Zimbabwe

===Colonial era and Rhodesia (1888–1964)===
{{Main|Company rule in Rhodesia|Southern Rhodesia|Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland}}
[[File:Hoisting the flag at Fort Salisbury.png|thumb|The [[Union Jack]] was raised over [[Harare|Fort Salisbury]] on 13 September 1890.]]
In the 1880s, European colonists arrived with [[Cecil Rhodes]]'s [[British South Africa Company]] (chartered in 1889). In 1888, Rhodes obtained a [[Rudd Concession|concession for mining rights]] from King [[Lobengula]] of the Ndebele peoples.<ref name="mining">
{{cite book
 | last1 = Hensman
 | first1 = Howard
 | year = 1901
 | title = Cecil Rhodes: A Study of a Career
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZebPswEACAAJ
 | edition = reprint
 | publisher = Creative Media Partners, LLC
 | publication-date = 2018
 | pages = 106–107
 | isbn = 9781376448528
 | access-date = 12 July 2020
}}
</ref> He presented this concession to persuade the government of the United Kingdom to grant a [[royal charter]] to the company over Matabeleland, and its subject states such as [[Mashonaland]] as well.<ref name="treaties">[[#Parsons|Parsons]], pp. 178–81.</ref> Rhodes used this document in 1890 to justify sending the [[Pioneer Column]], a group of Europeans protected by well-armed [[British South Africa Police]] (BSAP) through Matabeleland and into Shona territory to establish Fort Salisbury (present-day [[Harare]]), and thereby establish [[Company rule in Rhodesia|company rule]] over the area. In 1893 and 1894, with the help of their new [[Maxim gun|Maxim]] guns, the BSAP would go on to defeat the Ndebele in the [[First Matabele War]]. Rhodes additionally sought permission to negotiate similar concessions covering all territory between the Limpopo River and [[Lake Tanganyika]], then known as "Zambesia".<ref name="treaties" /> In accordance with the terms of aforementioned concessions and treaties,<ref name="treaties" /> mass settlement was encouraged, with the British maintaining control over labour as well as over precious metals and other mineral resources.<ref name="bsac">Bryce, James (2008). ''Impressions of South Africa''. p. 170; {{ISBN|055430032X}}.</ref>

[[File:Battle of the Shangani.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Battle of the Shangani]] on 25 October 1893]]

In 1895, the BSAC adopted the name [[Rhodesia (region)|"Rhodesia"]] for the territory, in honour of Rhodes. In 1898 "Southern Rhodesia" became the official name for the region south of the Zambezi,<ref>Southern Rhodesia Order in Council of 20 October 1898, which includes at section 4 thereof: "The territory for the time being within the limits of this Order shall be known as Southern Rhodesia."</ref><ref name="adopted">{{cite journal|url= http://www.nrzam.org.uk/NRJ/V3N1/V3N1.htm|title= A Country in Search of a Name|author= Gray, J. A.|year= 1956|journal= The Northern Rhodesia Journal|volume= 3|issue= 1|page= 78|access-date= 16 May 2007|archive-date= 30 April 2009|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090430203902/http://www.nrzam.org.uk/NRJ/V3N1/V3N1.htm|url-status= dead}}</ref> which later adopted the name "Zimbabwe". The region to the north, administered separately, was later termed [[Northern Rhodesia]] (present-day Zambia). Shortly after the disastrous Rhodes-sponsored [[Jameson Raid]] on the [[South African Republic]], the Ndebele rebelled against white rule, led by their charismatic religious leader, Mlimo. The [[Second Matabele War]] of 1896–1897 lasted in Matabeleland until 1896, when Mlimo was assassinated by American scout [[Frederick Russell Burnham]]. Shona agitators staged unsuccessful revolts (known as ''[[Chimurenga]]'') against company rule during 1896 and 1897.{{citation needed|date= September 2015}} Following these failed insurrections, the Rhodes administration subdued the Ndebele and Shona groups and organised the land with a disproportionate bias favouring Europeans, thus displacing many indigenous peoples.<ref name="sahistory.org.za">{{Cite web|url= https://www.sahistory.org.za/place/zimbabwe|title= Zimbabwe {{!}} South African History Online|website= www.sahistory.org.za|language= en|access-date= 3 February 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190107164147/http://www.sahistory.org.za/place/zimbabwe|archive-date= 7 January 2019|url-status= dead}}</ref>
[[File:Rhodesia & Nyasaland £5 1957 Obverse.png|thumb|The [[Elizabeth II|Queen]]'s portrait featured on Rhodesian banknotes and coins]]
The United Kingdom annexed Southern Rhodesia on 12 September 1923.<ref>Southern Rhodesia (Annexation) Order in Council, 30 July 1923 which provided by section 3 thereof: "From and after the coming into operation of this Order the said territories shall be annexed to and form part of His Majesty's Dominions, and shall be known as the Colony of Southern Rhodesia."</ref><ref>Stella Madzibamuto v Desmond William Larder – Burke, Fredrick Phillip George (1969) A.C 645 – Authority for date of annexation having been 12 September 1923, being the date the Rhodesia (Annexation) Order in Council came into effect</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">''Collective Responses to Illegal Acts in International Law: United Nations Action in the Question of Southern Rhodesia'' by Vera Gowlland-Debbas</ref><ref>Stella Madzibamuto v Desmond William Larder – Burke, Fredrick Phillip George (1969) A.C 645</ref> Shortly after annexation, on 1 October 1923, the first constitution for the new Colony of Southern Rhodesia came into force.<ref name="ReferenceA" /><ref>Southern Rhodesia Constitution Letters Patent, 1923</ref> Under the new constitution, Southern Rhodesia became a [[self-governing colony|self-governing]] [[British Empire|British colony]], subsequent to a [[1922 Southern Rhodesian government referendum|1922 referendum]]. Rhodesians of all races served on behalf of the United Kingdom during the two World Wars in the early-20th century. Proportional to the white population, Southern Rhodesia contributed more ''per capita'' to both the [[Southern Rhodesia in World War I|First]] and [[Southern Rhodesia in World War II|Second World Wars]] than any other part of the empire, including Britain.<ref name="moorcraft" />

The [[Land Apportionment Act of 1930|1930 Land Apportionment Act]] restricted black land ownership to certain segments of the country, setting aside large areas solely for the purchase of the white minority. This act, which led to rapidly rising inequality, became the subject of frequent calls for subsequent land reform.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Machingaidze|first=Victor E.M.|date=1991|title=Agrarian Change from above: The Southern Rhodesia Native Land Husbandry Act and African Response|journal=The International Journal of African Historical Studies|volume=24|issue=3|pages=557–588|doi=10.2307/219092|jstor=219092}}</ref> In 1953, in the face of African opposition,<ref name="fed">[[#Parsons|Parsons]], p. 292.</ref> Britain consolidated the two Rhodesias with [[Nyasaland]] (Malawi) in the ill-fated [[Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland|Central African Federation]], which Southern Rhodesia essentially dominated. Growing [[African nationalism]] and general dissent, particularly in Nyasaland, persuaded Britain to dissolve the union in 1963, forming three separate divisions. While [[multiracial democracy]] was finally introduced to Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Southern Rhodesians of European ancestry continued to enjoy [[Minoritarianism|minority rule]].<ref name="sahistory.org.za" />
[[File:British Decolonisation in Africa.png|thumb|left|[[British Empire|British]] [[Decolonisation of Africa|decolonisation]] in Africa.]]
Following [[Zambia Independence Act 1964|Zambian independence]] (effective from October 1964), [[Ian Smith]]'s [[Rhodesian Front]] government in Salisbury dropped the designation "Southern" in 1964 (once ''Northern Rhodesia'' had changed its name to ''Zambia'', having the word ''Southern'' before the name ''Rhodesia'' became unnecessary and the country simply became known as ''Rhodesia'' afterwards). Intent on effectively repudiating the recently adopted British policy of "[[no independence before majority rule]]", Smith issued a [[Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence|Unilateral Declaration of Independence]] (UDI) from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965. This marked the first such course taken by a rebel British colony since the [[United States Declaration of Independence|American declaration]] of 1776, which Smith and others indeed claimed provided a suitable precedent to their own actions.<ref name="moorcraft">
{{cite journal
|url= http://www.historytoday.com/paul-moorcraft/rhodesias-war-independence
|title= Rhodesia's War of Independence|date= 31 August 1990
|journal= History Today|volume= 40 | issue= 9
|first= Paul|last= Moorcraft
|quote= [P]er head of (white) population Rhodesia had contributed more in both world wars than any other part of the empire, including the United Kingdom. ... There is little doubt now that after a few resignations here and there, the army, the Royal Navy and even the Royal Air Force (supposedly the most disaffected service) would have carried out any orders to subdue the first national treason against the Crown since the American War of Independence.}}
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