Zimbabwe Rhodesia

Zimbabwe Rhodesia (/zɪmˈbɑːbweɪ roʊˈdiːʒə, zɪmˈbɑːbwi roʊˈdiːʒə/), alternatively known as Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, also informally known as Zimbabwe or Rhodesia, was a short-lived sovereign state that existed from 1 June 1979 to 18 April 1980,^[1] though lacked international recognition.^[2][3] Zimbabwe Rhodesia was preceded by another state named the Republic of Rhodesia and was briefly under a British-supervised transitional government sometimes referred to as a reestablished Southern Rhodesia, which according to British constitutional theory had remained the lawful government in the area after Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965. About three months later, the re-established colony of Southern Rhodesia was granted internationally-recognized independence within the Commonwealth as the Republic of Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe Rhodesia
1979–1980
Flags Coat of arms
Motto: Sit Nomine Digna (Latin) "May she be worthy of the name"
Anthem: "Rise, O Voices of Rhodesia"
Location of Zimbabwe Rhodesia (dark green)
Status	Unrecognised state
Capital	Salisbury
Official languages	English
Common languages	Shona Sindebele
Demonym(s)	Zimbabwe Rhodesian Rhodesian
Government	Parliamentary republic
President
• 1979	Josiah Zion Gumede
Prime Minister
• 1979	Abel Muzorewa
Historical era	Cold War
• Internal Settlement	1 June 1979
• British-supervised transition period	21 December 1979
• Republic of Zimbabwe founded	18 April 1980
Currency	Rhodesian dollar
Preceded by Succeeded by Rhodesia De facto: Southern Rhodesia (1979) De jure: Zimbabwe (1980)
Today part of	Zimbabwe

Background

Main article: Rhodesian Bush War

Under pressure from the international community, an "Internal Settlement" was drawn up between the Smith administration of Rhodesia and moderate African nationalist parties. Meanwhile, the government continued to battle armed resistance from the Patriotic Front,^[4] a coalition of two African Leadership parties: the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU) and the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU). The liberation war was a proxy conflict between the West and East.^[5][6]

The "Internal Settlement", signed in March 1978, led to the creation of an interim government in which Africans were included in leading positions for the first time, while creating an independent civil service, judiciary, police force, and army.^[7][8] The settlement also created an executive council composed of Ian Smith and three black individuals (Muzorewa, Sithole, and Chirau),^[4] and a ministerial council, while Smith retained his title as Prime Minister. It was also stated that the primary job of this new government is to draw up a constitution for the country, hold elections in April 1979,^[4] and arrange a ceasefire with the Patriotic Front.^[9][10] A further goal of the agreement was said to be the hope of ending the country's civil war.^[10] Following the election, Muzorewa remarked that he didn't want the country to be "a sham, a fraud, a hollow shell with the mere trappings of independence" or the country to "ever to become another banana republic."^[11]

Furthermore, a goal of the settlement was for Rhodesia to receive international recognition and have the sanctions imposed on the country due to Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965 to be removed. Following the settlement, Muzorewa attempted to convince the British government to recognize the transitional government, but they did not do so.^[12] In the same vein, some believed that the settlement was "sufficient" grounds for recognition of Rhodesia and lifting sanctions.^[10] Later in 1978, the removal of sanctions was agreed to by the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, with the caveat that they could only be lifted "once elections were held".^[13] The settlement also reportedly resulted in the release of political prisoners.^[14] However, the country's civil service, judiciary, police and armed forces continued to be administered by the same officials as before, of whom most were White Zimbabweans, due to the composition of the upper-middle class of the period.^[15]

The new state did not gain international recognition. The Commonwealth Secretariat claiming that the "so-called 'Constitution of Zimbabwe Rhodesia'" would be "no more legal and valid" than the UDI constitution it replaced,^[16] The U.N. Security Council, in Resolution 448 condemned the general election in April 1979 as "null and void" and described the country as an "illegal racist regime" which was attempting to retain and extend "racist minority rule and...preventing the accession of Zimbabwe to independence and genuine majority rule." It also called on all states to recognize the government and to strictly follow mandatory sanctions against the country.^[17] As noted by Time in June 1979, United States President Jimmy Carter believed that the elections which installed the government in were neither "fair or free," because they were held under a constitution that reserved "a disproportionate share of power for the white minority."^[18] He later, in November 1979, continued sanctions until the negotiations conducted by the United Kingdom to end the "peaceful resolution" of the conflict in Rhodesia had come to a close.^[19]

Nomenclature

As early as 1960, African nationalist political organizations in Rhodesia agreed that the country should use the name "Zimbabwe"; they used that name as part of the titles of their organisations. The name "Zimbabwe", broken down to Dzimba dzamabwe in Shona (one of the two major languages in the country), means "houses of stone". Meanwhile, the white Rhodesian community was reluctant to drop the name "Rhodesia", hence a compromise was met.^[20]

The Constitution named the new state as "Zimbabwe Rhodesia", with no reference to its status as a republic in its name.^[21] As such, it was similar in style to post-1994 South Africa renaming the Natal province as "KwaZulu-Natal". Although the official name contained no hyphen, the country's name was hyphenated in some foreign publications as "Zimbabwe-Rhodesia".^[22][23][24] The country was also nicknamed "Rhobabwe", a blend of "Rhodesia" and "Zimbabwe",^[25][26] It had first been used in the late 1960s.^[27]

After taking office as Prime Minister, Abel Muzorewa sought to drop "Rhodesia" from the country's name.^[28] The name "Zimbabwe Rhodesia" had been criticised by some black politicians like Senator Chief Zephaniah Charumbira, who said it implied that Zimbabwe was "the son of Rhodesia".^[29] ZANU–PF, led by Robert Mugabe in exile, denounced what it described as "the derogatory name of 'Zimbabwe Rhodesia'".^[30] The proposed changes to the name were not implemented.

The government also adopted a new national flag, featuring the same Zimbabwe soapstone bird, on 2 September of that year.^{[citation needed]} In addition, it announced changes to public holidays, with Rhodes Day and Founders Day being replaced by two new holidays, both of which were known as Ancestors Day, while Republic Day and Independence Day were to be replaced by President's Day and Unity Day, celebrated on 25 and 26 October of that year.^[31]

In response, the Voice of Zimbabwe radio service operated by ZANU–PF from Maputo in Mozambique, carried a commentary entitled "The proof of independence is not flags or names", dismissing the changes as aimed at "strengthening the racist puppet alliance's position at the Zimbabwe conference in London".^[32]

The national airline, Air Rhodesia, was also renamed Air Zimbabwe.^[33] However, no postage stamps were issued; issues of 1978 still used "Rhodesia", and the next stamp issues were in 1980, after the change to just "Zimbabwe," and were inscribed accordingly.^[34]

Government of Zimbabwe Rhodesia

Main articles: 1979 Rhodesian general election and Government of Zimbabwe Rhodesia

Zimbabwe Rhodesia's short-lived government was elected prior to the creation of the state, with the 1979 Rhodesian general election, the first in which a majority of elected representatives were black. Adapting the constitution of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI), Zimbabwe Rhodesia was governed by a Prime Minister and Cabinet chosen from the majority party in a 100-member House of Assembly.^[35][36] A 40-member Senate acted as the upper House, and both together chose a figurehead President in whose name the government was conducted.

Legislative Branch

Of the 100 members of the House of Assembly, 72 were "common roll" members for whom the electorate was every adult citizen. All of these members were black Africans. Those on the previous electoral roll of Rhodesia (due to education, property and income qualifications for voter rolls) elected 20 members; although this did not in theory exclude non-whites, very few black Africans met the qualification requirements. A delimitation commission sat in 1978 to determine how to reduce the previous 50 constituencies to 20. The remaining eight seats for old voter role non-constituency members were filled by members chosen by the other 92 members of the House of Assembly once their election was complete. In the only election held by Zimbabwe Rhodesia, Bishop Abel Muzorewa's United African National Council (UANC) won a majority in the common-roll seats, while Ian Smith's Rhodesian Front (RF) won all of the old voter roll seats. Ndabaningi Sithole's Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) won 12 seats.

The Senate of Zimbabwe Rhodesia had 40 members. Ten members each were returned by the old voter roll members of the House of Assembly and the common roll members, and five members each by the Council of Chiefs of Mashonaland and Matabeleland. The remaining members were directly appointed by the President under the advice of the Prime Minister.

Executive Branch

The President of Zimbabwe Rhodesia was elected by the members of the Parliament, sitting together. At the election on 28 May 1979, Josiah Zion Gumede of the United African National Council (UANC)^[37] and Timothy Ndhlovu of the United National Federal Party (UNFP) were nominated.^[38] Gumede won by 80 votes to Ndhlovu's 33.^[39]

Starting with 51 seats out of 100, Abel Muzorewa of the UANC was appointed as Prime Minister, and also appointed Minister of Combined Operations and Defence.^[40] He formed a joint government with Ian Smith, the former Prime Minister of Rhodesia, who was a Minister without Portfolio.^[41] Muzorewa also attempted to include the other African parties who had lost the election. Rhodesian Front members served as Muzorewa's ministers of justice, agriculture, and finance, with David Smith continuing in the role of Minister of Finance, while P. K. van der Byl, the former Minister of Defence, serving as both Minister of Transport and Minister of Power and Posts.^[40]

End of Zimbabwe Rhodesia

The Lancaster House Agreement, signed on 21 December 1979,^[42] stipulated that control over the country be returned to the United Kingdom in preparation for elections to be held in the spring of 1980. Before the negotiations had ended, on 11 December 1979, the law was passed which declared that "Zimbabwe Rhodesia shall cease to be an independent State and become part of Her Majesty's dominions".^[43] In response, the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed Order 1979, on 14 December, establishing the offices of Governor and Deputy Governor of Southern Rhodesia, filled by Lord Soames and Sir Antony Duff respectively,^[44] creating a "permanent government" for the country.^[45]

Although the name of the country formally reverted to Southern Rhodesia at this time, the name "Zimbabwe Rhodesia" remained in many of the country's institutions, such as the Zimbabwe Rhodesia Broadcasting Corporation.^[46] On 18 April 1980, Southern Rhodesia became the independent Republic of Zimbabwe within the Commonwealth of Nations.^[47]

See also

• Colonial history of Southern Rhodesia
• Colony of Southern Rhodesia
• Education in Zimbabwe
• Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
• History of Zimbabwe
• Republic of Zimbabwe
• Rhodesia
• Rhodesian Bush War

References

1. "New Hope For A Settlement: Mrs. Thatcher finds a fresh approach for Zimbabwe-Rhodesia". Time. Vol. 114, no. 7. MasterFILE Complete. 13 August 1979. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
2. Waddy, Nicholas (2013). "The Strange Death of 'Zimbabwe-Rhodesia': The Question of British Recognition of the Muzorewa Regime in Rhodesian Public Opinion, 1979". South African Historical Journal. 66 (2): 227–248. doi:10.1080/02582473.2013.846935. S2CID 159650816. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
3. Masters, Paul E. (2000). "Carter and the Rhodesian Problem". International Social Science Review. 75 (3/4). Retrieved 4 August 2023.
4. Oliver, Roland; Atmore, Anthony (2009). Africa Since 1800 (5th ed.). New York City: Cambridge University Press. p. 281. ISBN 9780511800283.
5. Turner, William B. (24 February 2022). "The Rhodesian Bush War/Zimbabwe War of Liberation: A Political-Military Analysis". Small Wars Journal. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
6. "Conflict in and around Zimbabwe". Imperial War Museum. from the original on 23 May 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
7. Mutunhu, Tendai (September 1978). "The Internal Political Settlement in Zimbabwe: A Sell-Out or an Advancement to African Majority Rule". The Black Scholar. 10 (1): 2, 4–5. doi:10.1080/00064246.1978.11412666. JSTOR 41163648. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
8. Zvobgo 2009, pp. 186.
9. "RHODESIA: First Step Toward Black Rule". Time. 13 March 1978. from the original on 28 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
10. Ullman, Richard H. (1 June 1979). "Salvaging America's Rhodesian Policy". Foreign Affairs. 57 (Summer 1979): 1111–1122. doi:10.2307/20040275. JSTOR 20040275. from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
11. "Now, Zimbabwe-Rhodesia: The blacks cast ballots at last, but that will not stop the shooting". Time. Vol. 113, no. 18. MasterFILE Complete. 30 April 1979. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
12. Zvobgo 2009, pp. 184–185.
13. "Sanctions Against Rhodesia". CQ Almanac. CQ Press. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
14. Zvobgo 2009, pp. 185–186.
15. . Sarasota Journal. 18 July 1979. p. 4. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
16. . United Kingdom: Commonwealth Secretariat. 1979. p. 2. Archived from the original on 21 November 2018.
17. Wellens, Karel C., ed. (1990). Resolutions and Statements of the United Nations Security Council (1946 - 1989): a Thematic Guide. Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. pp. 103–105. ISBN 9780792307969.
18. "Sanctions Stay But the Senate battles Carter on Zimbabwe-Rhodesia". Time. Vol. 113, no. 26. MasterFILE Complete. 25 June 1979. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
19. Carter, Jimmy. "Memorandum From the President on Trade Sanctions Against Zimbabwe-Rhodesia". The American Presidency Project. UC Santa Barbara. from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
20. . Mambo Press. 1988. p. 422. ISBN 9780869224410. Archived from the original on 24 September 2017.
21. "Constitution of Zimbabwe Rhodesia, 1979" (PDF). IFES. (PDF) from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
22. Editorials on File. Vol. 10. Facts on File, Incorporated. 1979. pp. 873, 875, 877.
23. Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report. Vol. 37. Congressional Quarterly. 1979. p. 1585.
24. "African Leaders United On View Of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia". Toledo Blade. from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
25. Caute, David (1983). Under the Skin: The Death of White Rhodesia. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press. p. 354. ISBN 9780810106581.
26. . The Spectator. 20 May 1978. Archived from the original on 15 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
27. Bull, Theodore (1967). Theodore Bull London (ed.). Rhodesia Perspective. Michael Joseph. p. 146.
28. "Zimbabwe Rhodesia Bids To Shorten Name To Zimbabwe". Lakeland Ledger. Lakeland, Florida. 26 August 1979. from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
29. Fisher, J.L. (2010). (reprint ed.). Canberra, Australia: ANU E Press. p. 58. ISBN 9781921666148. Archived from the original on 23 March 2017.
30. Zimbabwe News. Vol. 11–16. Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe African National Union Central Bureau of Information. 1979. p. 2.
31. British Broadcasting Corporation 1979, pp. 3.
32. British Broadcasting Corporation 1979, pp. 7.
33. . Africa Calls Publishers. 1979. p. 33. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018.
34. . British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service. 1980. p. 11. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018.
35. Novak, Andrew (2009). "Face-Saving Maneuvers and Strong Third-Party Mediation: The Lancaster House Conference on Zimbabwe-Rhodesia". International Negotiation. 14: 149–150. doi:10.1163/157180609X406553. Retrieved 5 August 2023. ALT URL
36. Waddy, Nicholas (2014). "The Strange Death of'Zimbabwe-Rhodesia': The Question of British Recognition of the Muzorewa Regime in Rhodesian Public Opinion, 1979". South African Historical Journal. 66 (2): 228–229, 237. doi:10.1080/02582473.2013.846935. S2CID 159650816. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
37. United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs (1979). Chronologies of major developments in selected areas of foreign affairs. 1979 Jan-Sep. Washington, D.C.: Government Publishing Office. pp. 28, 164–165.
38. . Sub-Saharan Africa Report. Foreign Broadcast Information Service (2114–2120): 75, 78, 80. 1979. Archived from the original on 24 September 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
39. . Africa Research Bulletin. Blackwell: 5278. 1979. Archived from the original on 24 September 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
40. . New York Times. 31 May 1979. Archived from the original on 24 June 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
41. . Washington Post. 27 June 1979. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
42. Solomon, Patrick (23 December 2019). "The Lancaster House Agreement 40 years on". History of government. United Kingdom Government. from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
43. Gowlland-Debbas, Vera (1990). Collective Responses to Illegal Acts in International Law: United Nations Action in the Question of Southern Rhodesia. Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 91. ISBN 9780792308119.
44. "Southern Rhodesia Constitution (Interim Provisions) Order 1979". Hansard 1803-2005. Parliament of the United Kingdom. from the original on 21 November 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
45. Hauptfuhrer, Fred (22 October 1979). "The Man In The Middle In Zimbabwe-Rhodesia Is Britain's Kissinger--Lord Carrington". Time. Vol. 12, no. 17. MasterFILE Complete. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
46. "Zimbabwe Bill". Hansard 1803-2005. Parliament of the United Kingdom. 17 December 1979. from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023. HL Deb 17 December 1979 vol 403 cc1470-514
47. Ross, Jay (18 April 1980). "Zimbabwe Gains Independence". Washington Post. from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2023.

Further reading

• British Broadcasting Corporation (1979). Summary of World Broadcasts: Non-Arab Africa. British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service.

• Zvobgo, Chengetai J. M. (2009). A History of Zimbabwe, 1890-2000 and Postscript, Zimbabwe, 2001-2008. Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4438-1360-0.

External links

•   Media related to Southern Rhodesia at Wikimedia Commons