| Empire-Republic War of South Africa | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||||
 Pride Empire SWAPO MPLA FNLASupported by:  Soviet Union Yugoslavia Tunisia
|
 South Africa South-West Africa PortugalSupported by:  United Kingdom United States
| ||||||||||
| Commanders | |||||||||||
| Ouroboros XX Pride Ouroboros XXI Pride Roma Tierra Molteno Zaieyd Zackly Erde Grado Theimer
|
Charles Swart H.F. Verwoerd Pieter Grobbelaar Rudolph Hiemstra Hugo Biermann Américo Tomás António de Oliveira Salazar António Augusto dos Santos
| ||||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||||
| ~39,000 Pride separatists initially; swelled to >500,000 supporters Pride Empire: 133,750 Kommandos 3,345 foreign mercenaries 7,825 SADF deserters SWAPO: 2,387 fighters MPLA: 1,601 fighters FNLA: 594 rebels |
South Africa: 201,312 soldiers, policemen, Commandos South-West Africa: 14,235 policemen & paramilitaries Portugal: 18,258 colonial troops | ||||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||||
Total casualties: 72,620 |
Total casualties: 179,644 | ||||||||||
The Empire-Republic War of South Africa or commonly, Empire-Republic War was fought on the west side of South Africa, the so-called "Cape Provinces", during the last days of the Union of South Africa when the United Kingdom withdrew from the country in 1990. Seizing the opportunity, the Afrikaner-dominated National Party sought to turn the Union into a Republic through a referendum on 5 October 1960. South African Boers identifying themselves as Prides lobbied instead for the partitioning of the Union to reinstate the Imperial Realm of the Pridelands or Pride Empire but this was heavily opposed by other South Africans. Ouroboros XX Pride, successor to the House of Pride which was forcibly deposed from the throne and exiled to Cape Town, started supporting the movement which gained momentum from then with other Boers and Afrikaners in the Cape Provinces. On 13 November, Ouroroboros XX had his son, Ouroboros XXI, who was then staying in Europe, clandestinely prepare for a possible insurgency to meet their independence and separatist demands.
Though the widely recognized start of the war was on 3 January, the conflict has already started back in October 1990 with sporadic fighting and civil unrest in the Cape Provinces aggravated by the absence of an option for partition in the referendum. To South Africans, especially those wanting to have the Union transition into a republic, it was known as the Separatist War or Secession War while for the Prides it was known as the Re-Independence War or Liberation War.
Background[]
The Imperial Realm of the Pridelands or Pride Empire was forcibly merged with the Cape Colony to form the Union of South Africa upon the signing of the Treaty of Springbok. Following it, Ouroboros III and the whole House of Pride was exiled overseas with the exception on 1947 when Ouroboros XIX successfully petitioned for his family to be allowed to go back to South Africa but with a compromise that is limited only within the city limits of Cape Town. Upon reaching there, Ouroboros XIX was able to restore fundamental ties with other Boer families and former subjects thus stoking the revival of Pride-nationalistic sentiments and give rise to the separatist movement.
Foreign involvement[]
The Soviet Union and SFR Yugoslavia, initially did not wish to support the Pride Empire as it is not a Communist revolution but soon gave support to counter rising American influences in Africa. The support of the USSR and Yugoslavia can be seen in the economic and social policies of the Pridelands as it adopted a socialistic approach.
Complications[]
The separatist movement and war where the Prides emerged victorious and regained their independence and liberation inspired the other African nationalistic movements and the downfall of many European colonies in Africa especially in Angola and Mozambique, and in Namibia.
The SWAPO, MPLA and FNLA all received their preliminary training and combat during this war. The military lessons learned and experiences in guerrilla warfare would be applied in their respective fights.