Ossewabrandwag

Ossewabrandwag
Formation4 February 1939
Dissolved1952
PurposeAfrikaner nationalism
Anti-British sentiment
Pro-Nazi
Opposition to participation in World War II
HeadquartersBloemfontein, Union of South Africa
Membership350,000 (1941)
Leader
Johannes Van Rensburg

The Ossewabrandwag (OB) (Afrikaans pronunciation: [ˈɔsəˌvɑːˌbrantvaχ], from Afrikaans: ossewa, lit.'ox-wagon' and Afrikaans: brandwag, lit.'guard, picket, sentinel, sentry' - Ox-wagon Sentinel) was a pro-Nazi Afrikaner nationalist organization with strong ties to National Socialism, founded in South Africa in Bloemfontein on 4 February 1939. It was strongly opposed to South African participation in World War II and vocally supportive of Nazi Germany. In late 1940, the Ossewabrandwag plotted a pro-German insurrection against Prime Minister Jan Smuts, albeit the plan was aborted.

The OB carried out a campaign of sabotage against state infrastructure, resulting in a government crackdown. The unpopularity of that crackdown has been proposed as a contributing factor to the victory of the National Party in the 1948 South African general election and the rise of apartheid.