over the decision.

“It was a very long conversation behind closed doors,” Bonnifield told the Washington Post this week. “He was trying to decide where he could do better for soldiers, for veterans, for the country. He weighed that for a long time.”

In 2018, Bonnifield told MPR News that Walz worried in early 2005, “Would the soldier look down on him because he didn’t go with us? Would the common soldier say, ‘Hey, he didn’t go with us, he’s trying to skip out on a deployment?’ And he wasn’t. He talked with us for quite a while on that subject. He weighed that decision to run for Congress very heavy. He loved the military, he loved the guard, he loved the soldiers he worked with.”

But not all of Walz’s fellow Guard members felt that way.

In a paid letter to the West Central Tribune in Minnesota in November 2018, Thomas Behrends and Paul Herr — both retired command sergeants major in the Minnesota National Guard — wrote, “On May 16th, 2005 he [Walz] quit, leaving the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion and its Soldiers hanging; without its senior Non-Commissioned Officer, as the battalion prepared for war. His excuse to other leaders was that he needed to retire in order to run for congress. Which is false, according to a Department of Defense Directive, he could have run and requested permission from the Secretary of Defense before entering active duty; as many reservists have.”

“For Tim Walz to abandon his fellow soldiers and quit when they needed experienced leadership most is disheartening,” they wrote. “When the nation called, he quit.”

Walz retired on May 16, 2005. Walz’s brigade received alert orders for mobilization on July 14, 2005, according to the National Guard and MPR News . The official mobilization report came the following month, and the unit mobilized and trained through the fall. It was finally deployed to Iraq in the spring of 2006.

The unit was originally scheduled to return in February 2007, but its tour was extended four months as part of President George W. Bush’s “surge” strategy , the National Guard reported. In all, the soldiers were mobilized for 22 months.

Responding to Vance’s claim that Walz retired to avoid deploying to Iraq, the Harris-Walz campaign released a statement saying, “After 24 years of military service, Governor Walz retired in 2005 and ran for Congress, where he was a tireless advocate for our men and women in uniform – and as Vice President of the United States he will continue to be a relentless champion for our veterans and military families.”

Walz on Carrying a Weapon ‘in War’

Vance also called Walz “dishonest” for a claim that Walz made in 2018 while speaking to a group about gun control.

“He made this interesting comment that the Kamala Harris campaign put out there,” Vance said, referring to a video of Walz that the Harris campaign posted to X on Aug. 6. “He said, ‘We shouldn’t allow weapons that I used in war to be on America’s streets.’ Well, I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war? What was this weapon that you carried into war given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq and he has not spent a day in a combat zone.”

In the video , Walz, who was campaigning for governor at the time, talked about pushing back on the National Rifle Association and said: “I spent 25 years in the Army and I hunt. … I’ve been voting for common sense legislation that protects the Second Amendment, but we can do background checks. We can do [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] research. We can make sure we don’t have reciprocal carry among states. And we can make sure that those weapons of war that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.”

But, as Vance indicated, there is no evidence that Walz carried a weapon “in war.”

As we said, Augé, in her statement, said Walz’s battalion deployed “to support Operation Enduring Freedom” on Aug. 3, 2003, and “supported security missions at various locations in Europe and Turkey.” During his deployment, Walz was stationed in Vicenza, Italy, and he returned to Minnesota in April 2004, Augé said. There was no mention of Walz serving in Afghanistan, Iraq or another combat zone.

In the 2009 interview for the veterans history project, Walz said he and members of his battalion initially thought they would “shoot artillery in Afghanistan,” as they had trained to do. That didn’t happen, he said, explaining that his group ended up helping with security and training while stationed at an Army base in Vicenza.

“I think in the beginning, many of my troops were disappointed,” Walz said in the interview. “I think they felt a little guilty, many of them, that they weren’t in the fight up front as this was happening.”

In a statement addressing his claim about carrying weapons “in war,” the Harris campaign noted that Walz, whose military occupational specialties included field artillery senior sergeant, “fired and trained others to use weapons of war innumerable times” in his 24 years of service.

Walz’s National Guard Rank

The Republican National Committee has criticized Walz for saying “in campaign materials that he is a former ‘Command Sergeant Major’ in the Army National Guard despite not completing the requirements to hold the rank into retirement.”

Walz’s biography on the Harris campaign website correctly says that the governor “served for 24 years” in the National Guard, “rising to the rank of Command Sergeant Major.” 

Walz’s official biography on the Minnesota state website goes further, referring to the governor as “Command Sergeant Major Walz.”

“After 24 years in the Army National Guard, Command Sergeant Major Walz retired from the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion in 2005,” the state website says. 

Walz did serve as command sergeant major , but Walz did not complete the requirements to retire with the rank of command sergeant, Augé told us in an email. 

“He held multiple positions within field artillery such as firing battery chief, operations sergeant, first sergeant, and culminated his career serving as the command sergeant major for the battalion,” Augé said. “He retired as a master sergeant in 2005 for benefit purposes because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.”

This isn’t the first time that Walz’s National Guard rank has come up in a campaign. 

In their 2018 paid letter to the West Central Tribune, when Walz was running for governor, the two Minnesota National Guard retired command sergeants major who criticized Walz for retiring before the Iraq deployment also wrote: “Yes, he served at that rank, but was never qualified at that rank, and will receive retirement benefits at one rank below. You be the judge.”

Correction, Aug. 9: We mistakenly said a 2007 “surge” strategy in Iraq occurred under President Barack Obama. It was President George W. Bush.

Editor’s note: FactCheck.org does not accept advertising. We rely on grants and individual donations from people like you. Please consider a donation. Credit card donations may be made through  our “Donate” page . If you prefer to give by check, send to: FactCheck.org, Annenberg Public Policy Center, 202 S. 36th St., Philadelphia, PA 19104. 

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Here’s a look at questions about Tim Walz’s military record

Walz’s military record under scrutiny as Vance, GOP question his service

FILE - Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the running mate of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, is pictured at a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Aug. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

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CINCINNATI (AP) — Republicans are questioning Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s military record after Vice President Kamala Harris named him as her running mate this week.

Here’s a look at the issue:

He retired before his unit’s deployment to Iraq

Walz served a total of 24 years in various units and jobs in the Army National Guard. But it’s his retirement in 2005 that’s prompting criticism from some Republicans who are suggesting he abandoned his team to pursue a campaign for Congress.

As he ramped up for a congressional bid in 2005, Walz’s campaign in March issued a statement saying he still planned to run despite a possible mobilization of Minnesota National Guard soldiers to Iraq. According to the Guard, Walz retired from service in May of that year.

In August 2005, the Department of the Army issued a mobilization order for Walz’s unit. The unit mobilized in October of that year before it deployed to Iraq in March 2006 .

There is no evidence that Walz timed his departure with the intent of avoiding deployment. But the fact remains that he left ahead of his unit’s departure. In a statement, the Harris campaign pushed back on GOP characterizations of Walz’s service, and also noted that he advocated for veterans once he was elected to the U.S. House.

“After 24 years of military service, Governor Walz retired in 2005 and ran for Congress, where he chaired Veterans Affairs and was a tireless advocate for our men and women in uniform — and as Vice President of the United States he will continue to be a relentless champion for our veterans and military families,” the campaign said.

Before leaving Detroit, where she and Walz played up their support for organized labor , Harris on Thursday responded to a question about the criticism of her running mate’s record.

“Listen, I praise anyone who has presented themselves to serve our country,” she said. “And I think that we all should.”

Walz didn’t serve in a combat zone

Earlier this week Harris’ campaign circulated on X a 2018 clip of Walz speaking out against gun violence, and saying, “We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.” That comment suggests that Walz portrayed himself as someone who spent time in a combat zone.

According to the Nebraska Army National Guard, Walz enlisted in April 1981 — just two days after his 17th birthday — and entered service as an infantryman, completing a 12-week Army infantry basic training course before graduating from high school.

While attending the University of Houston in 1985, he was reclassified as a field artillery cannoneer as a member of the Texas Army National Guard, later serving as an instructor with the Arkansas Army National Guard.

In 1987, Walz returned to Nebraska’s Guard detachment, continuing field artillery assignments while he completed a college degree. By 1996, he transferred to the Minnesota Army National Guard. In 2003, he deployed to Italy in a support position of active military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he was not in a combat zone himself.

“Do not pretend to be something that you’re not,” Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance said Wednesday as he campaigned in Michigan. “I’d be ashamed if I was saying that I lied about my military service like you did.”

Vance enlisted in the Marine Corps after graduating high school, serving four years as a combat correspondent, a type of military journalist, and deploying to Iraq in that capacity in 2005.

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Neither Trump nor Harris has served in the U.S. military. Trump received a series of deferments during Vietnam, including one attained with a physician’s letter stating that he suffered from bone spurs in his feet.

The Harris campaign statement said Walz “would never insult or undermine any American’s service to this country” and “thanks Senator Vance for putting his life on the line for our country. It’s the American way.”

What about his rank?

Harris’ campaign has referred to Walz as a “retired Command Sergeant Major,” one of the top ranks for an enlisted soldier. He did in fact achieve that rank, but personnel files show he was reduced in rank months after retiring. That left him as a master sergeant for benefits purposes.

Minnesota National Guard officials have said that Walz retired before completing coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy, along with other requirements associated with his promotion.

Associated Press writers Darlene Superville, Trenton Daniel and Richard Lardner contributed to this report.

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

Watch CBS News

Tim Walz's military record under scrutiny as he joins Kamala Harris on Democratic ticket

By James LaPorta

Updated on: August 9, 2024 / 12:40 AM EDT / CBS News

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz 's military record has come under renewed scrutiny following Vice President Kamala Harris' announcement of Walz as her running mate on the Democratic ticket. 

On Wednesday, former President Donald Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, who is an Iraq War veteran, seized the opportunity to target his opponent's military record, resurfacing claims about his deployments and his retirement from the guard.

Walz served honorably in both the Nebraska and Minnesota Army National Guards, earning medals and deploying in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. But his final days of service have been called into question, centering on his rank and if he retired to avoid a 2005 deployment to Iraq. 

A CBS News review of Walz's military record and statements from the Minnesota Army National Guard show Walz achieved the rank of command sergeant major but was reduced in rank to master sergeant after retirement since he had not completed coursework for the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy. 

On Iraq, records show Walz had retired before his battalion was mobilized and deployed to Iraq. A 2005 statement from his website indicates Walz was initially prepared to deploy to Iraq amid his bid for Congress. CBS News has asked Walz for comment on when he decided to retire. 

A snapshot of Walz in the military

Walz retired from the Minnesota Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery in 2005 after more than 24 years in service, the Minnesota Army National Guard told CBS News. 

Walz first enlisted in the Nebraska Army National Guard in April 1981, serving as an infantry senior sergeant and administrative specialist. In 1996, Walz transferred to the Minnesota Army National Guard, where he first worked as a cannon crewmember and field artillery senior sergeant. 

Minnesota National Guard spokesperson Lt. Col. Kristen Augé told CBS News that Walz "held multiple positions within field artillery such as firing battery chief, operations sergeant, first sergeant, and culminated his career serving as the command sergeant major for the battalion." 

Walz earned several Army commendation and achievement medals during his more than 24 years of service. 

Walz deployed in August 2003 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The Minnesota National Guard told CBS News the battalion supported security missions at various locations in Europe and Turkey. Walz was stationed at Vicenza, Italy, at the time and returned to Minnesota in April 2004. 

Controversy over a 2005 Iraq deployment

On Wednesday, Vance resurfaced claims that Walz retired from the National Guard to avoid deploying to Iraq. 

"When the United States Marine Corps, when the United States of America, asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country I did it. I did what they asked me to do, and I did it honorably and I'm very proud of that service," said Vance. 

He added: "When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him — a fact that he's been criticized for aggressively by a lot of the people he served with." 

The Harris-Walz campaign responded with a statement saying: "After 24 years of military service, Governor Walz retired in 2005 and ran for Congress, where he [served as the ranking member] of Veterans Affairs and was a tireless advocate for our men and women in uniform — and as Vice President of the United States he will continue to be a relentless champion for our veterans and military families." The statement incorrectly stated Walz chaired the Veterans Affairs committee. 

The campaign also said, "In his 24 years of service, the Governor carried, fired and trained others to use weapons of war innumerable times. Governor Walz would never insult or undermine any American's service to this country -- in fact, he thanks Senator Vance for putting his life on the line for our country. It's the American way."  

The claims raised by Vance first gained prominence when Walz ran for governor of Minnesota in 2018. At the time, retired Army veterans Thomas Behrends and Paul Herr, who both served as command sergeant majors, posted on Facebook a lengthy letter accusing Walz of "embellishing" his military career and abandoning his Army National Guard battalion ahead of a 2005 deployment to Iraq.

In the letter, Behrends and Herr write that in early 2005, Walz's unit — 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery — was slated to deploy to Iraq. At the time, Walz was serving as the unit's command sergeant major. 

Behrends and Herr claimed that from the time the unit was told to prepare for an Iraq deployment and when Walz retired, he told other Army leaders he would be going to Iraq but later resigned his position before the deployment to avoid going to a combat zone. 

Walz has said he left the guard to run for Congress, according to the Star Tribune . In 2006, Walz won his election to Congress against a six-term Republican incumbent. 

Records show Walz officially filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Feb. 10, 2005. 

In March 2005, the National Guard announced a possible partial mobilization of roughly 2,000 troops from the Minnesota National Guard, according to an archived press release from Tim Walz for U.S. Congress.  

"I do not yet know if my artillery unit will be part of this mobilization and I am unable to comment further on the specifics of the deployment," said Walz in the March 2005 statement . 

The statement continued: "As Command Sergeant Major I have a responsibility not only to ready my battalion for Iraq, but also to serve if called on. I am dedicated to serving my country to the best of my ability, whether that is in Washington DC or Iraq," said Walz, who indicated at the time he had no plans to drop out of the race. "I am fortunate to have a strong group of enthusiastic support and a very dedicated and intelligent wife. Both will be a major part of my campaign, whether I am in Minnesota or Iraq." 

The Minnesota Army National Guard told CBS News that Walz retired on May 16, 2005. CBS News has asked Walz to clarify when he submitted his retirement papers. 

The Minnesota National Guard told CBS News that Walz's unit — 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery — received an alert order for mobilization to Iraq on July 14, 2005 – two months after Walz retired, according to Lt. Col. Ryan Rossman, who serves as the Minnesota National Guard's director of operations. The official mobilization order was received on August 14 of the same year, and the unit mobilized in October. 

CBS News reviewed the deployment history for the Minnesota Army National Guard which shows that in the fall of 2005, 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery was mobilized in preparation for a deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The battalion trained at Camp Shelby in Mississippi and deployed to Iraq as a motorized security task force. 

In 2018, Tom Hagen, a military reservist who served in Iraq, wrote a letter to The Winona Daily News claiming Walz was not being candid about his service record and wanted people to know that the future Minnesota governor did not serve in Iraq or Afghanistan. 

Walz responded in the same newspaper and criticized Hagan as dishonoring a fellow veteran, according to MPR News. Walz wrote: "There's a code of honor among those who've served, and normally this type of partisan political attack only comes from one who's never worn a uniform."

Joseph Eustice, a 32-year veteran of the guard who also led Walz's battalion, told CBS Minnesota that while he doesn't agree with Walz's politics, he does believe Walz's record in the military is sound.

"Tim Walz as a soldier, he was a good soldier. I don't think anyone can honestly say that he wasn't," Eustice said. "...He was a good leader in those 24 years that he served."

Walz's rank as a command sergeant major

Official biographies on the Minnesota government website and Vice President Kamala Harris' website  have described Walz as a "retired Command Sergeant Major." However, documents reviewed by CBS News show this is not accurate; while Walz served at one point as a command sergeant major, he retired at a lower rank. 

Army veteran Anthony Anderson, who routinely obtains military records from the Defense Department using the Freedom of Information Act and has worked with CBS News on similar stories, provided Walz's records for review. CBS News has also requested the documents from the National Guard. 

One of the documents shows Walz reverted back to master sergeant from command sergeant major when he retired from the Minnesota National Guard in May 2005. 

Army soldiers promoted to the rank of sergeant major or command sergeant major are required to attend the Sergeants Major Course, or what was formerly known as the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.  

Lt. Col. Augé, the Minnesota National Guard spokesperson, told CBS News that Walz retired as a master sergeant in 2005 for "benefit purposes" because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.

While Walz can say he served as a command sergeant major in the Minnesota Army National Guard, his official biographies are incorrect in referring to him as a "retired Command Sergeant Major."

On Aug. 8, the campaign website updated its description of his service. It omits his rank upon retirement and now reads, "The son of an Army veteran who served as a command sergeant major, Walz was the ranking member on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, where he passed legislation to help stem veterans' suicides."

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to address an error in the statement from the Harris-Walz campaign.

Caroline Cummings contributed to this report.

• Minnesota National Guard

James LaPorta is a verification producer with CBS News Confirmed. He is a former U.S. Marine infantryman and veteran of the Afghanistan war.

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Grade 10 - Topic 6: The South African War and Union

This topic investigates the ways in which the politics and culture of the Boer Republics clashed with the modernising thrust of the Uitlanders on the rapidly growing Reef in the late 19th century. Study on the South African War from 1899 to 1902 needs to reflect recent research. The topic ends with the Union settlement in 1910. The Union laid the foundation for white co-operation at the expense of black South Africans (in terms of franchise and land). It resulted in the consolidation of white rule, and thereby paved the way for a system of racial capitalism. The Land Act was the precursor (forerunner) to Apartheid land settlement, which resulted in forced removals, with their social and economic consequences.

In 1910 various colonies and Republics were declared a single entity, the Union of South Africa. Until then, these political units were locked in a stiff competition for resources, for advantage and for wealth. Even the various Boer Republics were sometimes at odds with each other, and they were at odds with the British colonies most of the time.

Long before union, the British saw the existence of Boer Republics as a threat to imperial ambitions, and tried to forge a confederation. After the South African War, the second war waged by the British against the Afrikaners, the British finally held sway over the entire country.

The discovery of diamonds and then gold, and the emergence of powerful Capitalist blocs in mining and agriculture united the Brits and the Boers in their need to secure cheap labour. So despite their differences, the Brits and the Boers agreed on certain principles: that the country needed to put in place laws to limit black access to political power, and when Union came blacks were effectively kept off the voters' rolls, despite the 'colour-blind' franchise in the Cape. By 1936, even Cape Africans were stripped of the vote.

The African response to Union was the creation in 1912 of the South African Native National Congress, the first incarnation of the African National Congress. But the new state was on the offensive, and enacted the 1913 Natives' Land Act to dispossess Blacks of land they owned in the 'white areas', and to limit their presence and influence in the Union. The offensive gathered steam and a slew of laws set the scene for segregation and apartheid, and the history of 20th century South Africa is the history of the conflict between whites and the various black groups that eventually culminated in the first non-racial democratic election in 1994.

The following is to be covered in this topic:

• South Africa before and in the build up to 1899 , or the background to the South African War, with a focus on mining capitalism
• The South African War, 1899-1902
• The Union of South Africa, 1910

‘South African War (a.k.a. the Anglo-Boer War) remains the most terrible and destructive modern armed conflict in South Africa’s history. It was an event that in many ways shaped the history of 20th Century South Africa. The end of the war marked the end of the long process of British conquest of South African societies, both Black and White'. - Gilliomee and Mbenga (2007).

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