User:Beneaththelandslide/drafts/Rhodesian Bush War

Roots and Causes

Main article: History of Zimbabwe

Mashonaland to Rhodesia

The land between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers was occupied by various tribes with similar languages, collectively known as the Shona, who had migrated there during the Bantu expansion in the 1000s and displaced the indigenous Bushmen inhabitants. A second migration took part in the 1820s, when a branch of the Zulus, led by their chief Mzilikazi, migrated north from Zululand to escape the Mfecane, a period of intertribal war, conflict and displacement. By 1834, the group had bypassed the Limpopo River and engaged the Shona in battle; the Shona gave the group their name, Matabele, meaning 'to chase away'.

British scouts fleeing from Ndebele warriros after the assasination of Mlimo.

The Matabele conquered the south and west of the land, and used the remaining parts of it as raiding grounds. Mzilikazi was succeeded by Lobengula in 1868, who signed treaties with Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company in 1888, which permitted the British to colonise and speculate in the region, named by Rhodes as 'Zambesia'. In 1889, European settlers began to set up forts and towns in the territory. Lobengula, angry that so many Europeans had entered his lands (he had hoped that signing treaties with the British would prevent Afrikaners from moving north), was forced to fight against the British when they intervened to prevent Matabele raids on the Shona. In the subsequent First Matabele War, Lobengula's capital, Bulawayo, was burnt to the ground by his warriors, as they fled from the British, whose use of the Maxim gun ensured their superiority in battle. Lobengula was killed under mysterious circumstances, and his remaining warriors surrendered to the British.

Cecil Rhodes' influence in the company's affairs saw the territory renamed 'Rhodesia' after the war. Numbering 1,500 before the British conquest, the numbers of the white settlers had risen to 4,000 by 1895. The spiritual leader of the Matabele, Mlimo, convinced his people to rise up against the settlers, who he said were responsible for the drought and a cattle disease. Planning together with the Shona to rid the country of the whites, raids commenced on settlements in March, and the Second Matabele War began.

Bulawayo (rebuilt as a town; it was the largest in the country) was surrounded by 10,000 Matabele warriors, who neglected to strike, fearing the impact of the Maxim gun. The Matabele had neglected to cut the telegraph line to Mafikeng, South Africa, which allowed the settlers to send messages for help. Troops arrived in May, ended the siege, and began hunting for Mlimo. After Mlimo's assassination by two settlers, Cecil Rhodes negotiated peace with the Matabele in October 1897.

White settlement and government

Once the rebellion had been put down, the BSAC set about administering the territory, and instituted a variety of laws to coerce the African population into the developing economy. Hut taxes were implemented, and the country was divided into 'Native reserves' (similar to Indian reservations in the United States, and Aboriginal lands in Australia) for Africans, and purchase areas for whites. The number of blacks resident on white-owned land was restricted by law.

African grievances

The main causes of African discontent were ownership of land and lack of political power. At the time of European conquest, there were 200,000 Africans inhabiting Southern Rhodesia. Largely nomadic, economical factors caused them to eventually settle, and their population began to grow at an exponential rate. Reserves that had been proclaimed in 1923 soon proved inadequate with improvements in medicine and living condition allowing for this increase.

Traditional African farming methods were unable to keep up with population growth; European attempts to modernise farming were met with a rebuff. The traditional 'slash and burn' method of agriculture, combined with overstocking of cattle, caused damage to the soil.

In addition, there was a mass migration of Africans to the cities, where they lived in government-provided housing on the outskirts.

Rise of African nationalism

In 1957 bus fares in Salisbury were raised. The Southern Rhodesia Youth League responded by boycotting the buses and succeeded in preventing the price change. On September 12, 1957 members of the Youth League and the defunct ANC formed the Southern Rhodesia African National Congress, led by Joshua Nkomo. Southern Rhodesia was at the time a territory in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. After a spate of violence in the territory of Nyasaland where almost 50 lives were lost, African nationalist leaders in all three territories were arrested by the federal and territorial governments on February 29 in Operation Sunrise. The Southern Rhodesian Government, under the tutelage of Premier Edgar Whitehead, banned the ANC, but Nkomo was out of the country at the time and escaped imprisonment.

Nkomo and other leaders established the National Democratic Party in January 1960 and Nkomo became its leader in October. An NDP delegation headed by Nkomo attended the constitutional conference in January 1961. While Nkomo initially supported the constitution, he reversed his position a few days later after other NDP leaders disagreed. The talks led to black representation in the Southern Rhodesian Parliament for the first time, but the NDP demanded immediate majority rule under a 'one man, one vote' constitution.

Peaceful demonstrations in Salisbury on December 8 by NDP supporters eventually degraded into violence, with the British South Africa Police being forced to use live fire to subdue stone throwers. Five police officers (three white and two black) were injured, along with 14 black civilians. In response, the government arrested and searched the homes of prominent NDP leaders, and banned the organisation in December. Premier Whitehead stated that the banning was necessary, stating that "[the NDP]'s history has been one of brutality and violence against anyone who disagrees with them. Their aim is a one-party state." Nkomo went on to form the Zimbabwe African People's Union which the government banned in September 1962.

Throughout 1962, there were a spate of attacks by ZAPU members against political enemies, as well as sabotage of infrastructure, with the attempted derailing of several Rhodesia Railways trains. Petrol bomb attacks were made against chiefs, police officers, and government workers. African members of the UFP had petrol bombs thrown into their houses, while bombs were thrown into church services. A government white paper stated that there had been "33 petrol bomb attacks, 14 criminal attacks against Africans, attacks on 18 schools and nine churches, 24 cases of blocking or roads or cutting of telephone wires, 11 attacks on polieceman and 16 cases of arson and attacks on whites"

The constitution that had been negotiated replaced a 30-member parliament with a 65-member one. Under the old constitution, voters had to meet certain income and property requirements, which meant that while a majority of the white population could vote, only a tiny minority of blacks could. The new constitution had 50 A-roll seats with high voting qualifications (essentially for whites), and 15 B-roll seats with lower qualifications (for blacks). A system of 'cross voting' meant that results in A-roll seats would be affected by the B-roll vote, and vice versa. Whitehead's United Federal Party was supportive of a phased transition to majority rule, and Whitehead pledged to appoint a black Minister if he was re-elected. Their opponent, the Rhodesian Front, was formed from the merger of the conservative Dominion Party with defectors from the UFP. They pledged to slow African advancement, stating that it was taking place at too fast a rate.

Elections were held in December and Nkomo ordered a boycott; only 10,000 blacks bothered to enrol, and only 2,000 actually voted. The Rhodesian Front won 55% of the A-roll vote and 35 out of 50 seats. The UFP won 15 A-roll seats, and 14 out of 15 B-roll seats (the remaining one going to independent Ahrn Palley). Due to the cross-voting system, had 5,000 more blacks ignored the boycott and turned out to vote, the UFP would have managed to stay in power.

Nkomo, legally barred from forming a new political party, moved ZAPU's headquarters to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

A brawl erupted between members of differing ZAPU factions at Salisbury Airport in July 1963, the start of a long period of politically-related violence.

In July 1963 Ndabaningi Sithole, Chief ZAPU Representative outside of Rhodesia, established the Zimbabwe African National Union. ZANU members formed a militant wing, the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army, and sent ZANLA members to the People's Republic of China for training. While there was no initial ideological differences between the two parties, they would eventually become polarised, with ZAPU drawing its support from the Shona ethnic group and the Soviet Union, while ZANU drew its support from the Ndebele and Communist China

Ian Smith became the new Prime Minister (the position had reverted from Premier after the dissolution of the Federation) on April 13. He immediately took steps to end the violence that was rife in the African townships, banned ZAPU and ZANU, and moved to detain all nationalist leaders. By the end of the year almost all internally-based nationalist leaders were in jail.

In July 1964 ZANLA forces assassinated a Rhodesian Front official and the war began.

Bush War

Armies

References

Articles

• Wood, Richard. Rhodesian Insurgency
• Lohman, Charles and MacPherson, Robert. Rhodesia: Tactical Victory, Strategic Defeat

Books

• Welensky, Roy (1964). Welensky's 4000 Days. London: Collins.
• Blake, Robert (1977). A History of Rhodesia. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0-394-48068-6.
• Reid-Daly, Ron (1982). Selous Scouts: Top Secret War. Alberton, SA: Galago. ISBN 0-620-05771-8.
• Cocks, Chris (1997). Fireforce: One Man's War in the Rhodesian Light Infantry. Roodeport, SA: Covos-Day. ISBN 0-620-21573-9.
• Smith, Ian (2001). Bitter Harvest: The Great Betrayal. London: Blake. ISBN 1-903402050.
• Wood, JRT (2004). So far and no further!: Rhodesia's bid for independence during the retreat from empire 1959-1965. Victoria: Trafford. ISBN 1-4120-4952-0.