I started writing about the above and why I refer extensively to history when I deal with the world situation at present.
My family owned one of the most beautiful farms imaginable for generations. The history of the farm and especially the buildings on it had a lasting impression on me. The farm was first settled in the 1720's - that is a mere 70 years after Van Riebeeck landed in the Cape Town. In those days owners did not build homes in the area. They would developed farms but did not regard it as their residence. The farmers at the time hate all forms of Government and when the Government got to near to them they moved further inland.
The exception was the farm Zeekogat where I was borne and grew up. When the Dutch East India Company decided to open a parsonage in Swellendam in 1746. the chap who settled the farm originally decided he want to get away from Government - farmers - even today farmers - hate to pay taxes to any Government. He sold the farm to the first Mulder who came to SA in 1734 as a soldier and during that time the soldiers were released from duty and often work as foremen on major farms in the Colony.- an example being the Melck family, whose descendants still own extensive farms in the Western Cape. . In any away in 1745 the Swellendam magistrate arrived and the fam was then registered in the name of Mulder.
It took some time before the Mulder owner decided to start constructing permanent buildings on the farm and the first such building was a 100 meter stable he built - still in existence. He died in 1768 and his son Hildegart Mulder inherited. He ultimately decided to build a permanent home on the farm and the first home was completed in 1795. The second farmhouse was started in 1802 by his son-in- law and completed in 1821 - ever time a child was born the building was extended.
The farm one of the most beautiful in South Africa near the famous Sleeping Beauty on the Langeberg mountain range offered spectacular scenery. But it as the buildings that intrigued me as a child and left a deep impression on me. When I was a child we were told the history of the farm - about visits by royalty and by Governors and later on Presidents, We were told about the cellars where slaves used to sleep. The latter caused massive problems for my mother - who was an extremely liberal and kind-hearted Cape Afrikaans lady and had she chains in the slave quarter removed and landed herself in serious trouble with the National Heritage Commssion as a result.
Be it as it may the farm were written as a place about which a number of books dating back to the and as a child we were told to learn from the past and not to make the same mistakes as was made in the past That had a major influence on me and in school I became the top history pupil
The circle of friends we were allowed to visit were restiicted and we learned nothing about life and the challenges we would face later in life. We rarely went to movies and I can remember a few I saw. The one movie was a cartoon on the origins of the Danube River and I still think that the Blue Danube is one of the nicest tunes I ever heard. The other movie I saw in the 1950. was War and Peace. I got intrigued by the story of War and Peace and when as the top History pupil was asked what book I would like to get as a prize I chose War and Peace by Tolstoy. The book was expensive at the time and in the end a cousin of my mother donated the book - he was the last Chairman of Parliament under the National Party Government. as MP for Mossel Bay previously called Aliwal South.
It took me three years to read - an extremely difficult book to read and understand. In the end though I came to the conclusion it was the best novel ever written. He used his grandmother and grandfather - his father - his wife and her sisters as the main family deslt with in the book and his characterization of the people made them come to life.. Being interested in history I became interested in Russian History and decided to visit Russia as well. It was impossible to get a visa from the Communist Government and even though I went to Europe in 1973 on a six month holiday I went to East Germany and Hungary - but never to Russia. .
In the end I did visit Russia in 1993 and what I saw obviously impressed me as well. The Russians are highly-cultured and proud of their country.
I do believe that one should learn from History and President Kruger once said - Take from the past which is noble and build on that your future" In other words do not repeat mistakes of the past because those mistakes would inevitably have the same disastrous consequences it had in the past. I was in the fact in France a number of times and made good friends with various people and in particular the head of SAUR in SA - the French Company who through determined efforts on my part got a 30 year concession to operate the municipal water and sewerage services, In 2003 I had a talk with him about the Iraq war and his comments were that the United States is making a huge mistake in attacking Iraq. When I asked why - he said the French over a thousand years have learned one thing - never attack any Muslim country - you can never really win and resultant troubles will last for decades and even centuries decades and even centuries,
The present war in Ukraine will inevitably have the same impact. Yugoslavia was a typical example of how artificial countries can never work . .