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History records The Mwene Mutapa as Zimbabwe's first
major empire.They were under the Kingship of King Mutota by the mid 1440's.The empire
included almost all of present day Zimbabwe and extensive parts of what is now Mozambique.
The Mwene Mutapa economy was based on small-scale industries such as iron smelting,
textiles, gold and copper, along with agriculture. Trade was mainly with Arab and
Swahili merchants and later Portuguese.
Several wars with the Portuguese weakened the empire leading to its decline . A number
of Shona states came together to form the Rozwi empire operating from a base which
is now known as Great Zimbabwe .The Rozwi drove the Portuguese out and controlled
much of the land formerly under Mwene Mutapa bringing stability for two centuries.The
Rozwi came to an end as a result of the turmoil in Natal(South Africa) around the
mid-19th century .
The British South Africa Company came to mine gold in 1888 with permission from the
Ndebele.This later led to war in 1893 which The Ndebele were defeated and Zimbabwe
was colonised.The country was named Rhodesia as a tribute to Cecil John Rhodes,the
master mind of the colonisation and richest man in the world of that time.
A referendum in 1922 ,the new settlers chose to become a self-governing colony rather
than become part of the Union of South Africa.A theoretically non racial constitution
was drafted although blacks from vote
Africans were excluded from ownership of the best farming land as a result of an
act passed in 1930 . Africans were also prohibited from entering skilled trades and
professions forcing them to work for subsistence wages on white farms, mines and
factories.
In 1953 a federation of Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesian (now Zambia) and Nyasaland
(now Malawi) was formed with its Prime Minister, Garfield Todd. Todd was thrown out
when he attempted to satisfy some of the more moderate African demands. The same
treatment was afforded his successor ,Prime Minister Godfrey Huggins in 1962
A number of african political parties were formed as a result of African impatience
with the prospects of constitutional change. Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU),
mostly Ndebele, led by Joshua Nkomo was the first party. It was shortly joined by
the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), mostly Shona, a break-away group under
Ndabaningi Sithole.
After the collapse of the federation in 1963, both ZAPU and ZANU were banned and
the majority of their leaders imprisoned. At the same time, as a response to Britain's
refusal to grant independence to Southern Rhodesia, Ian Smith the prime minister,
called for a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI). In the May 1965 elections,
Smith's party picked up every one of the 50 government seats, in December, UDI was
declared.Britain declared Smith's action illegal and imposed economic sanctions.
In 1968 the UN voted to make the sanctions mandatory but they were largely ineffective.South
Africa and Britian still traded with Rhodesia behind the back door.Tracks of British
Petroleum slipped in Zimbabwe at night to supply Smith with Petrol. The measures
taken by the British government to force Smith to revoke UDI and accept Black majority
rule were useless, as the economic sanctions imposed actually saw Rhodesia's economy
grow.
ZAPU and ZANU began campaigns of guerrilla warfare around 1966, and guerrilla raids
led to an escalation in white emigration from Rhodesia. Independence in Angola and
Mozambique in 1975 altered the power balance within Rhodesia greatly as it forced
South Africa and the USA to rethink their attitudes to the area, in order that they
could protect their economic and political interests.
Attempts were made by both countries to pressurise Smith into accepting the nationalists.
With Kauanda's Zambian support the nationalist groups were convinced to come together
under the united front of Muzorewa's African National Congress. The imprisoned nationalist
leaders were released. Continuing talks failed to bring the two sides to an agreement,
despite changes to the nationalist "line-up", now called the Patriotic
Front, a union of ZANU and ZAPU.
Ian Smith, in the face of an exodus of large numbers of whites, tried to make a deal
with Sithole and Muzurewa whereby power would be handed over to them providing certain
guarantees were afforded to the whites: minimum of 28 seats in the 100 seat parliament;
a veto over legislation for 10 years; white control of the army, air force, police,
judiciary and civil service. It failed and the war grew worse.In the end, Smith called
non-racial elections. In 1980 Mugabe's ZANU party won the election although the whites
retained most of the guarantees that Smith wanted.
ZAPU and ZANU were united in 1988,with Robert Mugabe becoming the first Executive
President of Zimbabwe. |
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