Chapter 56: The White Man's Burden: South Africa and Rhodesia PART FOUR: "FIRST WITH DIGNITY" - THE STORY OF RHODESIA In many respects, the country of Rhodesia serves as a vivid example of the impossibility of a White minority trying to impose its rule by force over a non-White majority. Whites can only exist safely in their own homogenous regions, and cannot hope to survive over the long term in multi-racial countries. If this is the one lesson which can be learned from the tragi-drama which was Rhodesia, then it will have been worthwhile. RHODESIA FOUNDED BY CECIL JOHN RHODES The country known in history as Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe) was created in 1888, when a Black tribal chief in the area, one Lobengula, granted a mining concession to the British Empire builder Cecil John Rhodes. Rhodes, who also served as the prime minister of the British Colony at the Cape, formed the British South Africa Company to settle the new region.
He considered it not only valuable for its mineral wealth but also for its strategic position: with the creation of a British colony to the north of the then independent Boer Republics, Rhodes must have thought of encircling the Boers with this move. Rhodes' desire to expand British territory was based on two pillars: primarily motivated by capitalist greed, he sought to extend his own personal wealth even further into the interior of Africa, and secondly by a desire to see all of Africa "painted red from the Cape to Cairo." It became one of the ironies of early White rule that the single most significant effect was a dramatic increase in Black numbers. In 1890, the estimated Black population was between 100,000 and 200,000, and within a matter of 50 years the population rocketed into the millions. This happened because the White settlers provided food, medicine and work for the Blacks, and also largely put a stop to the tribal warfare between the minority Matabeles and the majority Mashonas. Early Black Resistance The number of White settlers in the new region was tiny, and unlike South Africa, there were no regions which were either uninhabited or sparsely inhabited. The Black tribes - the Matabele and the Shona - soon started expressing their dissatisfaction with having been colonized by stealth through the innocuous granting of a mining license. A series of Black uprisings then took place: they were quickly suppressed by the tiny White minority through force of arms, with the last major uprising being put down in 1897/98. Slow Growth in White Numbers Very slowly the colony began to grow in terms of White numbers: mainly immigrants from Britain, but also a few Boers from South Africa, although they were always in the tiny minority amongst the Rhodesian White population. The region was named Rhodesia in 1894, in honor of Rhodes, and his British South Africa Company (BSAC) not only retained control but gradually extended its influence, so that by 1923, it held not only what was to become Rhodesia, but the present day countries of Zambia and Malawi as well. Self Governing Colony By the end of the First World War, the number of White settlers in the southern part of the BSAC's territory had grown to the point where they started demanding self government. In 1923, this request was acceded to by the British government, and the region became known as the British Colony of Southern Rhodesia, with the northern part becoming the British Colony of Northern Rhodesia, ruled directly from London through a Commissioner. Despite the relatively large numbers of White settlers, the Blacks constantly outnumbered the Whites by an ever increasing ratio. White rule was only maintained through a policy of military subjugation and surprisingly large scale Black acquiescence - but the latter situation would not remain so forever. RHODESIANS FIGHT FOR BRITAIN IN World War Two AND MALAYA As a loyal British colony, Southern Rhodesia sent a significant number of White colonists to Europe to fight for Britain: one prominent Rhodesian born member of the British Royal Air Force was named Ian Smith: he would later become prime minister of Rhodesia. In addition to serving Britain in World War Two, the Rhodesians also answered Britain's call to arms during the 1950s when that country faced a Communist guerilla uprising in Malaya. Rhodesia sent troops and equipment to defend British interests out of what later transpired to be a mistaken sense of loyalty to Britain - for when the time came, Britain was to show no loyalty to Rhodesia. The Winds of Change - RHODESIANS TOLD TO ACCEPT BLACK RULE The decolonization policy, followed by the British Empire after the end of the Second World War, saw Southern Rhodesia being included in a federation consisting of itself, Northern Rhodesia (later to be Zambia) and Nyasaland (later to be called Malawi). This federation lasted from 1953 to 1963, when it was dissolved in preparation for the independence of these states. However, the British government foresaw granting these states independence on the basis of universal suffrage and Black rule: by now, the White minority in Southern Rhodesia was far too ensconced to accept such a dispensation. In 1964, Northern Rhodesia gained its independence as Zambia, and Nyasaland as Malawi. The Unilateral Declaration of Independence - UDI
Although the British government had initially told the White Southern Rhodesians that they would be granted independence, this undertaking was reneged upon. Incensed at the betrayal - particularly because White Rhodesians had been so loyal to Britain in the past, the majority party in the Southern Rhodesian Parliament, then issued the famous UDI - or Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965. In 1970, the country declared itself a republic, changing its name from Rhodesia to the Republic of Rhodesia, and adopting a new flag, with a Latin logo: Nomine sit Digna - First with Dignity. Black Guerrilla Warfare Internally, two major Black-tribally based guerrilla organizations came into being. Gradually, over a 13 year period, they stepped up their attacks on the small White towns and isolated White farms to the point where cars had to move between the major centers in convoys for protection and dirt roads literally became minefields. It is worth emphasizing that the two major Black guerilla organizations, ZIPRA and ZANLA, were pure Marxist and Maoist organizations, with the former being supplied and armed by the Soviet Union and its allies, and the latter by Red China. The amount of aid given to these two organizations was massive. Without this aid, the Black guerilla war would - in all likelihood - not have been able to get off the ground. Although the arming of the Black guerilla organizations was part of an overall Communist strategy of opposing what it regarded as 'racist colonialists', it is so that the Communist groupings also saw Rhodesia as another chance to bring yet one more African country into the Communist circle of influence. Rhodesia then became an unhappy victim of the Cold War being played out in the world which set the USA and is allies against the Communist bloc. A large number of appalling atrocities were carried out on Whites unfortunate enough to fall into the Black guerrillas' hands; although the guerrillas were not averse to torturing and executing large numbers of their own people if they suspected any of them of collaboration with the White government. A vicious bush war then erupted, which in sheer combat terms, always saw the Rhodesian army win conventional engagements: however, the bulk of the war was fought on an unconventional basis with the majority of the Black population supporting the guerrillas. Simultaneously White medicine and other technological advances were shared with the Black population: their numbers shot up so that by the time of White Rhodesia's collapse in 1980, there were around 300,000 Whites and upwards of seven million Blacks in the country.
1972 - THE BUSH WAR ERUPTS The Rhodesian bush war started in earnest on 21 December 1972 with a series of attacks by Black insurgents on farms in rural Rhodesia. The insurgents, trained in the Soviet Union and China, and jumping off from bases in the neighboring Black ruled country of Zambia (formerly the British colony of Northern Rhodesia) took advantage of the fact that the majority of the population was well disposed towards them, and that most of the White farmers had hundreds of Black workers, many of who were only too eager to betray their White masters. During 1973, the first of what became the operational areas inside Rhodesia was established: code named “Operation Hurricane”, the counter offensive was initially highly successful, with the number of armed Black insurgents inside Rhodesia dropping to less than 100 by 1974. That year also however saw the collapse of the Portuguese colonial rule in neighboring Mozambique, and the Black insurgents were able to open up a second line of infiltration from the east. By 1977, five new operational areas had been opened inside Rhodesia - code named Operation Thrasher, Repulse, Tangent, Splinter and Grapple, they covered the entire country and were the surest indicator yet that the war was not going to be a localized or limited affair.
Above: The main Black insurgent infiltration routes and the Rhodesian counter insurgency operational areas inside the country. The Soviet backed Zanla was based in Mozambique, and the Red Chinese backed Zipra based in Zambia. BLACKS FIGHT FOR AND AGAINST WHITE RULE Ironically, one of the more successful Rhodesian army units created at this time was the Selous Scouts, a majority Black outfit, consisting largely of turned insurgents, who were re-infiltrated back into the bush under Rhodesian army officers. These units pretended to be real insurgents, but in fact devoted their time to providing intelligence on the whereabouts of genuine insurgents, with whom they made contact. The location of the genuine insurgents would then be the focus of attack by other units of the Rhodesian army, which included the all-White units such as the Rhodesian Light Infantry, and all black units such as the Rhodesian African Rifles. The widespread use of Black soldiers to fight a war for the preservation of White rule was probably motivated more out of ignorance than a commitment to White rule, with a "job" in the army at least providing a means of income for many Blacks.
CROSS BORDER RAIDS START IN 1976 Realizing that the internal situation would never be contained unless the Black insurgents were prevented from entering the country in the first place, the Rhodesian military then launched the first of its famous and devastating cross border raids in 1976. The famous first raid, into Mozambique, resulted in over 1,200 insurgents being killed, and this high fatality-rate was to continue for as long as these raids took place. RHODESIANS TAKE COMMAND OF THE SKIES Despite the Rhodesian air force being officially under sanctions and their aircraft being mostly vintage craft, the Rhodesian air force dominated the skies for almost all of the bush war. The most famous demonstration of this power came in 1978, when the Rhodesian security forces raided an insurgent camp outside Lusaka, the capital of arch-enemy Zambia. Completely taking over Zambian airspace for the duration of the raid, the Rhodesian air force forced all Zambian aircraft – military and civilian – to remain on the ground so as not to interfere with the military operation. RHODESIAN CIVILIAN AIRCRAFT SHOT DOWN, SURVIVORS BUTCHERED One of the more horrific acts committed by the Black insurgents during the Bush War occurred in September 1978, when a Rhodesian airliner was shot down with a Soviet supplied SAM-7 missile. Eighteen survivors were then shot and hacked to death by insurgents who reached the crash site first. A second airliner was shot down in 1979, prompting a series of cross border revenge raids by the Rhodesians into both Zambia and Mozambique, during which the White airliner death toll was eclipsed by thousands of Black insurgent deaths. International Pressure Internationally, the Rhodesian state was placed under official United Nations sanctions almost from the start of UDI. Apart from a few daredevil adventurers who broke the sanctions by aircraft missions across Africa, White ruled South Africa became the Rhodesians' main source of supplies, including the vital oil and petrol needed to keep the wheels of the army running. Pressure was then applied to the South African government to in turn exert pressure on Ian Smith. At one stage the beleaguered country had only three days fuel and ammunition left after the supply was cut off by the then South African Prime Minister, John Vorster, in an attempt to curry favor with the American government. Vorster had been promised a lifting of pressure on South Africa by Henry Kissinger, the then 'American' Secretary of State (Kissinger was, in fact, an Austrian born Jew), in return for pressure being applied to the Rhodesian government.
Foolishly, Vorster believed Kissinger, and applied pressure to Rhodesia, simply cutting off shipments of vital supplies and refusing to take Smith's calls when the later tried to find out what was going on. In desperation, Smith then went back to his support base, the White Rhodesians, and after explaining the situation, called a referendum on whether to continue with the situation or to try and end the conflict under the most favorable conditions possible. The referendum saw White Rhodesians voting to end the standoff, and in favor of a handover to Black rule. Smith then tried to settle with the 'least worst' of the black leaders, one Abel Muzerowa, and an election was held which for the first time allowed Blacks to vote. Muzerowa became the head of the renamed Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, but still the hard line Black guerillas refused to be drawn into the process. This was primarily due to the fact that the Muzerowa government, despite being majority Black, was still subject to a White minority veto, and the majority of Blacks looked upon Muzerowa as a puppet of the Whites, a not inaccurate interpretation. Zimbabwe Britain's then prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, then persuaded all of the parties to come to the negotiating table in London, and there an agreement was hammered out which saw new internationally supervised elections taking place in 1980, with all the parties participating. This time, ZANU, the party of Robert Mugabe and of the ZANLA guerillas, came to power (allegedly with large-scale fraud) with an overwhelming majority, and the country's name was changed to Zimbabwe. Under that name, the country has become world famous as a typical Third World basket case. All material (c) copyright Ostara Publications, 1999. Re-use for commercial purposes strictly forbidden. |
