Federation of South Africa (SWM)

The Federation of South Africa (FSA, commonly South Africa) is a large federation of eleven constituent nations which occupies the Southern African region. It is bordered by Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Tanzania to the north, and Mozambique to the east. The Atlantic Ocean borders the FSA in the west, and the Indian Ocean in the south and east. It is the only country in the world to border both these oceans. The capital city, Unity, is a planned city located where the borders of Bechuanaland, Rhodesia, and the Transvaal converge. Unity is located in the autonomous Capital Region, and is not subject to any of the constituent nations.

The Federation has a complex political history, but was formally constituted on 31 May 1963, with the signing of the Treaty of Salisbury. The Treaty, itself a complex political document, broke the Republic of South Africa (RSA) up into four constituent nations, which then merged with the three constituent nations of the Central African Federation (CAF). Included in the merger were also the South African-administered territory of South West Africa (Luderitzia today), Bechuanaland, Swaziland, and Basutoland (Lesotho today). The founders of the Federation, hoping to ease racial tensions, provided in the Treaty that six of the constituent nations would be allocated to black South Africans, and five would be allocated to white South Africans. The federal government - one of the most complex in the world - is open to all races, with certain conditions. A semi-presidential republic, the FSA has a head of state known as the President, and a head of government known as the Prime Minister. The Federal Parliament is the legislative branch of government, and is sovereign, subject only to the Treaty of Salisbury. The federal government also has a judicial branch, consisting of two courts of equal standing, namely the High Court of Justice, and the Federal Court of Appeals.

The constituent nations of the FSA, from north to south, are the Republic of Zambezia, the Republic of Nyasaland, the Republic of Rhodesia, the Republic of Luderitzia, the Republic of Bechuanaland, the Republic of the Transvaal, the Cape Republic, the Kingdom of Swaziland, the Orange River Republic, the Kingdom of Zululand, and the Kingdom of Lesotho. Each nation has its own government. Zambezia, Nyasaland, Bechuanaland, Zululand, Lesotho, and Swaziland are allocated to black FSA citizens, while Rhodesia, Luderitzia, the Transvaal, the Cape, and the Orange River are allocated to white FSA citizens. Each nation has much leeway in determining to what extent it wishes to implement these racial exclusivity clauses of the Salisbury Treaty, and are granted absolute discretion in matters relating to non-black and non-white persons. Zululand and the Orange River are considered to be the most exclusive nations from the black and white blocs respectively, whereas Bechuanaland and the Cape are seen as the most racially inclusive. The Capital Region is governed by the federal government, and enforces a non-discriminatory racial policy.

The FSA is widely considered to be the most powerful nation in Africa, and one of the most powerful in the world. It has the largest economy on the continent, boasts the largest military, and one of the highest populations, at around 115 million people.

History
-- under construction --

In 1963 the Central African Federation, a British self-governing colony, was set to be broken up. Despite prior assurances by the British government to the Prime Minister of the CAF, Sir Roy Welensky, that it would not support secession on the part of the three territories (Nyasaland, Northern Rhodesia, and Southern Rhodesia), the British government capitulated to African nationalist demands and facilitated the secession of Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia. This enraged the white Salisbury political establishment, who had been working toward complete independence for the entire federation, which had become a single economic unit. The anti-British sentiment in Southern Rhodesia was further amplified when the British government made its intention to not grant the same independence it was giving Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia, to Southern Rhodesia, known. This double standard, combined with the British government going against its prior assurance of territorial integrity, convinced the Salisbury government that the United Kingdom had completely abandoned white Rhodesians and sought only to appease the increasingly-militant black nationalists of the federation.

At this time, the Central African Federation was the only British self-governing territory which had local command of its own military forces.

The political establishment, however, knew that if the CAF remained landlocked, its independence would be superficial, given that the neighboring states were growing increasingly hostile toward Salisbury. Any bid for independence by the CAF must thus have included access to oceanic trade routes, to ensure economic viability.

It was in this context that Ian Douglas Smith, a junior backbencher from Southern Rhodesia, led a secret delegation to the Republic of South Africa - which, at the time, was also ruled by a white minority - to discuss the possibility of amalgamation between the Central African Federation and South Africa. At the time, South Africa also ruled the territory of South West Africa (Luderitzia today) as part of a League of Nations mandate from the First World War.

Representatives from the British protectorates of Bechuanaland, Basutoland (Lesotho today), and Swaziland also attended the meetings. Bechuanaland and Basutoland were destined to become enclaves of the new amalgamated state if the negotiations were successful, which convinced the conveners that their participation would be vital.

The secret negotiations culminated in the Treaty of Salisbury, where unilateral declarations of independence on the part of the CAF, Bechuanaland, Basutoland, and Swaziland, were combined with the breakup of the Republic of South Africa into its former four territories, and finally, with all the now-independent states forming the Federation of South Africa (FSA). The drafters of the Treaty were conscious of the racial tension between white 'Europeans' and black 'Africans' who were forced into living together as a result of the Scramble for Africa. In this light, in effort to preserve racial harmony, certain racial exclusivity clauses in the Treaty provided that some of the constituent nations would be reserved for blacks, and others for whites. The intensely conservative whites of the Republic of South Africa conceded the Province of Natal - Zululand today - and the whites of the CAF conceded both Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia to black rule. Swaziland, Basutoland (Lesotho today), and Bechuanaland had no significant white populations and bargained easily for their own rule by the black majority. South West Africa (Luderitzia today), the Cape, the Transvaal, and the Orange Free State (Orange River today) provinces of the Republic of South Africa were reserved for whites, along with Southern Rhodesia (simply Rhodesia today) of the CAF.

The British government immediately condemned the act, declaring it illegal and thus invalid. The transitional administrations of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, who were gearing up for independence under black majority rule, also condemned the act, declaring that those territories were no longer part of the Central African Federation and would thus not cooperate with any amalgamation. At that time, however, they had no control over the armed forces, which were still managed by the federal government in Salisbury.