(i) The relations between the two British colonies of Natal and Cape Colony and the two independent Boer states of Transvaal and the Orange Free State had long been unfriendly.
(ii) The discovery of gold in Transvaal, in 1886, led to large numbers of British miners settling in and around Johannesburg.
(iii) The Boers hated these people whom they referred to as Uitlanders (foreigners). The Boers taxed them heavily and denied political rights to them.
(iv) So the question was whether the British or the Boers were to be supreme in South Africa.
(v) Fearing attacks from the British, the Boers armed themselves and decided to attack.
(vi) The Boer War lasted for three years, from 1899 to 1902. Initially, the Boers were successful.
(vii) But by the first half of 1900, the Boer army was defeated. Pretoria was occupied.
(viii) In retaliation, the British destroyed farms and crops. They set up internment camps for Boer women and children.
(ix) Shortage of food, medical and sanitary facilities caused the death of 26,000 people.
(x) The British annexed the two Boer states. Boers were however promised self-government in due course.
(xi) In 1907 full responsible government was given to the Transvaal and the Orange Free State.
(xii) The four states formed into a union and the South Africa Act passed by the British parliament in 1909 provided for a Union Parliament at Cape Town.
(xiii) In May 1910 the Union of South Africa came into being.

(i) In the 1924 elections, after intimidation of the electors, 65 percent of the votes were cast for the Fascists.
(ii) Matteotti, a socialist leader, who questioned fairness of the elections, was murdered.
(iii) The opposition parties boycotted the Parliament in protest.
(iv) Mussolini reacted by banning opposition parties and censoring the Press. Opposition leaders were killed or imprisoned.
(v) Assuming the title of II Duce (the leader), in 1926 he became a dictator with power to legislate.
(vi) He passed a law forbidding strikes and lockouts. Unions and employers were organized into corporations which would settle wages and working conditions.
(vii) In 1938 Parliament was abolished and was replaced by a body representing the Fascist Party and the corporations.
(viii) This new arrangement bolstered Mussolini's dictatorial control of the economy, as well as enabling him to wield enormous power as head of the administration and the armed forces.

i) The decolonization process started in India from the beginning of the twentieth century with the launch of the Swadeshi Movement in 1905.
ii) The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 brought about rapid political as well as economic changes.
iii) In 1919, the Government of India Act introduced Dyarchy that provided for elected provincial assemblies as well as for Indian ministers to hold certain portfolios under Transferred Subjects.
iv) The Indian National Congress rejected the arrangements under Dyarchy and decided to boycott the legislature.
Lack of measures to industrialised India:
i) There was no change in the colonial economic policy.
ii) But in the case of indigenous industries, support was only in the form of providing technical advice and education.
iii) Even this policy was soon abandoned as many British enterprises were opposed to this.
Impact of Depression on Indian Agriculture:
i) The value of farm produced, declined by half. But the land rent to be paid by the peasants remained unchanged.
ii) In terms of prices of agricultural commodities, the obligation of the farmers to the state doubled.
iii) The great fall in price prompted Indian nationalists to demand protection for the internal economy.
Government of India Act, 1935:
i) To appease the Indian nationalists The Government of India Act was passed.
ii) Elections were conducted and the Indian National Congress won a resounding in most of the provinces.
iii) The decision of Britain to involve in the Second World War, without consulting the Congress ministries forced the latter to resign from office.

Origin of German Fascism:
a) The origin of German fascism goes back to 1919 when a group of seven men met in Munich and founded the National Socialist German Workers' Party. Nazi party one of them was Adolf Hitler.
b) During World War I, he served in the Bavarian army.
Hitler's attempt to capture power:
a) In 1923 Hitler attempted to capture power in Bavaria.
b) He was arrested and sent to jail. During his time in prison he wrote "Mein Kampf" (My Struggle), an autobiographical book containing his political ideas.
Presidential election:
a) In the Presidential election of 1932, the Communist Party polled about 6,000,000 votes. Alarmed capitalists and property owners tilted towards supporting fascism. Hitler exploited this opportunity to usurp powers.
b) Republican government fell, as the Communists refused to collaborate with the Social Democrats. Industrialists, bankers and Junkers prevailed upon President Von Hindenburg to designate Hitler as Chancellor in 1933.
Hitler's Third Reich:
a) The Nazi state of Hitler, known as Third Reich brought an end to the parliamentary democracy. Germany was converted into a highly centralised state.
b) All political parties except the Nazi party were declared illegal.
c) The army of brown-shirted and jack-booted storm-troopers was expanded.
d) The Hitler Youth was created, and the Labour Front set up.
e) Trade unions were abolished, their leaders were arrested. Strikes were made illegal, wages were fixed by the government.
Hitler became the President:
In August 1934 Hindenburg died and Hitler became both President and Commander in Chief of the armed forces.

Fascism is a form of radical authoritarian ultra-nationalism, characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition and strong regimentation of society and of the economy, which came to prominence in early 20^th-century Europe.

Gold Standard is a monetary system where a country's currency or paper money carried a value directly linked to gold.

The defensive measures adopted by various nations to safeguard its economic interests led to an unprecedented decline in world economic activity. As its effect was deep and prolonged economists and historians call it the Great Depression.

(i) Smuts believed that a coalition government was required to solve the country's economic problems.
(ii) Therefore the South Africa party and the National party united in 1934 to form the United South Africa's National Party or United Party for short.
(iii) In spite of misunderstandings and disagreements, the smuts - Herzog alliance lasted until 1939.

a) The 'Great Depression' dealt a death blow to Indian agriculture and the indigenous manufacturing sector.
b) The value of farm produce, declined by half. But the land rent to be paid by the peasant remained unchanged. In terms of prices of agricultural commodities, the obligation of the farmers to the state doubled.
c) The great fall in prices prompted Indian nationalists to demand protection for the internal economy.

a) The interior of Africa was unknown to the outside world until the last quarter of nineteenth century. European colonisation began after about 1875.
b) The Berlin Colonial Conference of 1884-85 had resolved that Africa should be divided into spheres of influence of various colonial powers.
c) However the war between the British and Boers in South Africa was in defiance of this resolution.

a) The Great Depression of 1929 had a disastrous impact on British trade and business.
b) Britain transmitted the effects of Depression to its colonies.
c) Bilateral trade treaties between Britain and the Member States of the British Empire were signed at an economic summit in Ottawa in 1932, in which the participants (including India) agreed to give preference to imperial (British) over non-imperial goods.

a) In 1929 the Vietnamese soldiers mutinied, and there was a failed attempt to assassinate the French Governor-General.
b) This was followed by a large scale peasant revolt led by the Communists.
c) The revolt was crushed and thousands of rebels were killed. This incident is known as the 'White Terror'.