Rhodesia

**Rhodesia** (, ), officially from 1970 the **Republic of Rhodesia**, was a republic in Southern Africa during the Cold War. It was the region that is now called Zimbabwe. The country replaced the British colony of Southern Rhodesia.

## Nomenclature

The official name of the country under British law was "Southern Rhodesia", but the government in Salisbury used the name "Rhodesia" instead. This situation dated back to October 1964, when the colony of Northern Rhodesia changed its name to Zambia following independence,  so the colonial government felt that "Southern" Rhodesia should no longer be used because there was no "Northern" Rhodesia. However, Britain believed that only their government could change the colony's name and not the colony itself.

### Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI)

The British government adopted a policy called _no independence before majority rule_, which dictated that colonies with a certain amount of white settlers would not become independent until they adopted a policy of majority rule. This had conflicted with the beliefs of the white minority Rhodesian Front, lead by Ian Smith, which believed that Rhodesia should become an independent country anyway. This continued until relations between the colony and the British government broke down in 1965.

On 11 November 1965, Smith's government issued a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) from the United Kingdom. Many countries condemned the UDI and the United Nations Security Council placed sanctions on Rhodesia.

Rhodesia sought international recognition as a Commonwealth realm, with Queen Elizabeth II as "Queen of Rhodesia", but later severed it links to the British Crown by becoming a republic on 2 March 1970.

## The Bush War

As early as 1960, many native African nationalists began to challenge Rhodesia's minority rule policies. In 1964, tensions boiled over and the Rhodesian Bush War began. On one side, the minority rule government, led by Ian Smith, hoped to keep the whites in power. On the other side, the ZANU-PF, led by Robert Mugabe, fought for majority rule. After about 15 years of fighting, the Lancaster House Agreement was signed which allowed majority rule. This led to Zimbabwe's independence.

## Infobox (country)

- **conventional long name**: Rhodesia
<hr>Republic of Rhodesia

- **common name**: Rhodesia
- **status**: List of historical unrecognised states and dependencies, Unrecognised state
- **image flag**: Flag of Rhodesia (1964–1968).svg
- **flag alt**: Flag of Rhodesia from 1968–1979
- **flag type**: Flag of Rhodesia, Top
Flag (1965–1968)
Bottom
Flag (1968–1979)
- **image flag2**: Flag of Rhodesia (1968–1979).svg
- **image coat**: Coat of arms of Rhodesia.svg
- **coa size**: 80px
- **symbol type**: Coat of arms
- **national anthem**: "Rise, O Voices of Rhodesia"
 (1974–1979)

---
"God Save the Queen"
  (1965–1970)

- **image map**: LocationZimbabwe.svg
- **capital**: Harare, Salisbury
- **largest city**: capital
- **official languages**: English language, English
- **languages type**: Other languages
- **government type**: Unitary state, Unitary Parliamentary system, Parliamentary constitutional monarchy (1965–70)
Unitary state, Unitary Parliamentary system, Parliamentary republic (1970–79)
- **title leader**: Constitutional monarchy, Monarch
- **leader1**: Queen Elizabeth II, Elizabeth II
- **year leader1**: 1965–1970
- **title representative**: President of Rhodesia, President
- **representative1**: Clifford Dupont
- **year representative1**: 1970–1975
- **representative2**: John Wrathall
- **year representative2**: 1976–1978
- **year representative3**: 1979
- **title deputy**: Prime Minister of Rhodesia, Prime Minister
- **deputy1**: Ian Smith
- **year deputy1**: 1965–1979
- **legislature**: Westminster system, Parliament
- **house1**: Senate of Rhodesia, Senate
- **house2**: House of Assembly of Rhodesia, House of Assembly
- **sovereignty type**: Independence
- **event start**: Unilateral Declaration of Independence (Rhodesia), Declared
- **year start**: 1965
- **date start**: 11 November
- **event1**: Rhodesian constitutional referendum, 1969, Republic
- **date event1**: 2 March 1970
- **date event2**: 3 March 1978
- **year end**: 1979
- **date end**: 1 June
- **area km2**: 390580
- **area sq mi**: 150800
- **population census**: 6,930,000
- **population census year**: 1978
- **time zone**: Central Africa Time, CAT
- **utc offset**: +2
- **p1**: Southern Rhodesia
- **flag p1**: Flag_of_Rhodesia_(1964–1968).svg
- **s1**: Zimbabwe Rhodesia
- **flag s1**: Flag_of_Zimbabwe_Rhodesia.svg
- **era**: Cold War and Decolonisation of Africa