On 1 July 1914,General James Barry Munnik Hertzog officially established the Free State National Party in Smithfield, Orange Free State.

As the National Party was to function on a federal basis, separate branches of the party were founded in the other three provinces of the Union of South Africa shortly afterwards.

The party was founded in opposition to the pro-English policy of Prime Minister Louis Botha, who was accused by Hertzog of having “embraced Jingoism”.

Source: South African History Online

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