View source for Jan Smuts

{{nosources|date=August 2018}}
{{Infobox Prime Minister
|honorific-prefix = [[Field marshal (United Kingdom)|Field Marshal]] [[The Right Honourable]]
| name = Jan Christiaan Smuts
|honorific-suffix = [[Order of Merit|OM]], [[Companion of Honour|CH]], [[Efficiency Decoration|ED]], [[King's Counsel|KC]], [[Royal Society|FRS]], [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|PC]]
| image = JanSmutsFM.png 
| imagesize = 255px
| order = 4th
| office = Prime Minister of South Africa
| order2 = 2nd
| office2 = Prime Minister of South Africa
| term_start  = 5 September 1939
| term_end  = 4 June 1948
| monarch  = [[George VI]]
| governor-general  = [[Sir Patrick Duncan]]<br/>[[Nicolaas Jacobus de Wet]] (Acting)<br/>[[Gideon Brand van Zyl]]
| predecessor  = [[James Barry Munnik Hertzog]]
| successor  = [[Daniel François Malan]]
| term_start2 = 3 September 1919
| term_end2 = 30 June 1924
| monarch2 = [[George V]]
| governor-general2 = [[Sydney Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton|The Earl of Buxton]]<br/>[[Prince Arthur of Connaught|The Prince Arthur of Connaught]]<br/>[[Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone|The Earl of Athlone]]
| predecessor2 = [[Louis Botha]]
| successor2 = [[James Barry Munnik Hertzog]]
| birth_date ={{Birth date|1870|5|24|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Riebeek West|Bovenplaats]], [[Cape Colony]]
| death_date     ={{Death date and age|1950|9|11|1870|5|24|df=yes}}
| death_place    =Doornkloof, [[Irene, Gauteng|Irene]], [[Transvaal Province]], [[Union of South Africa]]
| party          =[[South African Party]]<br>[[United Party (South Africa)|United Party]]
| spouse         =Issie Krige

| signature      = J Smuts sign.png
}}

'''Jan Christiaan Smuts''', [[Order of Merit|OM]], [[Companion of Honour|CH]], [[Efficiency Decoration|ED]], [[King's Counsel|KC]], [[Royal Society|FRS]], [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|PC]] (24 May 1870 – 11 September 1950), was a [[South Africa]]n soldier and Prime Minister, from 1919 to 1924 and again from 1939 to 1948.

==Biography==
===Early life===
Jan Smuts was born into a wealthy [[Afrikaner people|Afrikaner]] family living in the [[British Cape Colony]]. He first went to school at age 12, going to Victoria College four years later to study [[science]] and the [[arts]]. He later went to [[Christ's College, Cambridge|Christ's College]] in [[Cambridge]] to study law.

===Boer War and Unification===
Smuts was a supporter of [[Cecil Rhodes]] until it was revealed that he was apart of the Jameson Raid by a group of Uitlanders (''foreigners'' in [[Afrikaans]]) in the [[South African Republic|Transvaal Republic]]. In 1898, Smuts moved to [[Johannesburg]] in the Transvaal to practice law and later became a minister in the Transvaal government until the outbreak of the [[Second Boer War|Anglo-Boer War]].

During the Boer War, he led a Boer Commando in the Cape Colony using [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] tactics. After the war, Smuts joined the cabinet led by [[Louis Botha]] in 1907. However, uneasiness with his Afrikaner comrades cooperating with the [[British people|British]] led him to disown the Afrikaners on year later, declaring himself to be South African instead.

===Soldier and Statesman===
Two years after the [[Union of South Africa]] was formed, Smuts created the Union Defence Force (UDF). He led the UDF and was instrumental in the conquest of [[German South-West Africa]] and [[German East Africa]] during [[World War I]]. In 1917, Smuts was invited to join the Imperial War Cabinet. In 1918, Smuts helped created the [[Royal Air Force]].

Smuts and Botha were key negotiators at the [[Paris Peace Conference of 1919|Paris Peace Conference]]. After signing the [[Treaty of Versailles]], which gave South Africa control over [[Namibia]], Smuts returned to [[politics]].

When Botha died in 1919, Smuts became [[Prime minister|Prime Minister]], serving until his defeat in 1924 to the [[National Party of South Africa|National Party]].

===World War II===
After serving nine years in opposition, Smuts became [[Deputy prime minister|Deputy Prime Minister]] in a [[coalition]] government led by [[Barry Hertzog]].
When Hertzog asked for neutrality towards [[Nazi Germany]] during [[World War II]], he was deposed and Smuts became Prime Minister again. During World War II, Smuts was invited to the Imperial War Cabinet again, where he worked closely with [[Winston Churchill]]. In 28 May 1941, Smuts became a [[Field marshal|Field Marshal]] of the [[British Army]], becoming the first South African to hold that rank. This cooperation with Churchill made Smuts very unpopular with the Afrikaners, which led to his downfall.

In May 1945, Smuts represented South Africa during the drafting of the Charter of the [[United Nations]]. Just as he did in 1919, Smuts urged the delegates to create a powerful international organisation to preserve peace. Smuts signed the [[Paris Peace Treaties, 1947|Paris Peace Treaty]], becoming the only person to sign the treaties that ended both the First and Second World Wars.

===After World War II===
After World War II, Smuts continued to represent South Africa internationally. Smuts was in favour of [[Zionism]] and his government quickly recognized the newly formed [[State of Israel]] after its establishment in May 1948. However, his support for the war and plans to change [[racial segregation]] in South Africa made him very unpopular with the Afrikaners, and in 1948, lost the election to [[Daniel Francois Malan]] and the pro-[[Apartheid]] [[National Party of South Africa|National Party]].

Smuts died on 11 September 1950 from a heart attack on his family farm.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smuts, Jan}}
[[Category:1870 births]]
[[Category:1950 deaths]]
[[Category:Afrikaner people]]
[[Category:Calvinists]]
[[Category:Generals]]
[[Category:People of the Boer Wars]]
[[Category:Prime Ministers of South Africa]]
[[Category:South African military people]]
[[Category:Zionists]]