View source for Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging

{{Infobox Organization
|name         = Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging
|image        = [[Image:Three_Sevens_Flag_-_AWB.gif]]
|image_border =
|size         = 250px
|caption      = [[Triskelion]] flag, the emblem of the AWB
|map          = LocationSouthAfrica.png
|msize        = 250px
|mcaption     = Zone of influence
|abbreviation =
|motto        =
|formation    = [[1973]]
|extinction   =
|type         = Political
|position= [[far-right politics|Right national]]
|ideology   = [[White supremacy]],<br>[[Boer nationalism]],<br>[[White nationalism]],<br>[[Neofascism]]
|status       =Active
|purpose      =
|headquarters =
|location     = [[Ventersdorp]], [[North West Province (South Africa)|North West Province]], [[South Africa]]
|region_served =South Africa
|membership   =
|language     = [[Afrikaans]]
|leader_title = Leader
|leader_name  = Steyn van Ronge
|main_organ   =
|parent_organization =
|affiliations =
|num_staff    =
|num_volunteers =
|budget       =
|website      = http://www.awb.co.za/
|remarks      =
}}
The '''Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging''', short '''A.W.B.''' or '''AWB''' ({{lang-en|Afrikaner Resistance Movement}}; {{lang-de|Afrikaaner Widerstandsbewegung}}), is an [[Afrikaner]]/Boer [[fascist]] organization and the resistance movement of the ''Boerevolk''. It was founded in 1973 by seven young Boer men in Heidelberg, which is located in the former Boer [[nation]] [[Transvaal]]. It was led by co-founder [[Eugène Terre'Blanche]] until his death in 2010. The organization and members have been accused of, for example, participation in ''resistance crimes'', especially during the end of apartheid. The AWB website has argued that court cases and other scandals involving Terre'Blanche were fabricated by the [[anti-white]] black [[government]] ([[ANC]]) and the [[left wing]] [[mass media]].<ref [[name]]=awbwebsite>{{cite web|url=http://www.awb.co.za/leier_e.htm|title=AWB Leader: Eugène Ney Terre'Blanche|publisher=AWB|accessdate=2007-01-04}}</ref>

==History==
[[Image:South_African_Flag.png| thumb|300px|South African Flag]]
[[Image:South_African_Stamp.png|thumb|300px|Voortekker Movement Celebrating 50 years]]
[[File:Ehrenabzeichen für die Teilnahme an der Schlacht von Venterdorp, 1991 II.png|thumb|300px|Badge of honor for taking part in the Battle of Venterdorp, 1991]]
[[File:Der bestialische Mord an drei AWB-Mitgliedern in Bophuthatswana, 11. März 1994 II.png|thumb|300px|Three on 11 March 1994 in Bophuthatswana murdered AWB members]]  
[[File:Coen und Jan Strydom protestieren gegen die Morde an Weißen durch Schwarzafrikaner, Oktober 2013.png|thumb|300px|Coen Strydom and son Jan Strydom protest the killings of white people by black Africans, October 2013]]
[[File:Gedenken den ermordeten Eugène Terre’Blanche, 2015.png|thumb|300px|Commemoration of the murdered Eugène Terre'Blanche, 2015]]
[[File:Piet Thulani Dlamini, ein schwarzer AWB-Anhänger.png|thumb|300px|Piet Thulani Dlamini, a black AWB member]]
As the organization currently does not publish texts in English, its current views are somewhat difficult to know for non-Afrikaans speakers. AWB is frequently described as "[[neo-Nazi]]" and "[[White supremacist]]" but its basic principles have included 

: "''To establish a free, [[Christian]], [[republican]], Afrikaner Boer [[nation-state]], seceded from the [[Republic]] of South [[Africa]]''".<ref name=vs/> One pro-Afrikaner/Boer source state that "''The AWB, although still formally active at present day (July 2012), has changed its policy direction and significantly slim down, till to be one of many movements, all small and with few followers, that characterize the '[[white]] Afrikaner' [[political]] landscape and the Boer one. From the historical point of view the AWB, as Boer [[independence]] movement capable of mobilizing large numbers of [[people]], was ended in 1996/1997.''"<ref name=vs>AWB basic principles (English, 1988)  http://www.volkstaat.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1350:awb-basic-principles-english-1988&catid=57:awbeng&Itemid=101</ref>
===A History of Our Suffering and Oppression===

The Great Trek came as a result of the British [[oppression]]. The total failure of government protection against attacks by the Xhosa, and the treatment of placing the Boer on an equal footing with the Hottentots in a land which they (the Boer) considered to be their own. 
This the Voortrekkers (Pioneers) imbued with a craving for [[freedom]] migrated into the unknown.

After much wandering and a number of important events, this [[idea]] of freedom was attained with the establishment of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republic and [[the Republic]] of the Orange-Free state. It is in these two Boer Republics that the fundamentals of the Boerevolk (Boer people) are founded.

Since the second occupation of the Cape by the British, conflict arose between British [[imperialism]] and the aspirations of the newly awakening nation which would later achieve greater stature as the Boer nation.

The establishment of these two Boer Republics had met head on with the policies of Imperial Britain. According to the flag wavers, the Boer had no right of existence, and resulted in the First War of Independence (Transvaal War). Hereafter gold was discovered on the Witwatersrand, which resulted in a flood of foreign fortune hunters from all corners of the world. These drifters became rich and prosperous. Gold instilled in them the [[objective]] of overthrowing the government of the land which had received them and made them rich. Here they formed an alliance with the British government. So called grievances of these foreigners were taken advantage of to promote the case of British imperialism, and the exploitation of these alien grievances also attributed to the Second War of independence (Anglo-[[Boer War]]). As that great statesman, President Paul Kruger put it: "It is not the right to vote that you want; it is my land that you want."

As a result of this war the Boer nation were reduced to a totally impoverished nation, and with the further loss of 4, 313 innocent woman and 22, 057 children, as well as 4, 000 burgers forces who died in action, no nation knows the [[suffering]] within the concentration camps better than the Boer nation!!

The [[Peace]] of Vereeniging was a bitter pill for our forefathers to swallow, but it nevertheless had still not extinguished the [[struggle]] for freedom. We were not only compelled to accept the power of [[jewish]] money, but also the British parliamentary system. Lord Miner's prediction that this parliamentary system will still mean the end of the Boers stood on the point of becoming true. Unification did not bring freedom for the Boer nation; it only entailed further burdens and obligations. So became responsible for the Coloreds, the blacks and the Indians of Natal. On top of it all we still had to look after the welfare of the reputed English speaking Boer haters from Natal. Truly: The Union of South Africa entailed only obligations for us and no [[rights]] or freedom.

With the outbreak of the First Word War in 1914, the flag wavers in the Union insisted that this country, as an ally of Britain, must declare war on our [[German]] brothers. Boer patriots such as generals De la Ray, de Wet and Beyers, opposed this idea, resulting in an armed protest, better known as the Rebellion of 1914. Crushed by the foreign nationals, these heroes of the Rebellion nevertheless kept the flame of freedom burning. If it had not been for them there would most certainly not have existed a Boer nation today.

The impoverishment, brought about by the Second War of independence, was intensified by the Depression of the Thirties. Thus the Afrikaner became a pauper in his own country. The Depression was hardly at an end when our land was again involved as an ally of Britain and Russia in the Second World War against our brothers in [[Germany]]. No true Afrikaner for this alliance was to be found, and from the resistance which evolved here from so the [[Ossewabrandwag]] (Ox wagon sentinel) and the Stormjaers (Storm troopers) grew. These Boers did not wish to establish a National [[Socialist]] regime, but had yearned after their own free Boer republic. Alas, our fathers' ideals never came to fruition.

In 1961 the Republic of South Africa attained its goal. The Republic of South Africa, however great the desire had been for such, no [[matter]] how much zeal was expended, and however much [[trust]] and [[loyalty]] exist today for such a Republic, the [[ideal]] freedom of the nation could not, in the long run, be answered. The only positive aspect was the breaking of ties with Britain, and our withdrawal from the British Commonwealth.

At all times we were burdened with the divisive Westminster system which resulted in the [[Afrikaners]] being divided into groups and political parties. More specific, the acceptance of the Westminster system of government, which was, and still is, designed to divide a nation into political parties, has totally, nullified the Boer-ideal of 'unity is strength'.

After the assassination of Dr. H. F. Verwoerd, who held the interest of the Afrikaner nation close to his heart and who expanded the policy of separate development, was succeeded by National Party politicians, who began to deviate more and more from the traditional policy of separation between races and concessional [[politics]] quickly led to a split in the National Party. Again here was proof of the divisive influence which the Westminster party political system had on our people. Although the older generation, to an extend, could still be found and were followers of the [[political party]] system, there appeared on the scene in the seventies a group of young Boer [[idealists]].

===The A.W.B. is Born===

In 1971, seven worried young Boers began searching for an alternative to the Westminster system. It was perfectly clear to them that if action was not taken, the Afrikaner / Boer would suffer the same fate as other white groups in the rest of Africa who had to pull out, and as dejected and poor whites flee, leaving behind thousands of butchered corpses of their loved ones.

These seven young men realized that there was no conclusive compromise to the possession is nine tenths of the law attitude of black nations, and that concessions inevitably lead to total surrender. So an appeal had to be made to the people to put up a resistance against the conciliation give-away policy of the ruling National Party.

After much investigation, research and planning, these seven young men gathered in a house in 1973 in Heidelberg (Transvaal) and formed the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (A.W.B.) (Afrikaner Resistance Movement). One of those men is presently the main leader of the A.W.B.

===A People's Leader Becomes Prominent===

Our nation has always been lucky and blessed in that in our hour of crisis there has never been a want for dynamic leadership. Eugene Ney Terre'Blanche also came to prominence at the hour of need.

He had to endure derision and abuse. Especially the financially powerful press with it Afrikaans stooge press had striven to make the leader of the AWB and the Movement to be supporters of the [[National Socialist]]-[[ideology]]. The original purpose was to convince the people to reject him and the Movement. Attempts were also made to remove him from the community. The enemy had sought for something and eventually succeeded in having him charged criminally and cast into prison. If they had had him prosecuted for his political views and deeds, he would have achieved martyr status, and that had to be avoided at all cost. This conspicuous trick had naturally failed because a Boer who reveals [[natural]] and unadulterated leadership is quickly recognized by the people. And so a group of seven grew into a powerful people's movement.

===The Resistance Movement Becomes a National Movement===

The Afrikaner Resistance Movement (AWB) does not reject, for one moment, its resistance against everything which is foreign and hastily included. The price which a nation must pay for its freedom is perpetual vigilance. For this [[reason]] the AWB declared its fight against the [[African National Congress]] (ANC) the [[front organization]] of the South African [[Communist]] Party (SACP). This is a battle to the death. There is no room for compromise with communist murder squads who mutilate and murder innocent woman and children. The AWB rejects any domination by anyone whatsoever, and claims freedom for the Boer people.

===Chaos Reigns===

At present the ANC/SACP/COSATU and other revolutionary black organizations such as the PAC, are engaged in stirring a [[revolution]] of an alarming degree. They are highly dissatisfied with the benefits which the whites made available to them. They want to destroy by force all that the whites have built up without them having to work for it themselves. Blacks are appointed to posts in the place of Boers, who must give way to [[black supremacism]] (black favoring). Even that which has been taken in the name of rectification for the past, cannot be maintained, and a total collapse is busy taking place throughout the land.

Whites are threatened with land occupation if they do not sell their [[property]], crime in the country is the highest ever and the [[value]] of the Rand falls every [[time]] a black politician opens his mouth.

South Africa now finds itself in a genocidal war. The Boer Nation can no longer sit watch how his land burn and do nothing.

===The Road Forward===

Throughout our nation's existence there runs a golden thread of protest and opposition against domination, but also for the realization and acquisition of freedom in a sovereign independent Boer state. This golden thread has once again been taken up by the AWB where previous generations had abandoned it. This golden thread carries us now into the future and thereby gives [[meaning]] to the fight. Today, despite persistent and calculated attacks from [[leftist]] political press and broadcasting, support grows for the AWB. Seven persons have multiplied into thousands. The AWB which is fearless, Christian and unashamedly Fascistic, has become the new Right - antithesis to the ANC. The AWB is a bulwark against Marxism and [[Communism]]. The AWB conveys uninhibited, the sight of the nation's deepest emotions its purest thoughts & greatest determination to achieve its highest ideals: A modern Christian Afrikaner Boer nation state in Africa.  

===Bophuthatswana [[coup d'état]] of 1994===
Bophuthatswana (''Repabolika ya Bophuthatswana'') was a homeland in the Republic of South Africa. It was de facto independent from 1977 to 1994, the capital was Mmabatho. In 1988, the South African government reinstated chieft Kgosi Lucas Manyane Mangope (1923–2018) as head of state after a coup attempt. At the Kempton Park negotiations in 1993, Mangope had made it clear that Bophuthatswana would remain independent of the new and integrated South Africa and that he would not allow the upcoming election in 1994 to take place in "his country". He also lamented the [[fact]] that [[capitalism]] had failed to make itself more appealing in Africa and failed to defend itself against the attacks of [[Marxism]].  

Early in 1994, Mangope was to be removed by the new Pretoria government, which wanted to install an interim government in the homeland. The homeland's military mutinied, Mangope called on the night of March 9-10, 1994 on outside help, and c. 1,500 AWB members, armed only with revolvers and pistols as well as a few rifles, headed the call. 

It must be said, that Terre’Blanche had given Mangope his word, to be there in the morning and called his his Wencommands (not to be confused with the black-[[uniform]]ed and always masked AWB elite unit "Ystergarde" or ''Iron Guard'') over "Radio Pretoria" (Donkerhoek) together. In a conversation with General a. D. Constand Viljoen of the "African People's Front" (''Afrikaner Volksfron''t), which was itself in the process of launching an intervention force of 4,000 men under the command of retired [[Colonel]] Jan Breytenbach – in contrast to the AWB members almost without exception all experienced former soldiers of the South African Army – Terre'Blanche was warned not to intervene unprepared, since in the meantime it was to be feared that the majority of the agitated police and significant parts of the bop military would mutiny, which then proved true.

Under the leadership of Eugene Terre’Blanche, the freedom fighters of the AWB were attackeds in the Mafikeng town of Bophuthatswana, 42 enemys, members of the homeland's military (other sorces say 50), died in the battle, 300 were wounded. Three AWB members were later murdered by members of the Bophuthatswana Defence Force. The powerful and well-equipped South African Defense Force (SADF) drove out the Afrikaner, who had come to support Mr. Mangope and thus sealed a criminal coup against him. 

Pik Botha, South Africa’s Foreign Minister at the time, and member of the Transitional Executive Council Mac Maharaj removed Mangope from office on 13 March 1994. Mangope founded in 1997 the [[anti-communist]] United Christian [[Democratic Party]].

====Martyrs of Bophuthatswana====
Three AWB ''Wenkommando'' officers fell in support of President Lucas Mangope against a communist coup: 
* AWB-General '''Nicolaas Cornelius Fourie''' 
* AWB-Colonel'''Alwyn Wolfaardt''' 
* AWB-Lieutenant (''Veldkornet'') '''Jacobus Stephanus Uys'''

A former Bophuthatswana policeman, Ontlametse Bernstein Menyatsoe, member of the SAPF, applied for amnesty from the [[Truth]] and Reconciliation Committee in 1998 for his role in the killing of the three AWB members. In 2010, this murderer claimed, he was living in fear for his life after finding a threatening note in his room.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130928185312/http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/killer-of-3-awb-men-threatened-1.480225#.Ux1i7PmSxx0 Killer of 3 AWB men threatened], Independent Online, 12 April 2010</ref>

==Further reading==
* [[Arthur Kemp]]: ''Victory or Violence – The Story of the AWB of South Africa'', Ostara Publications, Third Edition, 2012

==External links==
{{Portal|South Africa}}
* [http://www.awb.co.za Official Website]
*[https://www.amren.com/features/2013/05/when-patriotism-meets-conservatism/ When Patriotism Meets Conservatism] – Extensive discussion of the AWB and the developments towards black majority rule.

==References==
{{reflist|2}}











[[Category:Afrikaner]]


[[Category:Organizations]]

[[Category:Pages with broken file links]]