BSAC 1890-1911 History of Southern Africa Southern Rhodesia
1923-1939






Southern Rhodesia under the British South Africa Company, 1911-1923



Administration : In 1911 the territory was transformed into the SOUTHERN RHODESIA PROTECTORATE, still under the control of the BSAC. The BSAC - a private company, in 1922, prepared for handing over administration to a civilian authority. The white population, in a referendum, rejected the suggestion to join the Union of South Africa, and opted for self-government instead.

Military History : In World War I, the Rhodesia Regiment (white) fought in German South West Africa (1915) and in German East Africa (1917). The Rhodesian African Rifles (black; est. 1898) also fought in the same campaigns.

Economy : Southern Rhodesia's mining industry expanded; white immigration continued, as did the area farmed by whites, and the black labour force employed in the mines, on railroad line construction and on the white farms. Southern Rhodesia suffered from the Spanish Influenza in 1918. Salisbury got electricity in 1913.

Society : in 1919, white women, provided they fulfilled the property qualifications, were granted the right to vote. There was small, but regular influx of Asian immigrants.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		History of Zimbabwe, from Infoplease and from
DOCUMENTS
REFERENCE M.H.Y. Kaniki, The Colonial Economy : the former British Zones, pp.382-419, in : A. Adu Boahen, Africa under Colonial Administration, Vol.VII of UNESCO General History of Africa, Oxford : Heinemann 1985 [G]
Historical documentaries on the history of Rhodesia / Zimbabwe, from Memories of Rhodesia : Rhodesia 1890-1980, 2 Volumes
Article : Rhodesia, in : Statesman's Year Book 1919 pp.201-205 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on April 6th 2005, last revised on August 19th 2007

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