This article is about Jan Smuts in the government of South Africa when part of the British Empire, from the Transvaal's defeat at the end of the Second Boer War in 1902 until the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. Smuts emerged from the Boer War as one of the foremost Afrikaner leaders. Working closely with Louis Botha, Smuts engineered the restoration of . Having won the elections to the restored Transvaal Parliament, Smuts and Botha proceeded to negotiate beneficial terms of unification.