In order to fully understand the rise of apartheid (Afrikaans: apartness) and its ensuing polices, it is necessary that the history of South Africa prior to 1948 first be comprehended. For many years this area, once known as the Boer Republic, had long been ruled by whites who had come from Europe. Up until 1899, this area was ruled by Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers. When the British Empire invaded in 1899, the Boer republic consisted of two independent states: the South African Republic, and the Orange Free State.
This Second Boer War, which lasted nearly three years, would end in a British victory. Both Boer republics were annexed by the British Empire and were subsequently incorporated into the Union of South Africa in 1910. In spite of the fact that they had once been enemies, Great Britain and the Union of South Africa became allies and joined forces against the German Empire in World War I. Former generals in the Boer War against Great Britain, Prime Minister Louis Botha and Defense Minister Jan Smuts, were now both members of the Imperial War Cabinet
Defense Minister Smuts was a member of the United Party. In 1948 his party was defeated by the Reunited National Party (RNP) headed by Protestant cleric Daniel Malan, who ran on a policy of apartheid. The RNP joined forces with the Afrikaner Party and later merged to form the National Party (NP). Malan became the prime minister, and thus was started the era of apartheid.
Apartheid legislation in reality was not anything new, as it was in fact based on former British laws that Great Britain had put into place after the Anglo-Boer war in an effort to keep the different races segregated. Using the British laws as a model, the NP leaders reasoned that South Africa was not a united nation, but rather four nations separated along racial lines. While some of their reasoning might seem strange to us today, they were in fact in line with most beliefs of the day that tended to not only look down on interactions between different races, but in many cases deemed them immoral, or even in certain situations illegal.
Although there were several sub-groups designated, the country was divided into four main racial groups: whites, blacks, Indians, and colored. The whites were either immigrants from or descendants of English and Afrikans speaking immigrants from Europe.
There were two types of apartheid laws instituted: grand apartheid and petty apartheid. Grand apartheid was the separation of peoples along racial lines. The grand apartheid laws separated the cities into small townships where people were moved to based on skin color. All interaction between the races was illegal. Petty apartheid laws were those dealing with everyday places such as beaches, clubs, restaurants, and the like.
An article on the website Stanford.edu states "that with the enactment of apartheid laws in 1948, racial discrimination was institutionalized. Race laws touched every aspect of social life, including a prohibition of marriage between non-whites and whites, and the sanctioning of ``white-only'' jobs." (History) The first law was the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act which made it a crime for people to marry outside their race.
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