Zimbabwe

===Declaration of independence and civil war (1965–1980)===
{{Main|Rhodesia|Rhodesian Bush War|Zimbabwe Rhodesia|Lancaster House Agreement}}

[[File:Udi2-rho.jpg|thumb|[[Ian Smith]] signing the [[Unilateral Declaration of Independence (Rhodesia)|Unilateral Declaration of Independence]] on 11 November 1965 with his cabinet in audience]]
The United Kingdom deemed the Rhodesian declaration an act of rebellion but did not re-establish control by force.  The British government petitioned the United Nations for [[economic sanctions|sanctions]] against Rhodesia pending unsuccessful talks with Smith's administration in 1966 and 1968. In December 1966, the organisation complied, imposing the first mandatory trade embargo on an autonomous state.<ref name="eafp">Hastedt, Glenn P. (2004) ''Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy'', Infobase Publishing, p. 537; {{ISBN|143810989X}}.</ref> These sanctions were expanded again in 1968.<ref name="eafp" />

A civil war ensued when [[Joshua Nkomo]]'s [[Zimbabwe African People's Union]] (ZAPU) and Robert Mugabe's [[Zimbabwe African National Union]] (ZANU), supported actively by communist powers and neighbouring African nations, initiated [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla operations]] against Rhodesia's predominantly white government. ZAPU was supported by the [[Soviet Union]], the [[Warsaw Pact]] and associated nations such as Cuba, and adopted a [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxist–Leninist]] ideology; ZANU meanwhile aligned itself with [[Maoism]] and the bloc headed by the People's Republic of China. Smith declared Rhodesia a republic in 1970, following the results of a [[1969 Rhodesian constitutional referendum|referendum the previous year]], but this went unrecognised internationally. Meanwhile, Rhodesia's internal conflict intensified, eventually forcing him to open negotiations with the militant communists.

[[File:Lancaster-House-Agreement.png|thumb|right|Bishop [[Abel Muzorewa]] signs the Lancaster House Agreement seated next to [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs|British Foreign Secretary]] [[Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington|Lord Carrington]].]]
In March 1978, Smith reached an accord with three African leaders, led by Bishop [[Abel Muzorewa]], who offered to leave the white population comfortably entrenched in exchange for the establishment of a biracial democracy. As a result of the [[Internal Settlement]], [[1979 Rhodesian general election|elections were held in April 1979]], concluding with the [[United African National Council]] (UANC) carrying a majority of parliamentary seats. On 1 June 1979, Muzorewa, the UANC head, became prime minister and the country's name was changed to Zimbabwe Rhodesia. The Internal Settlement left control of the [[Rhodesian Security Forces]], civil service, judiciary, and a third of parliament seats to whites.<ref name="endsanctions">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/1/newsid_2492000/2492915.stm|title=On This Day|work=BBC News|access-date=14 December 2008 | date=1 June 1979}}</ref> On 12 June, the [[United States Senate]] voted to lift economic pressure on the former Rhodesia.

Following the [[1979 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting|fifth Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting]], held in [[Lusaka]], Zambia, from 1 to 7 August in 1979, the British government invited Muzorewa, Mugabe, and Nkomo to participate in a constitutional conference at [[Lancaster House]]. The purpose of the conference was to discuss and reach an agreement on the terms of an independence constitution, and provide for elections supervised under British authority allowing Zimbabwe Rhodesia to proceed to legal independence.<ref name="chair">Chung, Fay (2006). ''Re-living the Second Chimurenga: memories from the liberation struggle in Zimbabwe'', Preben (INT) Kaarsholm. p. 242; {{ISBN|9171065512}}.</ref> With Lord Carrington, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom, in the chair, these discussions were mounted from 10 September to 15 December in 1979, producing a total of 47 [[plenary session]]s.<ref name="chair" /> On 21 December 1979, delegations from every major interest represented reached the [[Lancaster House Agreement]], effectively ending the guerrilla war.<ref name="lancaster">Preston, Matthew (2004). ''Ending Civil War: Rhodesia and Lebanon in Perspective.'' p. 25; {{ISBN|1850435790}}.</ref><ref>Lord Soames, "From Rhodesia to Zimbabwe." ''International Affairs''  56#3 (1980): 405–419. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2617389 online]</ref>

On 11 December 1979, the Rhodesian House of Assembly voted 90 to nil to revert to British colonial status. With the arrival of [[Christopher Soames]], the new governor on 12 December 1979, Britain formally took control of Zimbabwe Rhodesia as the Colony of Southern Rhodesia. Britain lifted sanctions on 12 December and the United Nations on 16 December.<ref>Zimbabwe, May 1980/Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, Canberra: Government Printer, 1980. p. 122.<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref><ref>{{Cite journal|first=Nicholas |last=Waddy |title=The Strange Death of 'Zimbabwe-Rhodesia': The Question of British Recognition of the Muzorewa Regime in Rhodesian Public Opinion, 1979 |journal=South African Historical Journal |volume=66 |issue=2 |year=2014 |pages=227–248 |doi=10.1080/02582473.2013.846935|s2cid=159650816 }}</ref> During the [[1980 Southern Rhodesian general election|elections of February 1980]], Mugabe and the ZANU party secured a landslide victory.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://richardknight.homestead.com/files/zimletmarch80.htm|title=Letter by George M. Houser, Executive Director of the American Committee on Africa (ACOA), on the 1980 independence election in Rhodesia|author=George M. Houser|access-date=1 December 2007}}</ref> [[Charles III|Prince Charles]], as the representative of Britain, formally granted independence to the new nation of Zimbabwe at a ceremony in Harare in April 1980.<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Ian |date=2008 |title=Bitter Harvest |location=London |publisher=John Blake Publishing Ltd |page=367 |isbn=978-1-85782-604-3 |author-link=Ian Smith }}</ref>