Enemies in their midst: British imperial policy on POWs and internees and its impact on South Africa during the Second World War

The societal fractures within the Union of South Africa created a series of unique problems when war broke out in 1939. With a disaffected Afrikaner population and governance over the former German colony of South West Africa, questions of security dominated the thinking of the government under Jan Smuts. This article surveys the British Imperial and Dominion policies on internment during the Great War to show how these influenced the Union’s Second World War regime – by balancing security concerns with the need to maintain social peace.