Rhodesia

Rhodesia PDF Author: Peter Baxter
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN: 9781726710626
Category : Zimbabwe
Languages : en
Pages : 776

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Book Description
Before there was Zimbabwe, there was Rhodesia, a British colony founded by the great capital imperialist Cecil John Rhodes, and administered by the British South Africa Company. Rhodesia was the last British territory in Africa, and the most difficult to divest. This is the story of a gifted land, bitterly contested as the final imperial chapter in Africa. Through war and peace, following the careers of some of the great African leaders of the modern age, this was the last, painful transition from colonial to liberated Africa.A story intricately told and meticulously researched. For all enthusiasts of African and British Imperial history, this book is a must read!

Rhodesia

Rhodesia PDF Author: Peter Baxter
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN: 9781726710626
Category : Zimbabwe
Languages : en
Pages : 776

Get Book Here

Book Description
Before there was Zimbabwe, there was Rhodesia, a British colony founded by the great capital imperialist Cecil John Rhodes, and administered by the British South Africa Company. Rhodesia was the last British territory in Africa, and the most difficult to divest. This is the story of a gifted land, bitterly contested as the final imperial chapter in Africa. Through war and peace, following the careers of some of the great African leaders of the modern age, this was the last, painful transition from colonial to liberated Africa.A story intricately told and meticulously researched. For all enthusiasts of African and British Imperial history, this book is a must read!

Discovering Rhodesian History

Discovering Rhodesian History PDF Author: R. W. Dickinson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Zimbabwe
Languages : en
Pages : 90

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Book Description


A Pride of Eagles

A Pride of Eagles PDF Author: Beryl Salt
Publisher: Helion and Company
ISBN: 1908916265
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 857

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Book Description
This is the story of military aviation in Rhodesia from the romantic days of 'bush' flying in the 1920s and '30s-when aircraft were refueled from jerrycans and landing grounds were often the local golf course-to the disbandment of the Rhodesian Air Force (RhAF) on Zimbabwean independence in 1980. In 1939 the tiny Royal Rhodesian Air Force (RRAF) became the first to take up battle stations even before the outbreak of the Second World War. The three Rhodesian squadrons served with distinction in East Africa, the Western Desert, Italy and Western Europe. At home Rhodesia became a vast training ground for airmen from across the Empire-from Britain, the Commonwealth and even Greece. After the war, Rhodesia, on a negligible budget, rebuilt its air force, equipping it with Ansons, Spitfires, Vampires, Canberras, Hunters and Alouettes. Following UDI, the unilateral declaration of independence from Britain in 1965, international sanctions were imposed, resulting in many remarkable and groundbreaking innovations, particularly in the way of ordnance. The bitter 'bush war' followed in the late 1960s and '70s, with the RhAF in the vanguard of local counterinsurgency operations and audacious preemptive strikes against vast guerrilla bases in neighboring Mozambique, Zambia and Botswana and as far afield as Angola and Tanzania. With its aging fleet, including C-47 'Dakotas' that had been at Arnhem, the RhAF was able to wreak untold havoc on the enemy, Mugabe's ZANLA and Nkomo's ZIPRA. The late author took over 30 years in writing this book; the result is a comprehensive record that reflects the pride, professionalism and dedication of what were some of the world's finest airmen of their time. The late Beryl Salt was born in London in 1931. She emigrated to Southern Rhodesia in 1952 to get married in Salisbury, where her two sons were born. In 1953 she joined the Southern Rhodesian Broadcasting Services (later the Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation, the RBC). With a love of history she wanted to find out as much as she could about her new country. This interest led to radio dramas and feature programmes, followed by several books: School History Text Book, The Encyclopaedia of Rhodesia and The Valiant Years, a history of the country as seen through the newspapers. She also produced a dramatized radio series about the Rhodesian Air Force. In 1965 she left the RBC and spent three years with the Ministry of Information, following which she was a freelance writer/broadcaster involved in a wide variety of projects until 1980 when she moved to Cape Town. She died in England in November 2001.

A Brutal State of Affairs

A Brutal State of Affairs PDF Author: Henrik Ellert
Publisher: African Books Collective
ISBN: 1779223757
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 681

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Book Description
A Brutal State of Affairs analyses the transition from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe and challenges Rhodesian mythology. The story of the BSAP, where white and black officers were forced into a situation not of their own making, is critically examined. The liberation war in Rhodesia might never have happened but for the ascendency of the Rhodesian Front, prevailing racist attitudes, and the rise of white nationalists who thought their cause just. Blinded by nationalist fervour and the reassuring words of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and army commanders, the Smith government disregarded the advice of its intelligence services to reach a settlement before it was too late. By 1979, the Rhodesians were staring into the abyss, and the war was drawing to a close. Salisbury was virtually encircled, and guerrilla numbers continued to grow. A Brutal State of Affairs examines the Rhodesian legacy, the remarkable parallels of history, and suggests that Smiths Rhodesian template for rule has, in many instances, been assiduously applied by Mugabe and his successors.

How I Came to Be Rhodesian

How I Came to Be Rhodesian PDF Author: Lionel Frost
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781521191590
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
In January 1896, the author's second cousin (thrice removed) embarrassed the British government when as a Boer Commandant he thwarted the attempted overthrow of the Transvaal Republic by a column raised in Cecil Rhodes' company-run colony of Rhodesia. The resulting scandal forced Rhodes to resign as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony.Four years later, in February 1900, a Boer army led by the same cousin (now a general) held off an onslaught by overwhelming British, Canadian and Australian forces for eight days before surrendering in a capitulation which proved to be the turning point of the war, and which still rankles in the hearts of Afrikaners.This memoir chronicles the ebbs and flows in the fortunes of the author's Huguenot and English forebears during their migration northward from the Cape of Good Hope into the African hinterland, and goes on to tell the story of his own Rhodesian childhood. In the early 1960s, the country was enjoying the fruits of a two-decade economic boom; the future looked bright, and the early stirrings of African nationalism were not to be taken seriously.

Rhodes and Rhodesia

Rhodes and Rhodesia PDF Author: Arthur Keppel-Jones
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
ISBN: 077356103X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 693

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Book Description
The British South Africa Company and the irregularity of its financial and political operations are dealt with in detail. Keppel-Jones also discusses the development in the midst of the indigenous population of an alien white society and state, from their crude beginnings to their emergence in a form still recognizable today. The reader is led to conclude that by 1902 Southern Rhodesia was already set on the road that would lead to the upheavals of the second half of the twentieth-century. The author examines the racial consciousness and prejudice of the white society and addresses an important question: why did the imperial government grant a royal charter to the BSA Company? The facts show conclusively that the imperial government had little interest in Central Africa or care for its fate except when foreign competition appeared. Keppel-Jones also reveals the important role played by black troops employed by the Company in suppressing the rebellions of 1896-7. For opposite reasons, neither blacks nor whites have been willing to recognize this; on the other hand the habit of the 'men-on-the-spot' of making and carrying out decisions without regard to their superiors in London is a commonplace of imperial history. One of the main themes of the book is the tension between the unofficial imperialists, straining at the leash, and the Colonial Office, struggling to hold them back. Rhodes and Rhodesia is based on extensive use of public records, mainly in the Public Record Office, London, and the National Archives of Zimbabwe, of collections of private papers, and of contemporary published works.

The Rhodesian War

The Rhodesian War PDF Author: Paul L. Moorcraft
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 0811707253
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
- The vicious conflict (1964-79) that brought Robert Mugabe to power in Zimbabwe - Expert coverage of the war, its historical context, and its aftermath - Descriptions of guerrilla warfare, counterinsurgency operations, and actions by units like Grey's Scouts Amid the colonial upheaval of the 1960s, Britain urged its colony in Southern Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe) to grant its black residents a greater role in governing the territory. The white-minority government refused and soon declared its independence, a move bitterly opposed by the black majority. The result was the Rhodesian Bush War, which pitted the government against black nationalist groups, one of which was led by Robert Mugabe. Marked by unspeakable atrocities, the war ended in favor of the nationalists.

Dirty War

Dirty War PDF Author: Glenn Cross
Publisher: Helion and Company
ISBN: 191286696X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Dirty War is the first comprehensive look at the Rhodesia’s top secret use of chemical and biological weapons (CBW) during their long counterinsurgency against native African nationalists. Having declared its independence from Great Britain in 1965, the government—made up of European settlers and their descendants—almost immediately faced a growing threat from native African nationalists. In the midst of this long and terrible conflict, Rhodesia resorted to chemical and biological weapons against an elusive guerrilla adversary. A small team made up of a few scientists and their students at a remote Rhodesian fort to produce lethal agents for use. Cloaked in the strictest secrecy, these efforts were overseen by a battle-hardened and ruthless officer of Rhodesia’s Special Branch and his select team of policemen. Answerable only to the head of Rhodesian intelligence and the Prime Minister, these men working alongside Rhodesia’s elite counterguerrilla military unit, the Selous Scouts, developed the ingenious means to deploy their poisons against the insurgents. The effect of the poisons and disease agents devastated the insurgent groups both inside Rhodesia and at their base camps in neighboring countries. At times in the conflict, the Rhodesians thought that their poisons effort would bring the decisive blow against the guerrillas. For months at a time, the Rhodesian use of CBW accounted for higher casualty rates than conventional weapons. In the end, however, neither CBW use nor conventional battlefield successes could turn the tide. Lacking international political or economic support, Rhodesia’s fate from the outset was doomed. Eventually the conflict was settled by the ballot box and Rhodesia became independent Zimbabwe in April 1980. Dirty War is the culmination of nearly two decades of painstaking research and interviews of dozens of former Rhodesian officers who either participated or were knowledgeable about the top secret development and use of CBW. The book also draws on the handful of remaining classified Rhodesian documents that tell the story of the CBW program. Dirty War combines all of the available evidence to provide a compelling account of how a small group of men prepared and used CBW to devastating effect against a largely unprepared and unwitting enemy. Looking at the use of CBW in the context of the Rhodesian conflict, Dirty War provides unique insights into the motivation behind CBW development and use by states, especially by states combating internal insurgencies. As the norms against CBW use have seemingly eroded with CW use evident in Iraq and most recently in Syria, the lessons of the Rhodesian experience are all the more valid and timely.

Southern Rhodesia–South Africa Relations, 1923–1953

Southern Rhodesia–South Africa Relations, 1923–1953 PDF Author: Abraham Mlombo
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030542831
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
This book provides the first comprehensive study of the ‘special relationship’ between Southern Rhodesia and South Africa. While most studies approach this from the history of British and South African relations or the history of South African territorial expansion, this book offers new insights by examining Southern Rhodesia’s relations with South Africa from the former’s perspective. Exploring relations through the lens of settler colonialism, the book argues that settler colonialism in the region was marked by a competitive and antagonistic relationship between settler communities, particularly Afrikaner and English communities. The book explores the connections between these countries by examining (high) politics, economic links, and social and cultural ties, highlighting both instances of competition and cooperation. Above all, it argues that economic ties were the cornerstone of the relationship and that these shaped the rest of the ties between the two countries. Drawing on archival records from Britain, South Africa and Zimbabwe, as well as a number of secondary sources, it offers a much more nuanced perspective of this relationship than has been previously offered.

Decolonisation, Identity and Nation in Rhodesia, 1964-1979

Decolonisation, Identity and Nation in Rhodesia, 1964-1979 PDF Author: David Kenrick
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030326985
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
This book explores concepts of decolonisation, identity, and nation in the white settler society of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) between 1964 and 1979. It considers how white settlers used the past to make claims of authority in the present. It investigates the white Rhodesian state’s attempts to assert its independence from Britain and develop a Rhodesian national identity by changing Rhodesia’s old colonial symbols, and examines how the meaning of these national symbols changed over time. Finally, the book offers insights into the role of race in Rhodesian national identity, showing how portrayals of a ‘timeless’ black population were highly dependent upon circumstance and reflective of white settler anxieties. Using a comparative approach, the book shows parallels between Rhodesia and other settler societies, as well as other post-colonial nation-states and even metropoles, as themes and narratives of decolonisation travelled around the world.