History of Zimbabwe

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This is the history of Zimbabwe, a country in southern Africa.

1 Ancient civilizations
2 Arrival of the Portuguese
3 Ndebele invasion
4 British Conquest
5 Self-government
6 Unilateral independence
7 Guerrilla warfare
8 Majority rule
9 Constitution and Parliamentary System
10 After Independence
11 See also
12 External links

[edit] Ancient civilizations

The Great Zimbabwe national monument.

Archaeologists have found Stone-Age implements, Khoisan cave paintings, arrowheads, pottery and pebble tools in several areas of Zimbabwe, a suggestion of human habitation for thousands of years, and the ruins of stone buildings provide evidence of more recent civilization. The most impressive of these sites are the Great Zimbabwe ruins, after which the country is named, located near Masvingo. Evidence suggests that these stone structures were built between the 9th and 13th centuries AD by indigenous Africans who had established trading contacts with commercial centers on Africa's southeastern coast.

There have been many civilizations in Zimbabwe as is shown by the ancient stone structures at Khami, Great Zimbabwe and Dhlo-Dhlo. The first major civilization to become established was the Mwene Mutapa (or Monomotapas), who were said to have built Great Zimbabwe, in the ruins of which was found the soapstone bird that features on the Zimbabwean flag. By the mid-1440s, King Mutota's empire included almost all of the Rhodesian (Zimbabwean) plateau and extensive parts of what is now Mozambique. The wealth of this empire was based on small-scale industries, for example iron smelting, textiles, gold and copper, along with agriculture. The regular inhabitants of the empire's trading towns were the Swahili merchants with whom trade was conducted.

The Gokomere people, a Bantu-speaking group of migrant farmers, inhabited the Great Zimbabwe site from about AD 500, displacing earlier Khoisan people. From about 1000, the fortress took shape, reaching its peak by the fifteenth century. These were the ancestors of the Shona (or Mashona) people, who make up about 80% of modern Zimbabwe's population. Later they formed the Rozwi Empire, which continued until the nineteenth century.

[edit] Arrival of the Portuguese

In the early 16th century AD the Portuguese arrived, destroyed this trade and began a series of wars which left the empire so weakened that it was near collapse in the early 17th century. Several Shona states came together to form the Rozvi Empire which covered more than half of present day Zimbabwe. By 1690 the Portuguese had been forced off the plateau and the Rozvi controlled much of the land formerly under Mwene Mutapa. Peace and prosperity reigned over the next two centuries and the centres of Dhlo-Dhlo, Khami, and Great Zimbabwe reached their peaks. As a result of the mid-19th century turmoil in Transvaal and Natal, the Rozvi Empire came to an end.

[edit] Ndebele invasion

Main article: Matabeleland

The Matabele (Ndebele) people in the south arrived in 1834 -- Mzilikazi fleeing Shaka.

[edit] British Conquest

British entered the area in the 1890s, under the leadership of Cecil Rhodes, after whom the area was renamed Rhodesia. A treaty was signed with the British South Africa Company in 1888 allowing them to mine gold in the kingdom and to use force to enforce the terms of the treaty, now under Matabele rule. The increasing influx of settlers as a result of this treaty led to war with Lobengula, King of Matabeleland in 1893 -- First Matabele War. Lobengula died while fleeing north, and the Ndebele were defeated and European immigration began in earnest. However, the Matabele and Shona then revolted in 1896-97 during the Second Matabele War, a conflict known in Zimbabwe as the First Chimurenga. This later conflict is today celebrated in Zimbabwe as the First War of Independence.

[edit] Self-government

Britain granted Zimbabwe self-governing colony status with responsible government in 1923. What this meant was that there was a local parliament, although some powers (notably relating to African political advancement) were retained by London. Southern Rhodesia (as it was called then) was ruled via the Dominions Office (and not the Colonial Office) although strictly speaking the country was not a Dominion (like Canada, Australia, South Africa etc.). This however was a unique case.

From 1953 to 1963, Southern Rhodesia was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The federation fell apart in 1963 when white minority rule acquiesced and granted independence to Zambia and Malawi. Southern Rhodesia reverted to its status as a crown colony in Britain but was now known as Rhodesia. From 1957 to 1960, the Southern Rhodesia African National Congress, a black led organization, sought to give political control to the African majority.

From 1953 to 1958, the Southern Rhodesian government of Garfield Todd attempted to introduce liberal reforms to increase educational rights for the Black majority but Todd was forced from power when he attempted to expand the number of Blacks eligible to vote from 2% to 16%. The governments that followed Todd's became increasingly repressive introducing laws such as the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act of 1960 and the Emergency Powers Act which restricted the rights of the Black African majority.

The formation of a number of political parties along with sporadic acts of sabotage came as a result of African impatience with the pace of reforms and then in opposition to increased repression. At the forefront of this move was the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU), mostly Ndebele, led by Joshua Nkomo. It was shortly joined by the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), mostly Shona, a breakaway group under Ndabaningi Sithole. After the collapse of the federation in 1963, both ZAPU and ZANU were banned and the majority of their leaders imprisoned.

[edit] Unilateral independence

Main article: Unilateral Declaration of Independence (Rhodesia)

[edit] Guerrilla warfare

Both ZAPU and ZANU began campaigns of guerrilla warfare around 1966, and guerrilla raids led to escalation in white emigration from Rhodesia. Warfare continued through 1979, leaving 27000 dead.

The coming of independence in Angola and Mozambique in 1975 altered the power balance within Rhodesia greatly, as it forced South Africa and the United States to rethink their attitudes to the area, in order to protect their economic and political interests. Attempts were made by both countries to pressure Smith into accepting majority rule. With Kenneth Kaunda's Zambian support the nationalist groups were convinced to come together under the united front of Abel Muzorewa's African National Council. The imprisoned nationalist leaders were released.

Continuing talks failed to bring the two sides to an agreement, despite changes to the nationalist "line-up", now called the Patriotic Front (PF), a union of ZANU and ZAPU. Muzorewa had since formed a new party, the United African National Council (UANC), as had Sithole, who had formed a breakaway party from ZANU, called ZANU Ndonga. In the face of a white exodus, Ian Smith made an agreement with Muzorewa and Sithole, known as the Internal Settlement. This led to the holding of new elections in 1979, in which black Africans would be in the majority for the first time. The country was renamed Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979, with Muzorewa as Prime Minister.

However, the new state was not recognized by the international community, which continued to press for a settlement involving the Patriotic Front. Finally in 1979 under the Lancaster House Agreement, its legal status as the British colony of Southern Rhodesia was restored, in preparation for free elections and independence as Zimbabwe.

[edit] Majority rule

In elections in March 1980, Robert Mugabe's ZANU party won the election, with 53 out of 80 seats reserved for black voters, with Joshua Nkomo's ZAPU gaining 27, and Muzorewa's UANC only three. This, however, was unsurprising given the extent of intimidation used by ZANU to ensure their victory. The Republic of Zimbabwe came into being on April 18, 1980, in a ceremony attended by Britain's Charles, Prince of Wales. A song was written and sung by Bob Marley to celebrate the independence of Zimbabwe also called 'Zimbabwe'. He was invited to perform a concert at the country's independence festivities, and this song, was, of course, included.

As well as changing the name of the country, the new government changed numerous place names in 1982, starting with the capital, Salisbury, which was renamed Harare. The main street in the capital, Jameson Avenue, was renamed in honour of Samora Machel, President of Mozambique.

[edit] Constitution and Parliamentary System

The new Constitution provided for a non-executive President as Head of State with a Prime Minister as Head of Government. The first President was Rev. Canaan Banana with Robert Mugabe as Prime Minister. In 1987, the Constitution was amended to provide for an Executive President and the office of Prime Minister was abolished. The constitutional changes came into effect on 1 January 1988 with Robert Mugabe as President.

The Parliament was bicameral, with the House of Assembly being directly elected and the Senate consisting of indirectly elected and nominated members, including tribal chiefs. Under the Constitution, there were two separate voters rolls, one for the black African majority, who had 80 % of the seats in Parliament and the other for whites and other ethnic minorities, such as Coloureds (people of mixed race) and Asians, who held 20%.

This gave whites disproportionate representation, and in 1986 the Constitution was amended to scrap this system, replacing the white seats in with seats filled by nominated members. Many white MPs joined ZANU, which then reappointed them. In 1990, the Senate was abolished, and the House of Assembly's membership was increased to include members nominated by the President.

[edit] After Independence

Following independence, the rivalry that had been fermenting between ZAPU and ZANU erupted, with guerrilla activity starting again, in Matabeleland (south-western Zimbabwe). Nkomo (ZAPU) left for exile in Britain, and did not return until Mugabe guaranteed his safety. On February 17, 1982 Nkomo, accused of plotting a coup, was dismissed. Armed resistance in his stronghold of Matabeleland, in the west, was met with bloody government repression. At least 20,000 Matabele died in the ensuing near-genocidal massacres, perpetrated by an elite, communist-trained brigade, known in Zimbabwe as the Gukurahundi.

A peace accord was negotiated and on December 30, 1987 Mugabe became head of state after changing the constitution to usher in his vision of a presidential regime. On December 19, 1989 ZAPU merged with ZANU under the name ZANU-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF).

Although many whites had left Zimbabwe after independence, mainly for neighbouring South Africa, those who remained continued to wield disproportionate control of some sectors of the economy, especially agriculture. In the late-1990s whites accounted for less than 1% of the population but owned 70% of arable land.

On December 9, 1997 a national strike paralyzed the country. Mugabe was panicked by demonstrations by Zanla ex-combatants (war veterans), who had been the heart of the terrorist incursions 20 years earlier. He agreed to pay them large gratuities and pensions, which proved to be a wholly unproductive and unbudgeted financial commitment.

Mugabe also raised the issue of land ownership by white farmers. In a naive, but populist move, he began land redistribution, which brought the government into headlong conflict with the International Monetary Fund. Amid a severe drought in the region, the police and military were instructed not to stop the invasion of white-owned farms by the so-called 'war veterans' and youth militia. This has led to a mass migration of White Rhodesians out of Zimbabwe.

In February 2000, Mugabe tried to change the constitution by holding a constitutional referendum, in a move that would have allowed the president to serve two more terms (another 10 years) and the power to dissolve Parliament. The defeat of the referendum weakened the ruling party.

Mugabe won a parliamentary majority for ZANU-PF. He was also able to appoint 30 of the Members of Parliament. The presidential elections in March 2002 were critical to the Southern African region. An important concern was that if the elections were not free and fair, this would have a destabilizing effect on the region, causing more economic turmoil in countries like South Africa and Botswana. Mugabe won a highly controversial victory against Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change. It is alleged that violence was used in anti-Mugabe strongholds to prevent citizens from voting.