Southern Rhodesia

From Free net encyclopedia

Southern Rhodesia was the name of the British colony situated immediately to the north of South Africa, known today as Zimbabwe. The "Southern" was dropped in 1964 and Rhodesia became the name of the country until the creation of Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979.

Named after Cecil Rhodes, the British empire-builder who was one of the most important figures in British expansion into southern Africa, the original Rhodesia was created in 1888 after Rhodes obtained mineral rights from the most powerful local traditional leaders through treaties such as the Rudd Concession and the Moffat Treaty signed by King Lobengula of the Ndebele. Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) separated from Southern Rhodesia in 1910.

In 1965 Rhodesia unilaterally declared itself independent under a White-dominated government. After a long civil war between the white government and two African guerrilla organisations (ZIPRA and ZANLA), Britain resumed control for a brief time and then granted independence to the country in 1980, whereupon it became Zimbabwe.

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