1911-1923 History of Southern Africa 1939-1965






Stamps issued for Southern Rhodesia by the British Postal Administration



Southern Rhodesia 1923-1939



Administration : In 1923 the British South Africa Company ceded it's protectorates and assets to the British government. In a 1922 referendum the ca. 30,000 white settlers opted for Southern Rhodesia to become a self-governing colony, rather than to join the Union of South Africa. The capital Salisbury (present Harare) only in 1935 was granted the status of a city.
Southern Rhodesia, now a crown colony, was administrated by a British governor, the authority of which was limited by that of the colony's Legislative Assembly (est. 1898), which had 30 seats and was elected every 4 years. The right to vote was tied to property qualifications; while a few blacks were elected into the assembly, the overwhelming majority was white.

Economy : The BSAC had pursued a policy of minimizing he costs of administrating the colony, and there was great room for development. The economy, s well as the ppulation, black and white, contnued to grow, the latter mainly due to immigration. In 1931, the population of Southern Rhodesia was 1,303,775, of whom 55,408 were whites and over 5,000 were Asiatics (Hübner). In 1936, 2,586 immigrants arrived. Salisbury had 32,864 inhabitants in 1936, of whom 11,392 were whites. Bulawayo had 19,126 inhabitants, of whom 12,321 were whites. In 1936, Rhodesia had a combined 2170 km of railroad lines, 2745 km of roads, 4029 buses and trucks, 13700 cars, 60,550 km of telephone lines, 5227 registered telephones.
In 1930, the land act was passed excluding Africans from ownership of the best farmland. In 1934, a labour law was passed, excluding them from entering skilled trades and professions - a measure intended to prevent unemloyment among the white population during the ongoing Great epression.
In 1932, Southern Rhodesia was connected with Cape Town by regular flights. In order to improve overland transportation, the government in 1924 began a bridge building program; in the 1930es strip roads were laid, replacing the previously used wagon tracks.
Society : In the 1930es, legislation discrimnated against the black population, which suffered repeated redrawing of (shrinking) areas set aside for the native population, the confiscation of better-quality arable lands the exclusion from professions requiring skills.
Education hitherto had been a private affair; the colony began to promote schools catering to the whites, while leaving the education of the blacks in the hands of the missionaries (who could only provide a very basic education).
In 1934, the Bantu Congress, the first political organization for Africans in the colony, was founded, later renamed African National Congress (ANC).






EXTERNAL
FILES 		Books on the Matabele and early Rhodesia, introduced by Books of Zimbabwe
History of Zimbabwe, from Infoplease and from Africanet
DOCUMENTS Flag of Southern Rhodesia, from FOTW
Arms of Rhodesia, granted in 1924, from International Civic Arms, scroll down
Southern Rhodesia, Report on Natural Resources, 1939, posted by RD Online
REFERENCE Hübner's Weltstatistik, 73rd edition, edited by Ernst Rösner, Wien 1939; in German [G]
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]
A.B. Davidson, A. Isaacman, R. Pelessier, Politics and Nationalism in Central and Southern Africa 1919-1935, pp.673-711, 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 : Southern Rhodesia, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1924 pp.211-213, 1925 pp.215-217, 1926 pp.219-221, 1928 pp.217-219, 1929 pp.217-221, 1932 pp.221-224, 1937 pp.241-244 [G]
Article : Rhodesia, Southern, in : Americana Annual 1927 pp.742-743, 1928 pp.680-681, 1930 pp.663-664, 1931 pp.656-657, 1932 pp.619-620, 1933 pp.667-668, 1934 p.511, 1935 p.613, 1936 p.633, 1937 pp.615-616, 1938 p.599, 1939 p.672, 1940 p.677 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on August 27th 2007

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