Rhodesia
Rhodesia (1965–1970) Republic of Rhodesia (1970–1979) | |||||||||
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| 1965–1979 | |||||||||
 Coat of arms
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| Motto: Sit Nomine Digna ("May she be worthy of the name") | |||||||||
| Anthem: "Rise, O Voices of Rhodesia" (1974–1979) "God Save the Queen" (1965–1970) | |||||||||
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| Status | Unrecognised state | ||||||||
| Capital and largest city | Salisbury | ||||||||
| Official languages | English[source?] | ||||||||
| Other languages | |||||||||
| Demonym(s) | Rhodesian | ||||||||
| Government | Unitary Parliamentary constitutional monarchy (1965–70) Unitary Parliamentary republic (1970–79) | ||||||||
| Monarch | |||||||||
• 1965–1970 | Elizabeth II | ||||||||
| President | |||||||||
• 1970–1975 | Clifford Dupont | ||||||||
• 1976–1978 | John Wrathall | ||||||||
• 1979 | Henry Everard (acting) | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1965–1979 | Ian Smith | ||||||||
| Legislature | Parliament | ||||||||
| Senate | |||||||||
| House of Assembly | |||||||||
| Independence from the United Kingdom | |||||||||
| Historical era | Cold War and Decolonisation of Africa | ||||||||
• Declared | 11 November 1965 | ||||||||
• Republic | 2 March 1970 | ||||||||
| 3 March 1978 | |||||||||
| 1 June 1979 | |||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
• Total | 390,580 km2 (150,800 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1978 census | 6,930,000 | ||||||||
| Currency |
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| Time zone | UTC+2 (CAT) | ||||||||
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| Today part of |  Zimbabwe | ||||||||
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Rhodesia (/roʊˈdiːʒə/, /roʊˈdiːʃə/), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was a republic in Southern Africa during the Cold War. It was the region that is now called Zimbabwe. The country replaced the self-governing territory of Southern Rhodesia.
Nomenclature
The name of the country under British law was "Southern Rhodesia", but the government in Salisbury used the name "Rhodesia" instead. This situation dated back to October 1964, when the colony of Northern Rhodesia changed its name to Zambia following independence, so the local government felt that "Southern" Rhodesia should no longer be used because there was no "Northern" Rhodesia. However, Britain believed that only their government could change the name and not the country itself.
History
Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI)
The British government adopted a policy called no independence before majority rule, which dictated that colonies with a certain amount of white settlers would not become independent until they adopted a policy of majority rule. This had conflicted with the beliefs of the white minority Rhodesian Front, leald by Ian Smith, which believed that Rhodesia should become an independent country anyway. This continued until relations between the country and the British government broke down in 1965.
On 11 November 1965, Smith's government issued a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) from the United Kingdom. Many countries condemned the UDI and the United Nations Security Council placed sanctions on Rhodesia.
Rhodesia sought international recognition as a Commonwealth realm, with Queen Elizabeth II as "Queen of Rhodesia", but later severed it links to the British Crown by becoming a republic on 2 March 1970.
The Bush War
As early as 1960, many African nationalists began to challenge Rhodesia's minority rule policies. In 1964, tensions boiled over and the Rhodesian Bush War began. On one side, the government, led by Ian Smith, hoped to keep responsible government in power. On the other side, the ZANU-PF, led by Robert Mugabe, who was backed by China, fought for communist rule. After about 15 years of fighting, the Lancaster House Agreement was signed which allowed majority rule. This led to Zimbabwe's independence. Mugabe would be dictatorship for 37 years.
References
- ↑ Chambers, Allied (1998). The Chambers Dictionary. Allied Publishers. p. 1416. ISBN 978-81-86062-25-8.
- ↑ "46. Rhodesia/Zimbabwe (1964-present)". Archived from the original on 2017-04-27. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
