| Abstract: | Political and economic developments in South Africa are compared with similar developments in Tsarist Russia during the period after the emancipation of the serfs, imperial Germany, and the pre-Civil War American South. It is suggested that the German 'marriage of iron and rye' has a counterpart in the relationship between maize and gold in South Africa and that similar political consequences follow. The organization of the South African mining compound is considered in its formulating effect upon the peculiar process of urbanization. This particular form of urbanization has resulted in the creation of a very considerable surplus for investment, the implications of which are discussed. Ref. Reprinted in: Historia, vol. 53, no. 1 (2008), p. 12-23. |