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.

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

Get Book Here

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.

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.

A Handful of Hard Men

A Handful of Hard Men PDF Author: Hannes Wessels
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 161200346X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
A biography of a Special Forces soldier who battled the forces of Mugabe and Nkomo, earning a reputation as a military maestro. During the West’s great transition into the post-colonial age, the country of Rhodesia refused to succumb quietly, and throughout the 1970s, fought back almost alone against Communist-supported elements that it did not believe would deliver proper governance. During this long war, many heroes emerged, but none more skillful and courageous than Capt. Darrell Watt of the Rhodesian SAS, who placed himself at the tip of the spear in the deadly battle to resist the forces of Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo. It is difficult to find another soldier’s story to equal Watt’s in terms of time spent on the field of battle and challenges faced. Even by the lofty standards of the SAS and Special Forces, one has to look far to find anyone who can match his record of resilience and valor in the face of such daunting odds and with resources so paltry. A bush-lore genius, blessed with uncanny instincts and an unbridled determination, he had no peers as a combat-tracker—and there was plenty of competition. The Rhodesian theater was a fluid and volatile one, in which he performed in almost every imaginable fighting role: as an airborne shock-trooper leading camp attacks, long range reconnaissance operator, covert urban operator, sniper, saboteur, seek-and-strike expert, and, in the final stages, as a key figure in mobilizing an allied army in neighboring Mozambique. After twelve years in the cauldron of war, his cause slipped from beneath him, however, and Rhodesia gave way to Zimbabwe. When the guns went quiet, Watt had won all his battles but lost the war. In this fascinating biography we learn that in his later years, he turned to saving wildlife on a continent where animals are in continued danger, devoting himself to both the fauna and African people he has cared so deeply about.

Unpopular Sovereignty

Unpopular Sovereignty PDF Author: Luise White
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022623519X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
A truly satisfactory history of Rhodesia, one that takes into account both the African history and that of the whites, has never been written. That is, until now. In this book Luise White highlights the crucial tension between Rhodesia as it imagined itself and Rhodesia as it was imagined outside the country. Using official documents, novels, memoirs, and conversations with participants in the events taking place between 1965, when Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence from Britain, and 1980 when indigenous African rule was established through the creation of the state of Zimbabwe, White reveals that Rhodesians represented their state as a kind of utopian place where white people dared to stand up for themselves and did what needed to be done. It was imagined to be a place vastly better than the decolonized dystopias to its north. In all these representations, race trumped all else including any notion of nation. Outside Rhodesia, on the other hand, it was considered a white supremacist utopia, a country that had taken its own independence rather than let white people live under black rule. Even as Rhodesia edged toward majority rule to end international sanctions and a protracted guerilla war, racialized notions of citizenship persisted. One man, one vote, became the natural logic of decolonization of this illegally independent minority-ruled renegade state. Voter qualification with its minutia of which income was equivalent to how many years of schooling, and how African incomes or years of schooling could be rendered equivalent to whites, illustrated the core of ideas about, and experiences of, racial domination. White s account of the politics of decolonization in this unprecedented historical situation reveals much about the general processes occurring elsewhere on the African continent."

We Dared to Win

We Dared to Win PDF Author: Hannes Wessels
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1612005888
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
A memoir from a Special Forces fighter about his experiences in the Rhodesian War and how combat has shaped his life. Andre Scheepers grew up on a farm in Rhodesia, learning about the bush from his African childhood friends, before joining the army. A quiet, introspective thinker, Andre started out as a trooper in the SAS before being commissioned into the Rhodesian Light Infantry Commandos, where he was engaged in fireforce combat operations. He then rejoined the SAS. Wounded thirteen times, his operational record is exceptional, even by the tough standards that existed at the time. He emerged as the SAS officer par excellence—beloved by his men, displaying extraordinary calm, courage, and audacious cunning during a host of extremely dangerous operations. Here, Andre writes vividly about his experiences, his emotions, and his state of mind during the war, and reflects candidly on what he learned and how war has shaped his life since. In addition to Andre’s personal story, this book reveals more about some of the other men who were distinguished operators in SAS operations during the Rhodesian War. “Andre was the best of the best and the bravest of the brave.” —Capt. Darrell Watt, ex-SAS and subject of A Handful of Hard Men

The Last Rhodesian

The Last Rhodesian PDF Author: Dylann Roof
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781977977656
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description
On June 17, 2015 Dylann Storm Roof shot and killed Nine people at a church in Charleston South Carolina he wrote a manifesto before the shooting detailing his grievances with America and his thoughts on race. After the shooting he wrote an additional manifesto that was found inside his cell and taken as contraband Both manifestos are included in this work.

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.

Big Game Hunting in North-eastern Rhodesia

Big Game Hunting in North-eastern Rhodesia PDF Author: Owen Letcher
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Big game hunting
Languages : en
Pages : 382

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Book Description


So Far and No Further!

So Far and No Further! PDF Author: Jrt Wood
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
ISBN: 1466934085
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 541

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Book Description
'So Far and No Further!' Rhodesia's Bid for Independence during the Retreat from Empire 1959-1965 Ian Smith's unilateral declaration of independence for Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) on 11 November 1965 was seen by many as the act of a rebellious white minority seeking to preserve their privileged position in defiance of Britain's determination to shed her Empire and introduce rule by the African majority as soon as possible. However, the drama of UDI has long overshadowed and oversimplified the complexities of the preceding years. In this account of that time, based on sole access to the hitherto closed papers of Ian Douglas Smith and Sir Roy Welensky, as well as extensive research at London's Public Record Office, and in government and private collections elsewhere, Dr J.R.T. Wood chronicles the collision course on which Britain and Rhodesia were set after 1959, complementing his study of the fate of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in his definitive 'The Welensky Papers: A History of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland 1953-1963'. Britain, Wood shows, was intent on shedding her Empire as quickly as possible against a backdrop of the Cold War and the rise of Chinese- and Soviet-sponsored African nationalism. She delivered some 600 one man, one vote constitutions to her fledgling nations and had no intention of granting Rhodesia independence on different terms. Unlike Britain's other African possessions, however, Rhodesia had enjoyed self-governance since 1923. The largely white Rhodesian electorate, wary of the consequences of premature and ill-prepared majority rule, sought instead dominion status akin to that of Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Their intention was gradually to pave the way for majority rule: since 1923, Rhodesia's electoral qualifications had excluded race. It was always understood that the African majority would acquire power; the concern was the speed and smoothness of that acquisition. Culminating in those dramatic days of November 1965 when Ian Smith concluded in the face of resolute British stonewalling that he had no alternative but UDI, this unique account is the first in a series which chronicles the course of events that ultimately led to Robert Mugabe's accession to power in 1980, and all that entailed.

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.