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Zimbabwe history can be dated back to the stone structures at Khami, Great Zimbabwe
and Dhlo-Dhlo
as they
are the first indications of civilisation around what is now
known as Zimbabwe, or to give it its full title, the Republic of
Zimbabwe. The first major civilisation
in the history of the now country was that of the Mwene
Mutapa and the centuries between 1200 - 1600 saw the rise and
fall of the Monomotapa (or Mutapa) Empire which was brought to
its knees in the early seventeenth century by Portuguese traders
and settlers. From the ruins of the empire came a new aggressive
Rozwi Empire which expunged the Portuguese and augured peace and
prosperity for the next two centuries with the centres of
Dhlo-Dhlo, Khami, and Great Zimbabwe reaching their peaks until,
as a result of the mid-19th century turmoil in the Transvaal and
Natal, the Rozwi Empire came to an end being conquered by the
Ndebele (a branch of the Zulus).In the 1880s Zimbabwe history took a colonial turn when the Europeans arrived in the south of the
country including one Cecil John Rhodes whose British South
Africa Company signed a treaty in 1888 with the Ndebele to mine
gold in the kingdom. Following this treaty, the British
Government gave the BSA Company a mandate in 1889 to colonise
the area that was to become Southern Rhodesia however the rapid
influx of European settlers led to conflict with the Ndebele in
1893. The Ndebele were defeated and the colonisation
began in earnest (above).
In 1922 Rhodes' British South Africa Company mandate over the
area was ended and despite being in a minority, the whites in
the area voted for self-government and shortly afterwards
consolidated their position by introducing the Land Apportionment
Act in 1930, effectively precluding blacks from land possession (at
least any decent farm land) and a further labour law four years
later preventing black Africans from entering skilled trades and
professions. As a result of these
two acts, the native black population were at the beck and mercy
of the whites being virtually forced to work on whatever wages and
conditions were applied in white factories and mines and on white
farms. This triggered a rising intolerance of colonial rule and the emergence
of nationalist groups including the Zimbabwe African National
Union (Zanu) and the Zimbabwe African People's Union (Zapu) reflecting a rapid radicalisation of the work force against a background of
increasing numbers of African countries succeeding in throwing
off their colonial 'masters' and establishing themselves as
independent republics.
In 1953 the British government responded by creating the Central African
Federation (above), made up of Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Northern
Rhodesia (Zambia) and Nyasaland (Malawi) which was to last for
ten years until Malawi and Zambia were granted independence in
1963 with African-majority governments. However Southern Rhodesia was not granted independence in the
same manner as no consensus could be agreed on the nature of the
post-independence government, with the British wanting a
multi-racial democracy against the express wishes of the ruling
white minority government. Ian Smith, then Prime Minister, broke this impasse on
11th November 1965 by making a Unilateral Declaration of
Independence (UDI) which effectively expelled Rhodesia from the
international community and triggered sanctions against his
regime. Despite
this, Smith's position remained relatively secure until South African Prime
Minister B.J. Vorster
unexpectedly turned against the Smith regime, removing border
police and limiting supplies into Rhodesia including fuel and
ammunitions, severely hampering Smith's ability to contain the
ongoing insurgency.
This action by South Africa gave Zanu and Zapu fresh impetus
and they stepped up their nationalist independence
campaigns operating mainly out of Mozambique and Zambia which
eventually led to peace talks at Lancaster House in London in
1979 paving the way for a new constitution for the country
which guaranteed black rights. Elections the following year saw
one Robert Mugabe and his Zanu party elected to power and the
country formally gained its full internationally accepted
independence on 18th April 1980. Following this election, Ian Smith remained in parliament as
the official opposition leader with his renamed party, the
Republican Front, remaining a whites only party, however it was
attracted dwindling support and, at the subsequent election of
1985, Smith found himself out of parliament and in retirement.
He remained in Zimbabwe as an outspoken critic of Robert
Mugabe until relocating to an ex-pat Rhodesian community in 2006
in South Africa to live with his bereaved daughter-in-law. He
died the following year aged 88. Some look back on his rule and
conclude that "the policies of his Rhodesia Front party
radicalized black nationalists and directly spawned the violent
and fascist rule of Zanu PF." Mugabe remained in power running a brutal and economically inept goverment until he was ousted in 2017.
Zimbabwe History: Volunteer in Zimbabwe
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Zimbabwe History: Life in Zimbabwe
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Zimbabwe History: Sponsor Children in Zimbabwe
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Zimbabwe History: Zimbabwe Country Profile
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