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This article is about the country of Rhodesia, now known as Zimbabwe. See also Rhodesia, Nottinghamshire for the village in England.
Rhodesia (after Cecil Rhodes) is the former name of a
British colony in Africa governed by a white minority. With the end of white minority rule, the colony was given formal independence from
Britain and became the African country of Zimbabwe. At an earlier period, the name "Rhodesia" was used to refer to a larger region that corresponds to both
Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia) and Zambia (Northern Rhodesia).
In 1953, faced with the independence of African states, the United Kingdom attempted to create the Federation of Rhodesia and
Nyasaland, which consisted of the current nations of Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi which at the time were called
Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland respectively.
The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was dissolved on January 1, 1964 upon the independence of Malawi and Zambia. When Northern Rhodesia was granted independence by Britain in 1964, it changed its name to Zambia. Southern Rhodesia remained a British colony and came to be known simply as
Rhodesia.
The British government adopted a policy known as NIBMAR (No Independence Before Majority African Rule), to the consternation of the white minority Rhodesian Front (RF) government, led by Ian Smith. On November 11, 1965, Smith unilaterally declared the country independent from British rule, in what became known
as the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) by the Rhodesian Government.
This was internationally condemned and Rhodesia was put on international sanctions from 1965 to independence as Zimbabwe in
1980.
A long armed resistance campaign by ZANU (Zimbabwe African National Union) and ZAPU (Zimbabwe African People's Union) against the Smith regime followed UDI. ZANU was, at that time, a Marxist-socialist African nationalist liberation movement, which was led by Robert Mugabe. ZAPU was also a
Marxist-socialist African nationalist liberation movement, which was led by Joshua Nkomo (ZAPU was generally considered by the British and the West as more moderate than ZANU). The
Rhodesian government struggled and failed to control the ZANU and ZAPU armed campaign, which had developed into a full-scale war
covering the whole country. This became known as the "Bush War" by the supporters of the white-dominated government and as
"Chimurenga" (liberation war) by supporters of the African nationalist movement.
As a result of internal settlement or agreement between the Rhodesian government and moderate and small African nationalist
parties, which were not in exile and therefore not involved in the war, elections were held in April 1979, in which the UANC (United African National Council) party won a
majority, and its leader, Abel Muzorewa, a United Methodist Church bishop, became the country's prime
minister on June 1, 1979. At this point the
country's name was changed to Zimbabwe Rhodesia. While these
elections were described by the Rhodesian government as non-racial and democratic, they did not include the two prominent
political parties within the African nationalist liberation movement, ZANU and ZAPU. Bishop Muzorewa's government and the
country's new name Zimbabwe Rhodesia did not receive international recognition. The international community recognised that the
resolution of the war in Rhodesia must include Mugabe's ZANU and Nkomo's ZAPU in order to be successful because these two were
critical factors in the armed conflict. This recognition is precisely the reason why the British Government was urged by the
International community to intervene.
As a result of the exclusion of the major Afican nationalist parties, i.e., ZANU and ZAPU, "terrorism" from the perspective of
the Rhodesian government and "war of liberation" from the perspective of ZANU and ZAPU, continued unabated. The British
Government (then led by the recently elected Margaret Thatcher)
again intervened to try to force a settlement between the elected government and the nationalist fighters.
Under the terms of this peace treaty, Britain resumed control for a brief time in 1980
and then granted independence to Zimbabwe Rhodesia during that same year, whereupon the first all-party multi-racial elections
were held in which there was much intimidation and violence carried out by both sides of the belligerant parties. Unsurprisingly,
the Marxist Robert Mugabe and
ZANU won these elections. On April 18th, 1980, the country became independent as the Republic of Zimbabwe, and its capital, Salisbury was renamed
Harare, two years later.
Flag of Rhodesia
See also: Prime Minister of
Rhodesia
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