Nationalist, noun and & adjective

Forms:
Also occasionally with small initial.
Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Translation of Afrikaans Nasionalis a member of the Nasionale Party the National Party.
A. noun
a. A member of any of the successive (predominantly Afrikaner) National Parties; in pl., a collective name for the National Party or its government; Nat noun sense a; NP sense 2.
1911 Farmer’s Weekly 4 Oct. 115The good party man, whether he be Nationalist or Unionist whose political attitude is one of humble worship and genuflection.
1919 Illust. London News (U.K.) 6 JuneThe Natives..kept loyal under strong temptation to make trouble for the Government from the Nationalists and pro-German Europeans.
1921 E. Prov. Herald 16 Feb.General Smuts will out-face the Nationalists with a nationalism bigger, broader, prouder and more inspiring than their own.
1933 Star 2 May 5Mr Vorster said..he was still a Nationalist, but now supported General Smuts as strongly as any S.A.P. man.
1950 H. Gibbs Twilight in S. Afr. 237The Nationalists’ anti-Semitism in the 1930s cannot be ignored, neither can Dr. Malan’s attempt to ban Jewish refugees in 1937 as prohibited immigrants.
1953 A.J. Luthuli in Drum May 11As the Nationalists themselves have said, the laws which we oppose were not passed by them alone.
1964 M. Benson Afr. Patriots 211The A.N.C..still hoped they (sc. the United Party) might learn they could never return to power by trying to beat the nationalists at their own game.
1973 Sunday Times 27 May 17No Opposition group managed to break the increasing grip of the Nationalists on the 80 per cent or so of the Afrikaners who vote for them.
1979 T. Pakenham Boer War (1982) 576The party founded by Botha and Smuts had been replaced in 1948 by Malan and the Nationalists.
1984 Frontline Mar. 39Most English-speaking readers are easily [able] to remember the days when ‘Nationalist’ was virtually a synonym for ‘Afrikaner’...English-speaking Nationalists were as rare as kudu in Eloff street.
1991 Sunday Times 10 Feb. 20Like Alan Paton’s Liberal Party, the Nationalists now put forward the vision of a non-racial South Africa..as the only viable alternative to the revolutionary socialist vision of the ANC and its communist pilot fish.
1993 K. Owen in Sunday Times 7 Nov. 22The Nationalists who destroyed South Africa’s provincial system when it showed some timid independence from central government are now demanding a full-fledged federation.
b. With defining word:
neo-Nationalist, a member of the National Party who supports old-style Nationalist thinking. Cf. neo-Nat (see Nat adjective sense 2 b), new Nat (see Nat noun sense b).
1987 Star 3 Feb. 15Though a law-and-order hawk (which to some people makes him a neo-Nationalist), Mr..has consistently been against the Nats’ racial ideology and policies.
c. comb.
Nationalist Party [fr. Afrikaans Nasionale Party National Party], (a) historical, an early name for the South African Party (see SAP noun1 sense 1 a); (b) NP sense 1.
1913 V.R. Markham S. Afr. Scene 156The first elections under the Act of Union were held in September 1910, and resulted in a majority for the Nationalist Party, General Botha becoming Prime Minister.
1933 W.H.S. Bell Bygone Days 332General Hertzog was not included in the new Cabinet and he at once established the Nationalist Party which subsequently became a very powerful organization.
1936 Cambridge Hist. of Brit. Empire VIII. 645General Hertzog..ultimately found himself at the head of a new party under the name of the Nationalist Party which arose from the clothing of cultural aims with political forms.
1939 Star 4 Sept. 11Last night when it was know[n] that Britain was at war, Dr Malan and other leaders of the Nationalist Party were invited to Groote [S]chuur where further discussion took place.
1947 G.A.L. Green Editor Looks Back 215Hertzog..declared that..the Re-united Nationalist Party..would work for peace with Germany.
1966 Van Heyningen & Berthoud Uys Krige 32The two traditional political groups, the South African Party under General Smuts and the Nationalist Party under General Hertzog had coalesced to form a new combination, the United Party. The extreme wing of the Nationalist Party, led by Dr. Malan, had refused to cooperate and continued to be the repository of ancient grudges and resentments.
1977 F.G. Butler Karoo Morning 224Dr D.F. Malan was on a visit to Cradock to get support for his Purified Nationalist Party.
1983 D. Tutu Voice of One 43You are brainwashed by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) which constantly misleads you, as it does its propaganda work for the Nationalist Party.
B. adjective Of, belonging to, or characteristic of Nationalists or the National Party; Nat adjective sense 2 a.
1916 Farmer’s Weekly 20 Dec. 1450Wanted — Experienced reliable energetic single man (Nationalist) for general farming.
1930 Friend 25 Aug. 14The..Nationalist M.P. for Potchefstroom has refused to take any further part in the activities of the Workers’ Bond.
1938 Star 2 May 9Referring to the Nationalist spirit, Dr. Malan said the reception accorded him was proof that large numbers of young people were staunch supporters of his cause.
1943 D. Reitz No Outspan 147The Nationalist Government’s five yearly term of office expired in March 1929 and another general election was due.
1950 H. Gibbs Twilight in S. Afr. 31If Union can be revoked, what else may not be changed? That it will be done in Parliament, with a majority of Nationalist votes supporting it, is not doubted.
1950 H. Gibbs Twilight in S. Afr. 46Apartheid is the Nationalist dream. It will be pursued with vigour as a main political faith of men whose forefathers resented the abolition of slavery.
1962 L. Gandar in J. Crwys-Williams S. Afr. Despatches (1989) 342The White population of South Africa will go streaming into the Nationalist laager, stripped of the power of resistance which some genuine moral principals might have given them.
1969 S. Uys in J. Crwys-Williams S. Afr. Despatches (1989) 396The rousing of the Nationalist rank and file out of its apathy, the whole emotional mobilisation of the Afrikaner nation, is generating political intemperance and intolerance.
1970 Rand Daily Mail 2 Apr. 4South Africa was being condemned to economic disaster by the policies of the Nationalist Government.
1980 N. Ferreira Story of Afrikaner 129Nationalist politicians will insist on equating the NP with South Africa.
1990 R. Gool Cape Town Coolie 63The next government will be Nationalist.
1991 Sunday Times 10 Feb. 20To hear a Nationalist leader denouncing the racism of the Conservative Party with a passion and conviction worthy of Helen Suzman is to know that a profound and irreversible change has occurred in Afrikaner politics.
1993 H. Tyson Editors under Fire 11Every Nationalist speech from every political platform across the country devoted much of its content to the evils — and the dangers — of the Engelse pers, the English press.
A member of any of the successive (predominantly Afrikaner) National Parties; in pl., a collective name for the National Party or its government; Nat noun sense a; NP sense 2.
an early name for the South African Party (see SAP noun1 sense 1 a);
Of, belonging to, or characteristic of Nationalists or the National Party; Nat adjective sense 2 a.
Derivatives:
Hence Nationalism  noun, the policies pursued by the National Party.
1961 M.A. Wall Dominee & Dom-Pas 64These things should unite all South Africans, of all races, creeds and colours, all who do not wish to disgrace their humanity, in one common opposition to Nationalism and all it entails.
1983 M. Du Plessis State of Fear 41We’ve lived under Afrikaner Nationalism all our lives.
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