Rhodesian Front
The Rhodesian Front was a right-wing conservative political party in Southern Rhodesia, subsequently known as Rhodesia. It was the last ruling party of Southern Rhodesia prior to that country's unilateral declaration of independence, and the ruling party of Rhodesia from 1965 until 1979. Led first by Winston Field, and, from 1964, by Ian Smith, the Rhodesian Front was the successor to the Dominion Party, which was the main opposition party in Southern Rhodesia when that territory was a part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The RF was formed in March 1962 by conservative white  Rhodesians who opposed regional decolonisation and majority rule. It carried the general election in Southern Rhodesia that December, and remained in power until 1979. History and ideology. The RF had fifteen founding principles, which included the preservation of each racial group's right to maintain its own identity, the preservation of 'proper standards' through a policy of advancement through merit, the maintenance of the Land Apportionment Act, which formalised the racial imbalance in the ownership and distribution of land, opposition to compulsory racial integration, job protection for white workers and the practice of Christianity. Historians have generally defined the party  as conservative and wanting to maintain white Rhodesian interests by staunchly opposing majority rule, which the RF argued (citing other post-colonial African nations as examples) would lead to a collapse in economic development, law & order, and the emergence of a communist regime in Rhodesia. The party also encouraged the emigration of whites from other African former colonies to Rhodesia. In contrast to the ideology of the South African National Party, the RF allowed for democratic opposition and did not advocate social apartheid (under the RF marriage, relationships and intermingling between whites and non-white persons was possible and legal , albeit uncommon), nor did the party consider blacks as racially inferior or actively tried to deny them citizenship. Black Rhodesians were allowed to vote for candidates on the separate and smaller "African Seats" and "B Roll" electoral rolls in parliamentary elections following the UDI. However, the RF wanted to continue the maintenance of the government's right to provide separate amenities for different races, such as education and public sector resources, and maintained an all-white membership which resulted in it facing accusations of racism from both within Rhodesia and abroad. Smith and the RF also claimed that they based  their policies, ideas and democratic principles on merit and "not on colour or nationalism." The party also claimed that a system of merit and separate economic advancement would ultimately result in an "equal partnership between black and white" as an alternative to majority rule In 1977, the party had a schism in which the more hardline wing broke off to form the Rhodesian Action Party which opposed Smith's proposals to negotiate a settlement with black nationalist leaders. Following the elections leading to the country's independence in 1980, as the Republic of Zimbabwe, the RF won all 20 parliamentary  seats reserved for whites in the power-sharing agreement that it had forged. On June 6, 1981, the party changed its name to the Republican Front, and on July 21, 1984, it became the Conservative Alliance of Zimbabwe. Eleven of its twenty parliamentarians defected over the following four years, but the party again won 15 of the 20 parliamentary seats reserved for whites in the 1985 election. In 1986, the CAZ opened its membership to Zimbabweans of all races. In 1987 the ruling government abolished all reserved seats for whites. When these were abolished many white MPs became independents or  joined the ruling ZANU party.