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Zimbabwe

Beginning from the 11th century ad, the civilization of the Shona people had reached a peak by the 15th century in the city of Great Zimbabwe. The economy of the various kingdoms that ruled Zimbabwe depended on gold and livestock (Cattle).

From the 15th century on, several kingdoms and dynasties dominated the region before the arrival of Europeans in the late 15th century. The Mutapa Kingdom (c. 1450–1698) was followed by the Rozwi Empire (c. 1684–1834) and finally by the kingdom of Matabeleland that lasted from about 1837 to 1894.

The first Europeans to arrive on the Indian Ocean coast were the Portuguese in 1498. They traded for gold in the local markets. They attempted but failed to establish European control over the Mutapa kingdom with a large military expedition in 1569. Early in the 17th century they succeeded, with a locally recruited army, in defeating the Mutapa. In 1693 the Rozwi Empire arose and defeated the Portuguese, driving them off most of the area.

The Rozwi Empire was over-ran by the Ndebele, who had themselves been driven north, in the late 1830s, by European settlers. The Ndebele leader, Mzilikazi Khumalo, established a new Ndebele kingdom in what later became known as Matabeleland. In 1888 Lobengula, Khumalo's son, granted mining Concessions to Cecil Rhodes, a British colonist. One of those, called the Rudd Concession allowed Rhodes to obtain a Royal Charter for his British South Africa Company (BSAC). With the BSAC charter Rhodes was able to begin colonizing Matabeleland.

In 1898 the BSAC adopted the name "Southern Rhodesia" for what would later become Zimbabwe. With trickery and warfare Rhodes was able to take away land from the Ndebele and Shona and give such to white settlers. By October 1923 Southern Rhodesia was annexed to the British crown. The white settlers, under the Land Apportionment and Tenure Acts kept 45% of the land area to themselves exclusively. Another 25% was designated “Tribal Trust Land”. The white settlers wanted independence and full control of the country. Africans also wanted independence but with universal suffrage. On November 11, 1965, prime minister, Ian Smith made a unilateral declaration of independence from Britain for white-ruled Rhodesia.

African opposition to discriminatory white rule found expression in several political groups as early as the 1950s. There was the African National Council (ANC) led by Bishop Abel Muzorewa. Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) was formed in 1962 with largely Ndebele support. It was followed by Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) led by Ndabaningi Sithole in 1963. The Rhodesian government banned these political parties soon after they were formed, forcing them to become underground guerrilla movements dedicated to the overthrow of the white regime.

The guerrilla war against the white regime proved very effective. In 1976 ZANU and ZAPU armies joined forces to become the Patrotic Front (PF). Ian Smith was forced to negotiate. On March 3 1978, Smith signed an internal agreement with Muzorewa that provided for qualified majority rule and universal suffrage and renamed the country Zimbabwe-Rhodesia. Bishop Abel Muzorewa and his party won the elections of April 1979, making him prime minister of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia. the PF was not satisfied and the fighting continued.

In December 1979 Smith accepted a British and American brokered peace guaranteeing majority rule. In February 1980 new elections were held and Robert Gabriel Mugabe became the first prime minister of independent Zimbabwe on April 18, 1980.