South Africa is located at the southernmost tip of the African continent and is surrounded by the sea on three sides. In the late nineteenth century, there were two opposing forces in this mysterious land, namely the Cape Colony and the Natal Colony established by the British, and the Transvaal And Orange Free State founded by the Boers (descendants of Dutch immigrants), and later the British connected the various regions of South Africa after a protracted Anglo-Boer war. However, while the war brought high economic benefits, it also made the British feel exhausted, and made the British realize that although war can bring land and wealth, it is necessary to win people's hearts and minds to truly achieve "long-term peace and stability". So the British gave the Boers equal political status and supported the Boers' desire for a "united South Africa." On 31 May 1910, the British merged the four colonies of the Cape, Natal, transvaal and Orange into the Union of South Africa.
One. Take over Namibia
The original identity of the South African Federation was a dominion, and its sovereignty and independence were incomplete. So during World War I, South Africa followed Britain into the Entente and sent troops to occupy German Southwest Africa (at this time, Germany did not have the ability to conduct large-scale cross-regional operations due to the blockade of the British Royal Navy).
After World War I, Germany's colonies and Ottoman possessions were stripped away, and they were handed over by the League of Nations to Britain, France, and Japan for rule, of which South Africa acquired German Southwest Africa. The mandates of the League of Nations fall into three categories: the first requires the appointing power to give "appropriate administrative guidance and assistance"; the second requires the appointing State to be "responsible for local administration"; and the German South-West Africa entrusted to South Africa belongs to the third category, whereby the appointing State may treat them as part of its own territory and rule in accordance with its own laws. As a result, South Africa controls 2.04 million square kilometres of land, of which 825,000 square kilometres are in South-West Africa (renamed Namibia in 1968).
Two. Receive Marion Island and Prince Edward Island
The Prince Edward Islands, which border antarctica, are more than 1,900 kilometres from Cape Town, South Africa, and consist of two small islands, 45 square kilometres of Prince Edward Island and 290 square kilometres of Marion Island. After World War II, in search of national defense and maritime security, South Africa pinned its hopes on British generosity. Under the 1947 Transfer Agreement, the Prince Edward Islands became part of South Africa from a British overseas territory on 12 January 1948.
The Prince Edward Islands are adjacent to the silver-clad Antarctic ice sheet and are located in the convergence zone of the African continental plate and the Antarctic plate, so its strategic value and scientific research value are extremely prominent. Today, South Africa has established a meteorological research station in the northern part of Marion Island in the Prince Edward Islands, and the islands will have more scientific and regulatory responsibilities in the foreseeable future.
Three. Abandon Namibia
The formation of South Africa's territory benefited from the establishment of the imperialist colonial system, so in the process of the collapse of the colonial system and the establishment of the national independent state system, South Africa will never be left alone. But South Africa seems to want to go against the tide of history on its own.
In 1949, South Africa openly violated the relevant trusteeship provisions and illegally annexed Namibia under the pretext of the dissolution of the League of Nations and enacted the South-West African Affairs Amendment Act. Later, the local people established many nationalist organizations to oppose South African colonial rule. In 1960, a national organization led by Sam Nujoma, officially designated the South West African People's Organization, was launched by guerrillas who attacked South African troops in the Caprivi Strip on 26 August 1966, firing the first shots fired by the Namibian people's armed resistance to South Africa's illegal occupation.
The people of Namibia are not alone in their struggle for national independence, and their protests have won the general support of the international community. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in October 1966 declaring the abolition of South Africa's "mandate" over South-West Africa, and in December 1973 recognized the South West African People's Organization as the sole legitimate representative of the namibian people. On September 29, 1978, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 435, which again demanded that South Africa withdraw from Namibian territory. However, the South African authorities have repeatedly rejected the relevant resolutions and deliberately adopted various perverse policies and measures to achieve the goal of continuing to control Namibia. Later, trapped by huge military spending and financial subsidies, as well as economic sanctions by the international community, South Africa's tough attitude began to loosen. In late 1988, the Quadripartites of South Africa, Angola, Cuba and the United States signed the South-West Africa Peace Agreement. On 21 March 1990, Namibia officially declared its independence, becoming the 51st member of Africa and the 160th member of the United Nations. Namibia's independence marked the complete completion of the historic mission of decolonization of the African continent.
At this point, South Africa's territory has returned to the level of 1.22 million square kilometers. It can be said that the territorial transformation of South Africa is a process of colonists scrambling to plunder, but also a process of collapse of the colonial system. Today's South Africa has ended apartheid and is exploring the road of equality and harmony.