ABSTRACT

From the proclamation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, the Union Defence Force (UDF) had been deployed to suppress several internal disturbances. These unrests varied in terms of their scale, intensity, and geographic location, and represented dissatisfied and disenfranchised parts of the population, both in the Union and South West Africa (now Namibia). The uprisings in turn tested the organisation, force structure and strategies of the defence force. The Bondelswarts Rebellion of 1922, although brave and tragic, provides a lens through which to investigate the first large scale rural counterinsurgency operation conducted by South African forces after the end of the First World War. These operations occurred only months after the quelling of the 1922 Rand Revolt on the Witwatersrand. The reputation of the Bondelswarts as guerrilla fighters, and the fear of further unrest breaking out across the territory, prompted the South African authorities to seek a rapid resolution to the simmering unrest in the desolate terrain of southern South West Africa. The result of this brief and violent conflict also held far reaching political consequences. This article investigates the uprising and rural counterinsurgency operations undertaken by the South African authorities in suppressing the Bondelswarts Rebellion of 1922.

摘要

自 1910 年南非联邦宣布成立以来，已部署联合国防军 (UDF) 镇压数次内部骚乱。这些动乱在规模、强度和地理位置方面各不相同，代表了联盟和西南非洲（现在的纳米比亚）人口中不满和被剥夺权利的部分。起义反过来考验了国防军的组织、力量结构和战略。1922 年的 Bondelswarts 叛乱虽然勇敢而悲惨，但却为调查第一次世界大战结束后南非军队进行的首次大规模农村反叛乱行动提供了一个镜头。这些行动发生在金山 1922 年兰德起义平息几个月后。Bondelswarts 作为游击战士的名声，以及对该领土爆发进一步动荡的恐惧，促使南非当局寻求迅速解决西南非洲南部荒凉地区酝酿的动荡局势。这场短暂而激烈的冲突的结果也产生了深远的政治后果。本文调查了南非当局为镇压 1922 年邦德尔斯瓦茨叛乱而开展的起义和农村反叛乱行动。