Ian Smith further expounded this by portraying the conflict as primarily anti-communist in nature. īacked by proxy by the United States and its Western allies, the Rhodesian Front (RF) took an uncompromising position against the communist ideology of the ZIPRA and ZANLA. South Africa clandestinely gave material and military support to the Rhodesian government. By April 1979, 12,000 ZANLA guerrillas were training in Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Libya while 9,500 of its 13,500 extant cadres operated in Rhodesia. Other foreign contributions included military officials from North Korea, who taught Zimbabwean militants to use explosives and arms in a camp near Pyongyang. In June 1979, the governments of Cuba and Mozambique offered direct military help to the Patriotic Front, but Mugabe and Nkomo declined. Each group fought a separate war against the Rhodesian security forces, and the two groups sometimes fought against each other as well. The Soviet Union supported ZIPRA and China supported ZANLA. Cold War politics Ĭold War politics played into the conflict. ZAPU and its military wing ZIPRA consisted mainly of Ndebele under Joshua Nkomo. ZANU and its military wing ZANLA were headed by Robert Mugabe and consisted primarily of Shona tribes. Two rival nationalist organisations emerged in August 1963: the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) and the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), after disagreements about tactics, as well as tribalism and personality clashes. The new 1969 constitution reserved eight seats in the 66 seat parliament for "Non-Europeans" only, with a further eight reserved for tribal chiefs.Īmidst this backdrop, African nationalists advocated armed struggle to bring about black rule, primarily denouncing the wealth disparity between the races. Īlthough the vote in Rhodesia was constitutionally open to all, regardless of race, property requirements left many blacks unable to participate. Although Rhodesia had the private support of neighbouring South Africa and Portugal, which still owned Mozambique, it never gained formal diplomatic recognition from any country. īritain's unwillingness to compromise led to Rhodesia's unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) on 11 November 1965. But many white Rhodesians were concerned that such immediate change would cause chaos as had resulted in the former Belgian Congo after its independence in 1960. In his famous " Wind of Change" speech, UK Prime Minister Harold Macmillan revealed Britain's new policy to only permit independence to its African colonies under majority rule. Britons began settling in Southern Rhodesia since the 1890s, and while it was never accorded full dominion status, these settlers effectively governed the country after 1923. The origin of the war in Rhodesia can be traced to the conquest of the region by the British South Africa Company in the late 19th century, and the dissent of native leaders who opposed foreign rule. 4.2.1 Use of biological and chemical weapons.ZANU won the election and Mugabe became the first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe on 18 April 1980, when the country achieved internationally recognised independence. The country returned temporarily to British control and new elections were held under British and Commonwealth supervision in March 1980. Negotiations between the government of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, the government of the United Kingdom and Mugabe and Nkomo's united " Patriotic Front" took place at Lancaster House, London in December 1979, and the Lancaster House Agreement was signed. Neither side achieved a military victory and a compromise was later reached. However, this new order failed to win international recognition and the war continued. The war and its subsequent Internal Settlement, signed in 1978 by Smith and Muzorewa, led to the implementation of universal suffrage in June 1979 and the end of white minority rule in Rhodesia, which was renamed Zimbabwe Rhodesia under a black majority government. The conflict pitted three forces against one another: the Rhodesian white minority-led government of Ian Smith (later the Zimbabwe-Rhodesian government of Bishop Abel Muzorewa) the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army, the military wing of Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union and the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army of Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African People's Union. ![]() The Rhodesian Bush War, also called the Second Chimurenga as well as the Zimbabwe War of Liberation, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe-Rhodesia).
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