THESEGREGATIONERA
nesspeople, and successful farmers in the western part of the Cape Prov-
mce.
World War I sharpened this division. When Britain declared war on
Germany in August 19 I 4, Botha and his colleagues accepted the fact that
South Africa, like the other self-governingBritish dominions, was automat-
ically involved, since it was not a sovereignstate. But that was not all. Botha
and Smuts also acted on a British request that South African forces should
conquer the German protectorate of South West Africa, personally com-
manding South African troops in an operation that gave South Africa
control of that territory. Their decision prompted a number of Afrikaners
in the forrner republics, who had hoped to use Britain's distractions as an
opportunity to regain their independence, to raise an armed rebellion. The
government quickly and firmly suppressed the uprising, and Smuts went
on to a remarkable wartime career, commanding imperial forces in a
prolonged. campaign against the Germans in East Africa, serving as a
member of the British Imperial War Cabinet in London, and contributing
to the creation of the League ofNations at Versailles.Having entered on the
world stage, Smuts became largely preoccupied with international rather