Colony of Southern Rhodesia Colony ←   ←   ← 1923-1953 1963-1965 1979-1980 →   →   → border Flag Coat of arms Anthem God Save the Queen Location of Southern Rhodesia Capital Salisbury Language(s) English Government Constitutional monarchy Southern Rhodesia, 1923]]|Colony }} Monarch  - 1923-1936 George V  - 1936 Edward VIII  - 1936-1952 George VI  - 1952-1980¹ Elizabeth II Governor  - 1923-1928 Sir John Robert Chancellor  - 1959-1969² Sir Humphrey Gibbs  - 1979-1980 Lord Soames Premier, then Prime Minister  - 1923-1927 Sir Charles Coghlan  - 1933-1953 Sir Godfrey Huggins  - 1964-1979 Ian Smith History  - BSAC Charter signed 1889  - Self-governing colony October 1, 1923  - Federation 1953-1963  - UDI November 15, 1965  - Republic declared March 3, 1970  - Zimbabwe Rhodesia June 1, 1979  - Independence April 17, 1980 Currency Pound ¹ After March 3, 1970, position not recognized by Rhodesian government. ² After November 11, 1965, position not recognized by Rhodesian Government.

Southern Rhodesia was the name of the British colony situated north of the Limpopo River and the Union of South Africa, known today as Zimbabwe.

History

Origin as 'Rhodesia'

The territory was originally referred to as 'South Zambezia' but the name 'Rhodesia' came into use in 1895. The designation 'Southern' was adopted in 1901 and dropped from normal usage 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, obtained mineral rights in 1888 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.

The British government agreed that Rhodes' company, the British South Africa Company (BSAC) would administer the territory stretching from the Limpopo to Lake Tanganyika under charter as a protectorate. Queen Victoria signed the charter in 1889.

In 1899, a Legislative Council was created with a minority of elected seats, through which the BSAC had to pass government measures. The electorate was almost exclusively comprised of white settlers, and the proportion of elected seats increased steadily over time. Prior to about 1918, the opinion among the electorate supported continued BSAC rule but opinion changed because of the development of the country and increased settlement. In addition, a decision in the British courts that land not in private ownership belonged to the British crown rather than the BSAC gave great impetus to the campaign for self-government.

Becomes known as 'Southern Rhodesia'

The territory north of the Zambezi, now Zambia, which was the subject of separate treaties with African chiefs, was admininistered separately by the BSAC as North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia from 1890 and 1897 respectively. The whites in the territory south of the river paid it scant regard though, and generally used the name 'Rhodesia' in a narrow sense to mean their part. The designation 'Southern' was used from 1901, especially when the BSAC merged the administration of the two northern territories as Northern Rhodesia in 1911.

The Legislative Council election, in 1920, returned a large majority of candidates of the Responsible Government Association and it became clear that BSAC rule was no longer practical. Opinion in Britain and South Africa favoured incorporation of Southern Rhodesia in the Union of South Africa, but, by forcing the pace of negotiation, the Southern Rhodesians obtained unfavourable terms and the electorate backed Responsible Government in a 1922 referendum. Self-government began in October 1923. Charles Patrick John Coghlan was the first Premier of Southern Rhodesia and upon his death in 1927 he was succeeded by Howard Unwin Moffat.

During World War II, Southern Rhodesian military units participated on the side of the United Kingdom. Specifically, Southern Rhodesian forces were involved in the East African Campaign.

Southern Rhodesia developed an economy that was narrowly based on the production of a small number of primary products (notably, chrome and tobacco). It therefore became very vulnerable to the economic cycle. The deep recession of the 1930s gave way to a post-war boom. This boom prompted the immigration of about 200,000 white settlers between 1945 and 1970, taking the white population up to 270,000. A large number of these immigrants were of British working class origin.

In the 1940s, the founding of a University to serve central African countries was proposed. Such a University was eventually established in Salisbury, with funding provided by British, CAF and Rhodesian governments and some private sources. One condition of British funding was that student admission should be based on "academic achievement and good character" with no racial distinction. University College of Rhodesia (UCR) received its first intake of students in 1952. Until 1971 it awarded degrees of the Universities of London and Birmingham. In 1971 UCR became the University of Rhodesia and started awarding its own degrees. In 1980 it was renamed the University of Zimbabwe.^[1]

1953–1965

In 1953, with calls for independence mounting in many of its African possessions, the United Kingdom created the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (or the Central African Federation 'CAF'), which consisted of Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland (now Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi, respectively). The idea was to try and steer a middle road between the differing aspirations of the Black Nationalists, the Colonial administration and the White settler population. The CAF sought to emulate the experience of Australia, Canada and South Africa – wherein groups of colonies had been federated together in order to form viable independent nations. Originally designed to be "an indissoluble federation", the CAF quickly started to unravel. It suffered the fate of similar ventures undertaken in the closing days of Empire including the West Indies Federation and East African Community.

The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was dissolved on January 1 1964. When Northern Rhodesia was granted independence by Britain on October 24 1964, it changed its name to Zambia; Southern Rhodesia remained a British colony, resisting attempts to bring in majority rule. The colony attempted to change its name to Rhodesia although this was not recognised by the United Kingdom. The majority of the Federation's military and financial assets went to Southern Rhodesia as (a) the British Government did not wish to see them fall into the hands of the nationalist leaders, and (b) Southern Rhodesia had borne the majority of the costs of running the Federation. With regard to the latter, however, Northern Rhodesia was the wealthiest of the three member states (due to its vast copper mines) and actually contributed more to the overall building of infrastructure than the other two members. Southern Rhodesia, recognising an inevitable dissolution of the Federation, was quick to use federal funds in building up their infrastructure ahead of the others. A key component of this was the building of the Kariba Dam and its hydroelectric facility (shafts, control centre, etc.), which was situated on the Southern Rhodesian side of the Zambezi Gorge. This situation caused some embarrassment for the Zambian government later when it was a "front line state" in support of insurgents into Rhodesia in that its major source of electric power was controlled by the Rhodesian rebel state.

Return to 'Rhodesia'

Zimbabwe
This article is part of the series: History of Zimbabwe
Pre-colonial history
Colonial history
Rhodesia
Zimbabwe	-
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With the colony of Northern Rhodesia no longer in existence, in 1964 Southern Rhodesia reverted to the name Rhodesia (see next section).

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.

Legal aspects of the name since 1964

On October 7, 1964 the Southern Rhodesian government announced that when Northern Rhodesia achieved independence as Zambia, the Southern Rhodesian government would officially become known as the Rhodesian Government and the colony would become known as Rhodesia.^[2] On October 23 the Minister of Internal Affairs notified the Press that the Constitution would be amended to make this official. The Legislative Assembly then passed an Interpretation Bill to declare that the colony could be referred to as Rhodesia; the Bill received its third reading on December 9, 1964, and therefore passed to the Governor for assent.

However, no assent was granted to the Bill. The Southern Rhodesia (Annexation) Order in Council 1923, section 3, provided that Southern Rhodesia "shall be known as the Colony of Southern Rhodesia" and the Southern Rhodesia (Constitution) Act 1961 and the Order in Council which followed it both referred to it as such. These were United Kingdom measures and it was ultra vires for the Southern Rhodesian institutions to amend them.^[3]

The Rhodesian government, which had begun using the new name anyway, did not press the issue. The Unilateral Declaration of Independence was in the name of Rhodesia. While the new name was widely used, 'Southern Rhodesia' remained the colony's formal name in United Kingdom constitutional theory: for example, the Act passed by the United Kingdom Parliament declaring the independence a legal nullity was entitled the Southern Rhodesia Act, 1965. When the rebellion was formally declared at an end by the passing of the Constitution of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia (Amendment) (No. 4) Act 1979, the United Kingdom resumed the governance of the colony under the direct control of the Governor under the name of Southern Rhodesia.

References

See also

• Albert John Lutuli, famous South African born in Southern Rhodesia
• British South Africa Company
• History of Zimbabwe
• Pioneer Column
• Prime Minister of Rhodesia
• Shangani Patrol
• Unilateral Declaration of Independence (Rhodesia)

•  • [ e] British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations

Legend Current territory   Former territory * now a Commonwealth Realm   now a member of the Commonwealth of Nations Europe  18th century 1708-1757  Minorca since 1713  Gibraltar 1782-1802  Minorca 19th century 1800-1964  Malta 1807-1890  Heligoland 1809-1864  Ionian Islands 1878-1960  Cyprus 20th century since 1960  Akrotiri and Dhekelia North America  16th century 1583-1907  Newfoundland 17th century 1607-1776  Thirteen Colonies since 1619  Bermuda 1670-1870  Rupert's Land 18th century Canada (British Imperial)    1763-1791  Quebec    1791-1841  Lower Canada    1791-1841  Upper Canada 19th century Canada (British Imperial)    1841-1867  Province of Canada    1849-1866  Vancouver Island    1858-1871  British Columbia    1859-1870  North-Western Territory    1862-1863  Stikine Territory *Canada (post-Confederation)    1867-1931  Dominion of Canada1 20th century *Canada (post-Confederation)    1907-1934  Dominion of Newfoundland2 1 In 1931, Canada and other British dominions obtained self-government through the Statute of Westminster. 'Dominion' remains Canada's legal title; see Canada's name. 2 Remained a de jure dominion until 1949 (when it became a Canadian province); from 1934 to 1949, Newfoundland was governed by the Commission of Government. Latin America and the Caribbean  17th century 1605-1979  *Saint Lucia 1623-1883  Saint Kitts (*Saint Kitts & Nevis) 1624-1966  *Barbados 1625-1650  Saint Croix 1627-1979  *St. Vincent and the Grenadines 1628-1883  Nevis (*Saint Kitts & Nevis) 1629-1641  St. Andrew and Providence Islands3 since 1632  Montserrat 1632-1860  Antigua(*Antigua & Barbuda) 1643-1860  Bay Islands since 1650  Anguilla 1651-1667  Willoughbyland (Suriname) 1655-1850  Mosquito Coast (protectorate) 1655-1962  *Jamaica since 1666  British Virgin Islands since 1670  Cayman Islands 1670-1973  *Bahamas 1670-1688  St. Andrew and Providence Islands3 1671-1816  Leeward Islands 18th century 1762-1974  *Grenada 1763-1978  Dominica since 1799  Turks and Caicos Islands 19th century 1831-1966  British Guiana (Guyana) 1833-1960  Windward Islands 1833-1960  Leeward Islands 1860-1981  *Antigua and Barbuda 1871-1964  British Honduras (*Belize) 1882-1983  *St. Kitts and Nevis 1889-1962  Trinidad and Tobago 20th century 1958-1962  West Indies Federation 3 Now the San Andrs y Providencia Department of Colombia. Africa  18th century 1792-1961  Sierra Leone 1795-1803  Cape Colony 19th century 1806-1910  Cape Colony 1816-1965  Gambia 1856-1910  Natal 1868-1966  Basutoland (Lesotho) 1874-1957  Gold Coast (Ghana) 1882-1922  Egypt 1884-1966  Bechuanaland (Botswana) 1884-1960  British Somaliland 1887-1897  Zululand 1888-1894  Matabeleland 1890-1980  Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) 1890-1962  Uganda 1890-1963  Zanzibar (Tanzania) 1891-1964  Nyasaland (Malawi) 1891-1907  British Central Africa 1893-1968  Swaziland 1895-1920  British East Africa 1899-1956  Anglo-Egyptian Sudan 20th century 1900-1914  Northern Nigeria 1900-1914  Southern Nigeria 1900-1910  Orange River Colony 1906-1954  Nigeria Colony 1910-1931  South Africa 1911-1964  Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) 1914-1954  Nigeria Protectorate 1915-1931  South West Africa (Namibia) 1919-1960  Cameroons (Cameroon) 4 1920-1963  Kenya 1922-1961  Tanganyika (Tanzania) 4 1954-1960  Nigeria since 1965  British Indian Ocean Territory 4 League of Nations mandate. Asia  18th century 1757-1947  Bengal (West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh) 1762-1764  Philippines 1795-1948  Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 1796-1965  Maldives 19th century 1819-1826  Singapore 1826-1946  Straits Settlements 1839-1967  Aden (colony) 1841-1997  Hong Kong 1841-1941  Kingdom of Sarawak 1858-1947  British India (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Burma) 1882-1963  British North Borneo (Malaysia) 1885-1946  Unfederated Malay States 1891-1971  Muscat and Oman protectorate 1892-1971  Trucial States protectorate 1895-1946  Federated Malay States 1898-1930  Weihai Garrison 20th century 1918-1961  Kuwait protectorate 1920-1932  Iraq4 1921-1946  Transjordan4 1923-1948  Palestine4 1946-1948  Malayan Union 1946-1963  Sarawak (Malaysia) 1948-1957  Federation of Malaya (Malaysia) 4 League of Nations mandate. Oceania  18th century 1788-1901  New South Wales 1794-1843  Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) 19th century 1803-1901  Van Diemen's Land/Tasmania 1807-1863  Auckland Islands 1824-1980  New Hebrides (Vanuatu) 1824-1901  Queensland 1829-1901  Swan River Colony/Western Australia 1836-1901  South Australia since 1838  Pitcairn Islands 1840-1907  *Colony of New Zealand 1850-1901  Victoria (Australia) 1874-1970  Fiji5 1877-1976  British Western Pacific Territories 1884-1949  Territory of Papua 1888-1965  Cook Islands6 1888-1984  Sultanate of Brunei 1889-1948  Union Islands (Tokelau)6 1892-1979  Gilbert and Ellice Islands7 1893-1978  British Solomon Islands8 20th century 1900-1970  Tonga (protected state) 1900-1974  Niue6 1901-1942  *Commonwealth of Australia 1907-1953  *Dominion of New Zealand 1919-1949  Territory of New Guinea 1949-1975  Territory of Papua and New Guinea9 5 Suspended member. 6 Now part of the *Realm of New Zealand. 7 Now Kiribati and *Tuvalu. 8 Now the *Solomon Islands. 9 Now *Papua New Guinea. Antarctica and South Atlantic  17th century since 1659  St. Helena 19th century since 1815  Ascension Island9 since 1816  Tristan da Cunha9 since 1833  Falkland Islands11 20th century since 1908  British Antarctic Territory10 since 1908  South Georgia and                     the South Sandwich Islands10, 11 9 Dependencies of St. Helena since 1922 (Ascension Island) and 1938 (Tristan da Cunha). 10 Both claimed in 1908; territories formed in 1962 (British Antarctic Territory) and 1985 (South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands). 11 Occupied by Argentina during the Falklands War of April-June 1982.

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