Botha, Louis, << BOH tuh, loo EE >> (1862-1919), served as the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa, from 1910 to 1919. He had fought against the British in South Africa as a Boer general in the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. Most Boers, including Botha, were of Dutch descent. After the Boers lost the war, Botha tried to forget the past and unite the Boer and British people against South Africa’s black majority. While Botha was prime minister, his government passed laws to prevent blacks from owning land and from competing with Europeans for jobs. Botha supported the United Kingdom in World War I (1914-1918). He was born in Natal province on Sept. 27, 1862, and died on Aug. 27, 1919. 
See also Anglo-Boer Wars ; De Wet, Christiaan Rudolf ; South Africa, History of (The Union of South Africa) .
