In 1902 the Treaty of Vereeniging - signed by Boer and British leaders - ends the Anglo-Boer War, which began in 1899. This is followed in 1908 by a national convention that represents the exclusive interests of whites and which negotiates South Africa's first constitution. This, the South Africa Act, is passed by the British House of Commons, despite petitions and protests from the African majority.
The inauguration of the Union of South Africa follows soon afterwards, on 31 May 1910, and marks the disenfranchisement of black people.
Just under two years later, in January 1912, the African National Congress is formed.
In 1928 the South African Communist Party sows the seeds of the concept of black majority rule with the rallying call of a "native republic".
The Atlantic Charter, which Franklin D Roosevelt and Winston Churchill sign in 1941, lays the basis for a bill of rights in South Africa. In 1943 the ANC's first attempt at such a document, African Claims, is modelled on this charter
In 1948 the National Party wins the election (without gaining a majority of votes) and the policy of apartheid is officially born. In the years to 1955 the ANC Youth League and the Congress Movement run a mass defiance campaign.
The day of 26 June 1955 is a crucial one in history: the Congress of the People meets in Kliptown, in Soweto, and adopts the Freedom Charter.
Two years later, Chief Albert Luthuli writes to JG Strijdom, the Prime Minister, pleading for the establishment of a non-racial convention.
The late 1950s and 1960 are marked by anti-pass protests by the ANC and the Pan Africanist Congress, formed after a split with the ANC in 1959.
On 16 December 1960 the Consultative Conference of African Leaders is held in Orlando, Soweto. It calls on Africans to attend a conference to demand a national convention representing all the people of South Africa.
And in March 1961 the conference is held in Pietermaritzburg. It demands a national convention of elected representatives of all adult men and women be called to craft a non-racial democratic constitution, one that can only be written by "the people".
Nelson Mandela, who is underground at the time, pays a surprise visit. A month later he writes to HF Verwoerd, the prime minister, referring to the rising tide of unrest. He says "it was the earnest opinion of conference that this dangerous situation could be averted only by the calling of a sovereign national convention representative of all South Africans, to draw up a new non-racial and democratic constitution".
On 31 May 1961 South Africa is declared a republic. The Rivonia treason trial begins in 1964.
From 1969 to 1972 the South African Students Organisation and the Black Consciousness Movement bring the idea of identity and dignity into the struggle for freedom and equality.
The Soweto uprising is set off on 16 June 1976 by pupils protesting against the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of teaching.
In the 1980s, while mass eruptions continue in the streets, two levels of negotiations begin: Nelson Mandela initiates discussions with his jailers and the minister of justice, Kobie Coetzee; and in exile, Thabo Mbeki and his team begin talking to the government through intermediaries.