Rhodesia
1965-1980 		History of Southern Africa






Zimbabwe Independent



In 1980, in free elections including the African majority, the ZANU won and ROBERT MUGABE became the first president of ZIMBABWE, as former Rhodesia was now called. The capital Salisbury was rechristened HARARE. Government policy was to maintain a capitalist economy and to ask the white settlers to stay in the country; confiscation of white-owned farmland did not take place. In the Moscow Olympics of 1980, a white Zimbabwean team won field hockey gold.
The British government, feeling responsible for social injustice (most of the best farmland was owned by white settlers which form only a tiny fraction of the population) paid a large sum of money to the Zimbabwean government, intended for the purpose to purchase land from settlers for the purpose of redistribution to African farmers.
Zimbabwe was accepted as a full member of the international community, the economic boycott on the former Rhodesia was lifted, Zimbabwe became member of the Commonwealth and the United Nations. Because of the peaceful transition from an Apartheid regime to black rule and the continued presence of the white population element, important for the country's economy, Zimbabwe was long regarded a model African state.
On the other hand, Mugabe leaned toward the socialist camp; Zimbabwe did not join the boycott of the Moscow Olynpics. His rule was autocratic, the ZAPU, a coalition partner until 1982, faced violent persecution 1982-1987; in 1988, a ONE-PARTY-STATE was created by merging ZANU and ZAPU, the office of prime minister abolished. The economy did not develop as hoped for. Recently, multiparty democracy has been reintroduced.
The plan to purchase farmland and redistribute it to Africans had not materialized and in 2000, a number of white-owned farms have been occupied by dissatisfied and impatient Africans; there have been casualties among the white farmers. The nation's strong population growth over the last decades has contributed to the severity of the situation. ZANU PF controls the countryside, while the political opposition maintains strongholds in the urban centers. In 2005 the government had shantytowns in the suburbs bulldozed, their tenants forcibly resettled in the countryside. In March 2007, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was beaten up by government stooges after attending an allegedly illegal prayer meeting; he had to seek treatment in a hospital. During the last couple of years Zimbabwe has experienced a steadily rising inflation and a mass exodus. The country which once was the breadbasket of Africa now features empty shelves in its stores.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		History of Zimbabwe, from Infoplease
Operation Agila (Rhodesia/Zimbabwe 1979-1984), from Britain's Small Wars
Robert W. Vivian, An Institutional Explanation for the Zimbabwean Tragedy, IEHC 2006
DOCUMENTS Flag of Zimbabwe, from FOTW
Arms of Zimbabwe, from International Civic Arms
Banknotes of Zimbabwe, from Ron Wise's World Paper Money
Documents on recent history of Zimbabwe from World History Archives
Time Trail Zimbabwe, web-edition of historical Time Magazine articles, posted by Time Magazine, 15 articles 1965-
Letter to the Chairmen of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the Situation in Zimbabwe April 3, 1981, posted by Reagan Library, UTexas
Letter to the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee Reporting on the Situation in Zimbabwe, July 7, 1981, posted by Reagan Library, UTexas
Letter to the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the Situation in Zimbabwe November 5, 1981, posted by Reagan Library, UTexas
Letter to the Chairmen of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee Reporting on the Situation in Zimbabwe December 17, 1981, posted by Reagan Library, UTexas
REFERENCE Historical documentaries on the history of Rhodesia / Zimbabwe, from Memories of Rhodesia : the Winds of Change, 2 Volumes; Political Promotions
Article Zimbabwe, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1981 pp.735-737, 1982 pp.735-736, 1983 pp.735-737, 1984 pp.735-737, 1985 pp.480-481, 818, 1986 pp.474-475, 819, 1988 pp.403-404, 739, 1989 pp.403-404, 739, 1990 pp.420-421, 755, 1993 pp.376, 755, 1994 pp.374-375, 755, 1995 pp.506, 755 [G]
Article : Zimbabwe, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1983-1984 pp.1625-1630, 1984-1985 pp.1627-1632, 1985-1986 pp.1623-1628, 1987-1988 pp.1624-1630, 1988-1989 pp.1627-1633, 1989-1990 pp.1623-1630, 1990-1991 pp.1625-1631, 1991-1992 pp.1621-1627, 1992-1993 pp.1630-1636, 1993-1994 pp.1634-1642, 1994-1995 pp.1632-1640, 1995-1996 pp.1625-1632, 1996-1997 pp.1624-1629, 1997-1998 pp.1627-1634, 1998-1999 pp.1761-1767, 2000 pp.1968-1974, 2001 pp.1927-1933, 2002 pp.1997-2003, 2003 pp.2001-2007, 2004 pp.2011-2017, 2005 pp.2023-2029 [G]
Article : Zimbabwe, in : The World in Figures 4th ed. 1984 p.106 [G]
Entry : Republic of Zimbabwe, Cabinet, pp.110-111, in : Countries of the World and their Leaders Yearbook, 2003 [G]
Entry : Zimbabwe, pp.1066-1071 in : IMF, International Financial Statistics Yearbook 2001 [G]
Article : Zimbabwe, in : Americana Annual 1989 p.578, 1990 p.563, 1992 pp.573-574, 1993 pp.576-577, 1994 pp.577-578 [G]
Entry : Zimbabwe, in : The Commonwealth Yearbook 1989 pp.405-412 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on June 18th 2008

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