1939 — South Africa's 80-to-67 Vote for War

On September 4, 1939, one day after Britain declared war on Germany, South Africa's Parliament voted on whether to join the war or stay neutral. Prime Minister J.B.M. Hertzog moved for neutrality; his deputy, Jan Smuts, moved that South Africa enter the war on Britain's side. Smuts's motion carried by 80 votes to 67.

Hertzog resigned rather than lead a government at war, and Governor-General Sir Patrick Duncan asked Smuts to form a new government. South African forces went on to fight in East Africa, North Africa, Madagascar, and Italy, while the close vote split the country along Afrikaner-English lines for a generation.