Department of Military History
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Legislative disconnect or institutional gatekeeping? challenges of researching South Africa's military past
(Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2020)The Department of Defence Archive in Pretoria is the repository of all military documents generated by the Union Defence Force, the South African Defence Force and the South African National Defence Force. This makes it ... -
The Suwalki GAP dilemma : a strategic and operational analysis
(Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2020)This article reports on a theoretical analysis about a series of events that will hopefully never take place. Should Russia ever decide to invade the Baltic republics, the obvious invasion route would be from Russian ... -
War, aggression and self-defence
(Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2020)This review is written against the background of the continuing Syrian conflict, and specifically Operation Peace Spring, the Turkish military intervention in northern Syria ostensibly aimed at creating a safe zone there ... -
Civil defence and protective services in South Africa during World War Two, 1939–1945
(Historical Association of South Africa, 2019-11)During World War Two, South Africa inaugurated the Civilian Protective Services organisation as a civil defence effort to deal with, inter alia, the preventive and protective measures in defence of the civilian population ... -
Omega, oor en uit : die storie van ’n opstandige troep - François Verster
(Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2019)War narratives are in essence categorised as a distinct literary kind of its own. In his masterpiece The soldier’s tale: Bearing witness to modern war, Samuel Hynes argues that mankind is generally curious about war. Hynes ... -
The "apostles of terror" : South Africa, the East African campaign, and the Battle of El Wak
(Historical Association of South Africa, 2018-11)Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War, the Union Defence Force (UDF) had to undergo a rapid transformation from an ageing defence force to one that could project offensive power across Africa. The formation ... -
Rise and fall of Jacob Zuma
(Brazilian Centre for Strategy & International Relations, 2018)In May 2014 I suddenly received a telephone call from the South African Embassy in Moscow, then an official invitation signed by Jacob Zuma followed: he wanted me to be present at his second inauguration. Unfortunately I ... -
A manoeuvre warfare analysis of South Africa’s 1914-1915 German South West African campaign
(Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2017)The study reported in this article explored the nexus between military theory and history. Military theory attempts to quantify, qualify and illuminate the often unpredictable phenomenon of war. The article consists of two ... -
The axis and Allied Maritime Operations around Southern Africa, 1939-1945
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-12)ENGLISH SUMMARY : The majority of academic and popular studies on the South African participation in the Second World War historically focus on the military operations of the Union Defence Force in East Africa, North Africa, ... -
Airpower in the Union of South Africa's First World War campaign in German South West Africa
(Historical Association of South Africa, 2017)During the Great War, aircraft were used primarily for reconnaissance and artillery spotting. The Union of South Africa's First World War campaign in German South West Africa (GSWA) allowed for South Africa's first employment ... -
A clash of military doctrine : Brigadier-General Wilfrid Malleson and the South Africans at Salaita Hill, February 1916
(Historical Association of South Africa, 2017)Brigadier-General Wilfrid Malleson (1866–1946) received his commission into the Royal Artillery in 1886 and transferred to the Indian Army in 1904. He was relatively inexperienced in combat having served on the staff of ... -
When history no longer suffice : towards uniform rules for armed conflicts
(Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2017)The key instruments of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocols of 1977, divides armed conflict into two legal categories: international armed conflicts (IAC) or ... -
Military Law practitioners and academic discourse : a Sine Qua Non for developing military law
(Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2017)There has been limited development in South African military law since the inception of the Union Defence Force in 1912. Military law has mainly evolved as a way to enforce discipline in a force consisting of mostly ... -
Deneys Reitz and the First World War : an Introduction to the Department of Defence Archival Holdings
(Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2016)The historical sources detailing South Africa’s participation in the First World War are vast, and range from official publications to regimental histories, private diaries and first-hand accounts. The Department of Defence ... -
A critical analysis of the impact of water on the South African campaign in German South West Africa, 1914-1915
(Historical Association of South Africa, 2016)The South African campaign in German South West Africa (GSWA) during the First World War depended largely on the access, availability and control of all water sources in the operational area. The Union Defence Force (UDF) ... -
South Africa and the Korean War, the politics of involvement
(Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2016)The Union of South Africa’s military involvement in the Korean War was an exercise in political maneuvering as opposed to one of any great military significance.[i] South Africa’s new right wing Nationalist Afrikaner ... -
Good hunting : German submarine offensives and South African countermeasures off the South African coast during the Second World War, 1942-1945
(Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2016)By the latter half of 1942, the High Command of the German U-boats (BdU) realised that the ‘sinking results’ of the North Atlantic had decreased immensely. The successes of the Allied anti-submarine operations in the North ... -
Recording the Great War : military archives and the South African official history programme, 1914-1939
(Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2016)The First World War marked a revolt against the traditional mode of official history as conceived and written by the General Staffs and taught at the Staff Colleges. After 1918, the publics in various countries, having ... -
South African propaganda agencies and the battle for public opinion during the Second World War, 1939–1945
(Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2016)South Africa’s entry into the Second World War in 1939 was complex. The Smuts government lacked nation-wide support and experienced hostile reactions from opponents of its war policy. It was also subjected to Nazi propaganda ... -
A cold relationship: United States foreign policy towards South Africa, 1960 – 1990
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2016-12)ENGLISH SUMMARY: The diplomatic relations between the United States (USA) and South Africa (SA) had its birth in 1799 with the establishing of a consulate in Cape Town. Over the next two centuries the political dealings ...
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