Robert Mugabe Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Lancaster House Agreement: 1979 === The beginning of the end for Smith came when South African Prime Minister [[B. J. Vorster]] concluded that white minority rule was unsustainable in a country where blacks outnumbered whites 22:1.<ref name="impression">{{cite web|url=http://www.aliciapatterson.org/APF001975/Wright/Wright12/Wright12.html |title=APF newsletter, "Appraisal of Rhodesia in 1975" |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090531063909/http://www.aliciapatterson.org/APF001975/Wright/Wright12/Wright12.html |archive-date=31 May 2009 }}</ref> Under pressure from Vorster, Smith accepted in principle that white minority rule could not be maintained forever. He oversaw the [[1979 Zimbabwe Rhodesia general election|1979 general election]] which resulted in [[Abel Muzorewa]], a politically moderate black bishop, being elected Prime Minister of the reconstituted [[Zimbabwe Rhodesia]]. Both ZANU and ZAPU had boycotted the election, which did not receive international recognition.{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=117|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2p=63}} At the [[Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1979]], held in Lusaka, the British Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] surprised delegates by announcing that the UK would officially recognise the country's independence if it transitioned to democratic majority rule.{{sfn|Smith|Simpson|1981|pp=118β120}} [[File:Lancaster House (5880536589).jpg|thumb|Lancaster House in London's St James's district]] The negotiations took place at [[Lancaster House]] in London and were led by the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] politician [[Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington|Peter Carington]].{{sfn|Holland|2008|p=58}} Mugabe refused to attend these London peace talks,{{sfn|Meredith|2002|pp=6β7}} opposing the idea of a negotiated rather than military solution to the Rhodesian War.{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=122|2a1=Holland|2y=2008|2p=60}} Machel insisted that he must, threatening to end Mozambican support for the ZANU-PF if he did not.{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2002|1p=7|2a1=Holland|2y=2008|2p=60|3a1=Norman|3y=2008|3p=69|4a1=Tendi|4y=2011|4p=310}} Mugabe arrived in London in September 1979.{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=122|2a1=Meredith|2y=2002|2p=7}} There, he and Nkomo presented themselves as part of the "Patriotic Front" but established separate headquarters in the city.{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2002|1p=38|2a1=Holland|2y=2008|2p=58}} At the conference the pair were divided in their attitude; Nkomo wanted to present himself as a moderate while Mugabe played up to his image as a Marxist revolutionary, with Carington exploiting this division.{{sfn|Holland|2008|p=61}} Throughout the negotiations, Mugabe did not trust the British and believed that they were manipulating events to their own advantage.{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1pp=122β123|2a1=Meredith|2y=2002|2pp=7β8}} The ensuing [[Lancaster House Agreement]] called for all participants in the Rhodesian Bush War to agree to a ceasefire, with a British governor, [[Christopher Soames]], arriving in Rhodesia to oversee an election in which the various factions could compete as political parties.{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2002|1p=8|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2p=67}} It outlined a plan for a transition to formal independence as a sovereign republic under black-majority rule, also maintaining that Rhodesia would be renamed Zimbabwe, a name adopted from the Iron Age archaeological site of [[Great Zimbabwe]].{{sfnm|1a1=Blair|1y=2002|1p=11|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2p=69}} The agreement also ensured that the country's white minority retained many of its economic and political privileges,{{sfn|Tendi|2011|p=313}} with 20 seats to be reserved for whites in the new Parliament.{{sfnm|1a1=Smith|1a2=Simpson|1y=1981|1p=127|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2p=67|3a1=Tendi|3y=2011|3p=311}} By insisting on the need for a democratic black majority government, Carington was able to convince Mugabe to compromise on the other main issue of the conference, that of land ownership.{{sfn|Holland|2008|pp=62β63}} Mugabe agreed to the protection of the white community's privately owned property on the condition that the UK and U.S. governments provide financial assistance allowing the Zimbabwean government to purchase much land for redistribution among blacks.{{sfn|Holland|2008|p=63}} Mugabe was opposed to the idea of a ceasefire, but under pressure from Machel he agreed to it.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=8}} Mugabe signed the agreement, but felt cheated,{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=8}} remaining disappointed that he had never achieved a military victory over the Rhodesian forces.{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2002|1p=235|2a1=Tendi|2y=2011|2p=313}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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