User talk:El C/Southern Rhodesia

Southern Rhodesia









Southern Rhodesia was the name given to the Southern African territory (formerly South Zambezia) which was chartered from the British Government to be administered by Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company (1896-1923); a British self-governing colony (1923-1953); a federal territory in the Central African Federation (1953-1963); briefly, a self-governing colony again (1963-1964); an unrecognized nation having unilaterally declared independence under the Rhodesian Front (1965-1979); and briefly, the internationally unrecognized nation of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia (1979-1980). Since 1980, Rhodesia entirely ceased to exist and it is now the universally recognized independent Republic of Zimbabwe.

Introduction
Both Southern and Northern Rhodesia were named after Cecil Rhodes, the British Empire-builder and an avid proponent of the Cape to Cairo approach. He is widely considered to be the most prominent figure in the European expansion into Southern Africa. Southern Rhodesia was first claimed in 1888 after Rhodes obtained mineral rights from local chiefs under questionable circumstances.

While its borders remained largely unchanged throughout the various stages in its history, for our purposes, Southern Rhodesia will only be depicted throughout the 1888-1964 period (for 1964-1979, see Rhodesia). The reason for this is that the name, Southern Rhodesia, became obsolete following the independence of Northern Rhodesia into Zambia, as only a single 'Rhodesia' remained in existence.

Following historiographical convention, the name Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia are used interchangebly in this article, unlike Northern Rhodesia which is always stated as such. Southern and Northern Rhodesia are refered to jointly as 'the Rhodesias,' whereas Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland jointly are the 'Northern Protectorates' or 'Northern Territories,' depending on the time frame.

Chartered Company, 1888-1923 (Expand)
Southern Rhodesia was administred by Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company rather than the Colonial Office. Virtually since its establishment, Southern Rhodesia's white settler population wavered between two different, often times hostile, traditions: that of relatively liberal Great Britain on the one hand, and the intolerant Republic of South Africa on the other. This became especially true following the formation of the Union of South Africa and the seperation of Northern Rhodesia (today an independent Zambia), as a protectorate, from Southern Rhodesia in 1910. Contd.

A Self-Governing Colony: the first deacade, 1923-1933
When in 1923, the charter of Cecil Rhodes’ BSA Co. expired, the European inhabitants of Southern Rhodesia gathered to vote in a referendum which was to decide whether the territory was to become a province of the Union of South Africa, or whether it would be a Self-Governing British colony. The Populists were in favour of Responsible Government while the Establishment were promoting Union with South Africa. Interestingly, in the following three decades this tendency was to almost entirely reverse itself, as the pro-British Populists, in less than a decade, were to become the Establishment, while the pro-South African Rhodesian Front was to assume reign under a wave of populism.

The pro-Union forces were comprised of the much-despised BSA CO., the press, the great mining companies, the upper echelons of the civil service, the Dutch Reform Church, Afrikaner Rhodesians, and even, albeit mildly, the British government itself, though officially neutral. The Responsible Government' side included the bulk of Rhodesian European society: farmers, artisans, railroad workers, lower echelon civil servants, British patriots, the clergy (with the exception of Dutch Reform), and in general, the vast majority of non-bilingual English-speaking men and women. The governments of Portugal and Belgium, while like Britain officially neutral, also favoured the Responsible Government side for their own interests.

Responsible Government won the referendum with 8,744 to the pro-Union’s 5,989. To a large measure, the Responsible Government vote was based on ‘racialist’ anti-Dutch, anti-Afrikaner sentiments. Much like the anti-African racialists of the 1960s, ironically highly linked to Afrikaners, the security of employment was a central factor. The Constitution which soon followed stipulated that Southern Rhodesia was self-governing, but Britain could still veto the decisions of its government when it came to 'Native Affairs,' a veto which Great Britain never saw fit to execrcize.

Despite this final break from South Africa, as seen in the lack of a concrete union, Southern Rhodesia remained highly linked to South Africa. Its legal system remained based on the Dutch-Roman code and South Africa remained a pivotal trading partner, the only significant one in the continent. The leader of the Responsible Government campaign and Southern Rhodesia’s first Premier, Sir Charles Coghlan, was in contrast to many of his supporters, far from an anti-establishment man. I can only trust you bloody ex-Unionists, he once exclaimed to the mildly pro-Union (but also pro-British) Sir Godfrey Martin Huggins who was to later become Rhodesia’s Prime Minister for an uninterrupted twenty years.

Land Apportionment Act
In 1931, the legislated division of land amongst the inhabitants of the colony on the basis of racial lines was formalized. To white Rhodesians it was arguably the most important law ever devised in the colony’s history. On 1 April, 1931, the Land Apportionment Act (LAA) was made law after being recommended by the Carter Land Commission (presided by Sir Morris Carter). Following the recommendation of the Commission, the LAA apportioned out of 96 million acres: for one million Africans &mdash; 7 million acres for special African Purchase Areas and 21 million acres for African Reserves (in Tribal Trust Lands, or TTLs); for 50,000 Whites &mdash; 48 million acres exclusively, and 18 million acres remained unassigned (while a great many of these were to be used only by Europeans as parks and game preserves, some were apportioned to Africans).

Significantly, European land included every single urban area in Rhodesia, meaning that Africans now, by law, were prohibited from ‘permanently’ residing in these (not only purchasing land, but renting and leasing as well). Over half of the land apportioned to Europeans (which was agriculturally the most valuable) was at the time unoccupied. This further added to the Africans' grievance over land.

The Great Depression and the rise of Huggins, 1933-1939
In 1933, a decade after Responsible Government was granted, Huggins (who was leader of the Rhodesian Reform Party, RRP, not to be confused with Ian Smith’s short-lived party of the same name) was elected as Rhodesia’s second Prime Minister (following Britain's Ministerial Titles Act of 1933, the title of Rhodesia's leader was elevated from Premier to PM). At the time, the colony was suffering from the economic malaise of the Great Depression, but Southern Rhodesia, nonetheless, fared much better than many other places in the 'West.' This was because its tiny white population commanded vast pools of cheap and expendable African labour. The colony was also rich in natural resources, and Rhodesian domestic gold mining operations profited when the colony followed Britain in going off of the Gold Standard while their main competitor, South Africa, retained it for another year. Nevertheless, the Great Depression was the only period in Rhodesian history which saw significant white unemployment. To combat the Depression, Huggins opted for the Keynesian path that most of his counterparts in other Western nations and territories adopted. A public works programme funded and organized by the Southern Rhodesian government vastly improved the colony’s roads and infrastructure. Farmers were subsidized to avoid mass bankruptcies; mining was expanded, and tariffs and other protectionist measures were introduced. Huggins also surprised many of his peers when he nationalized (though not expropriated) the Cold Storage Company. With Britain’s decision to rearm against the threat of Nazi Germany, there was an increasing demand for the colony’s base metals, the coal deposits from Wankie (for smelting), and the vast copper deposits recently discovered in Northern Rhodesia.

Huggins’ approach to ‘Native Affairs’ was largely based on his ‘Twin Pyramids’ approach which theoretically, at the height of maturity (maturity of the native, that is) could result in a senior-junior ‘partnership’ between European and African Rhodesians. Huggins was the first Rhodesian leader who made a ‘national’ issue of the native question. Until the Huggins era it was nearly a taboo to highlight European-African relations in Rhodesian assembly politics. Huggins, at one instance, compared this partnership to the relationship between a ‘horse and its rider,’ an infamous remark which was to haunt him in later years.

Huggins aspired for a ‘Greater Rhodesia,’ by tying Rhodes’ three territories (Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia, and Nyasaland) as an independent nation, and he favoured ‘amalgamation,’ a unitary state, over a Federal one. Towards this end, Huggins was offered consistent support from Britain’s Commonwealth Relations Office (CRO) and opposition from the Colonial Office (CO) which took a stronger stand in promoting African rights and national identity.

WWII: the Great Boost, 1939-1945
Huggins’ efforts to secure an amalgamated unitary state was abruptly interrupted by the British declaration of war on Nazi Germany. Huggins, at the time visiting England, did not hesitate to immediately join Britain. South Africa, which was to become Rhodesia’s most significant immediate ally entered the war, however, "on the narrowest of parliamentary margins" (as opposed to neutrality). Rhodesia’s own contribution to the war was exceptional and disproportionate to its size but due to its miniscule population, its actual impact in manpower was insignificant. 8,500 white men, 1,500 women, and 14,000 African men (under the ARR) fought on the Rhodesian side.

Equally important, for both Rhodesian society and the war effort in general was the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) Empire Training Scheme. The Rhodesian air training facilities brought 15,000 Britons to the colony. For a white population who in 1940 numbered 65,000 people, having to feed and house, on ‘civilized’ standards, a group which accounted for twenty per cent of the total Rhodesian population was an unprecedented undertaking as was the task of attending to air craft equipment. Arguably, this was the greatest economic boost Rhodesia had thus seen since Responsible Government. Despite a certain 'culture shock,' especially with regards to racial matters, many of the RAF trainers and trainees were to become fond of Rhodesia and in the post war population explosion, immigrated to live in the colony.

Notwithstanding the economic boom brought by the Empire Training Scheme and the fact that fighting did not reach Rhodesian soil, shortages of various commodities were at times acute. Huggins, who was “anything but a socialist” but at the same time, “anything but a doctrinaire” introduced rationing and even nationalized the South African-owned Iron and Steel Works Company (for fear that after the war they would pull out of the colony). In 1943, the Rhodesian Labour parties reunited, thus becoming sizable enough to become Rhodesia’s official opposition, and Huggins was careful to avoid any element of “class confrontation.” He invited the two principal Labour leaders into cabinet and they accepted his offer, though securing the consent of their party’s caucus prevented this from materializing.

The Rhodesian Labour party posed little electoral threat to Huggins’ United Party (UP) especially as war necessitated left of centre measures which Labour promoted anyhow. Two high level resignations also took place from within the cabinet. The conservative Jacob Smit who was Minister of Finance but was not included in the exclusive Defense Committee, resigned his post and formed a new right-wing party the Southern Rhodesia Liberal Party. By contrast, Sir Robert Tredgold, who was by Rhodesian standards a genuine liberal and held the dual portfolio of Defense and Justice (and was included in the Defense Committee) resigned over the Land Apportionment Act once fighting has ceased and become a High Court Judge.

In 1944, Labour having recently remerged, split again. The issue of having nominal African representation re-divided the more progressive wing of Labour now titled the Southern Rhodesia Labour Party (SLRP), from the more reactionary wing, now titled Rhodesia Labour Party (RLP). Both parties would not survive the era of Federation and were to soon become extinct from Rhodesian politics. Prior to the general election of 1946, Huggins passed the significant Native (Urban Areas) Accommodation and Registration Act, which obliged white employers to provide free accommodation for their African employees while they worked and lived in the urban areas.

The Post-War Era: Towards Federation
Arguably this measure, which so enraged the reactionary (Smit) Liberals, nearly cost Huggins the election. Huggins’ UP won thirteen seats while Smit’s Liberals won twelve. The RLP and SRLP won three and two seats respectively. Despite the close call, Huggins was able to rule the colony effectively in the assembly by frequently joining forces with both Labour parties against the (Smit) Liberals.

African participation in Rhodesian politics remained absolutely infinitesimal. In 1939, with a white electorate of 28,000, the number of Africans eligable to vote was limited to a laughable 70, of which 39 registered to vote. In 1946, following Huggins' electoral reforms, 6,000 Africans became eligable to vote, of which a scant 136 registered. Legally, the franchise, based on property and income qualifications, was colour-blind. In practice, it meant that a white population of 60,000 (1939) could command tens of thousands to the polls, while Africans, numbering over one million people, less than 100 qualifying to and/or voting.

It is, then, a testament to the extent of the mistrust of the white system that a mere two per cent of these eligible Africans bothered to register themselves to vote in 1946. Near the end of the war, African associations began taking shape in the form of highly conservative African trade unionism and Huggins (wisely, as they posed no threat to the status quo) resisted calls from his opponents to use drastic action. The historian Robert Blake, who had many conversations with Huggins, maintains that he viewed their grievances as “largely justified”.

Huggins claimed that “We are witnessing the mergence of a proletariat and in this country it happens to be black”. It also happened to be disenfranchised, segregated, and discriminated against on that basis. This was something Huggins wanted to change, albeit gradually and relatively mildly. He continued to view African enfranchisement in accordance with his old ‘Twin Pyramid’ scheme, theoretically able to approach, but not exceed, parity in the assembly.

By contrast, Smit, whom Huggins personally disliked (perhaps the reason why as Minister of Finance he was excluded from the prestigious wartime Defense Committee), was pushing towards Apartheid. In a sense, his ‘Liberal Party’ was the first significant party of white backlash against African rights (the struggle for this on the part of Africans at least, still largely in embryonic form). It was a prototype for the Confederate Party (CP), the Dominion Party (DP), Ian Smith's DP-breakaway Rhodesian Reform Party (RRP), Winston Field’s Rhodesian Front (RF), and then, finally, Ian Smith’s Rhodesian Front. Contd.

Self-Governing Colony, um..., again, 1963-1965
In 1964, Southern Rhodesia became the Colony of Rhodesia.

Ongoing additions
I.

Southern Rhodesia = 1888-1964 (during Federation, emphasis as Territory)

CAF = 1953-1963 (emphasis on Federal events).

Rhodesia [no more NR means only R, S is superfleous] = 1964-1979 (emphasis: UDI, UDI-Rep and Guerilla Warfare, internal settlement Z-R mentioned - historical overview in Zimbabwe article should be retained)

Zimbabwe = 1980-Present (already written - read more closely though).

II.


 * Rhodesia (disambiguation), the next step for the above, chronologizes the political (imperial) status and/or geographic changes to Southern (and Northern) Rhodesia, but the periodization needs to be further looked into. Problem is, I do not have that many sources here for the 1888-1924 (and esp. 1888-1910), so I have to remember to find the time to obtain these.
 * Accordingly, I got a list of Pms and PMs for Self-Governing era, but not Administrators for BSA Co. (probably not necessary to list the Governors, I do not recall any of them doing anything particularly remarkable, except for Gibbs; suffice that their role be mentioned):
 * Sir Charles Coghlan &mdash; RRP (1923-1927) &mdash; LAA
 * Howard Unwin Moffat &mdash; RRP (1927-1933) &mdash; Looked freaky, must find pic.
 * George Mitchell &mdash; RRP (1933) &mdash; Only 2 months.
 * Sir Godfrey Huggins (1933-1953) URP &mdash; Formally, URP; UP was short for.
 * Sir Garfield Todd &mdash; UFP/URP &mdash; Todd's URP loses to Whitehead's UFP, but it isn't the same URP anymore (i.e. UP), will need to be qualified, and of course, being ousted for being too sympathetic to 'Native' issues.
 * Sir Edgar Whitehead &mdash; UFP (1958-1962) &mdash; Last mandate for Establishment.
 * Winston Field &mdash; RF (1962-1964) &mdash; Still quasi-Establishment, represents former DP in the RF
 * Ian Douglas Smith &mdash; (1964-1979) &mdash; Populists, represents former (new, unrelated to old) RRP in RF.

III. Added References section for Southern Rhodesia.

-

Southern Rhodesia draft discussion
Sadly, untouched since August. Please write comments on it in this space. El_C -

The 1923 Constitution and the British veto
[A]lthough I don't know squat about the history of Southern Rhodesia, your article on the subject has raised the following question in my mind. "Britain could still veto the decisions of its government when it came to 'Native Affairs,' a veto which Great Britain never saw fit to exercize." How was that veto supposed to work? Would it have required a vote in parliament? --Christofurio 16:42, Nov 13, 2004 - Someone read my Southern Rhodesia draft, yes! No, I believe that the British Governor in Southern Rhodesia would have advised the British Cabinet (Colonial and/or Dominion Offices). It is somewhat confusing because there is another set of legislation the British could theortically employ which superceded the 1923 Const. Under the '1961 Constitution' of the CAF, unlike the 1923 one, Britain could not block discriminatory legislations, rather, appeals to the quasi-British (In London, but Commonwealth membership) 'Judicial Committee of the Privy Council' could be made on an individual (submitted by individuals) basis. This, argues James Barber (Rhodesia, pp. 96-98), was not, however, the case. While not included in Duncan Sandy&#8217;s document (British Commonwealth Secretary, architect of the 1961 Const.), since Southern Rhodesia itself was still formally a British colony, Britain could still override legislations through 'the Colonial Laws Validity Act of 1865.' Sandys appears to agree. Thus, with respect to British law, the specific Self-Governing arrangments (1923) were more good-faith than truly legally binding for Britain. Thanks for taking the time to read my SR draft! El_C ---

Collaboration with Scuzz138
Hey El C, I got your message about the Rhodesia article and im more than happy to help with the article anytime as long as its fair, which I trust it will be. In fact ill probably start the section about the military history tonight since I dont have to study.

Anyway, Is there anything about the counter insurgency or nationalists that you'd like to know in a little greater detail? If so, drop me a line at scuzz138-&#710;t-cfl.rr.com so I can get back to you quickly. Also do you want me to use the old Colonial Names for towns and villages or the post-independence Shona names? Scuzz138 --- Hi, Scuzz138. I am looking forward to collaborating with you on the Rhodesia series of articles. Yes, it will be fair, and I think thus far it (the draft) is. Please read it closely, afterwhich, I encourage you to modify and edit it as you see fit (or you can write you own draft/s and we could work on integrating these – whatever's good for you, I'm flexible). More than anything, my draft right now needs completion on the BSA Co era, so any help on this front will be greatly appreciated. Back to fairness, I would like to point out that I attempt to leave the politics and polemics to talk pages, and for articles, I aim for consensus. Don't take my word for it, [not to boast, but to boast] review some the articles listed on my user page, I believe you will find that virtually all the articles I authored or made significant contributions to enjoy overwhleming consensus (and these, like Rhodesia, include controversial areas of study). Periodization-wise, I am not yet at the stage where I am writing on the counter-insurgency aspect, but when I do, I will certainly take advantage of your knowledge in this area. As for the names, I think the correct way to note these would be to use the colonial names and in parentheses the Shona ones for the first time any of these are mentioned; and from then on, just the colonial names (without parentheses). Certainly, I may take you on your offer and email you if the need arises – and I extend the same to you (my email address for the wikipedia email function is valid, so feel free to use it).

More thoughts soon. Best Regards, El_C

I'm more than happy to collaborate in either form, usually im better when I already have something to work with and can modify it to include more information so we'll probably use your drafts as the basis and go from there until we have a finished work.

Now to answer your questions, my expertise is with post-UDI Rhodesia and the ZANU and ZAPU militias but I do know a little bit about the Federation's security services and to answer your question about Troop deployments within the CAF aside from the Miner's strike, I dont believe the Federation troops, ever served as more than what we'd call Peacekeepers nowadays during the uprisings in Nyasaland. They were also used in internal security functions similar to the United States National Guard, like as strikebreakers, police, and as border-guards throughout major border crossings into the Federation. Aside from that im not really sure about the Federation troops during the political collapse of the Federation, if they had a role in it, and what happened to them after the Federation split up, such as if they were integrated into the new national Armies in post-CAF states.

Now Territorial troops from Southern Rhodesia, had a fairly limited but highly effective role in the Malayan Emergency, which is actually where and why the famous(or infamous) Selous Scouts and what would become the Rhodesian SAS were formed, it gave their soldiers vital practical experience in unconventional warfare and pseudo-terrorist operational procedure which would serve them quite well during the chimurenga war a few years later.

More soon.

Oh and I noticed that one of the images of the Rhodesian Flag is missing on the draft article, If you're missing the 1965-1980 flag, I have an image of it and I can add it to the article if you'd like.

User:Scuzz138 - Hi. I uploaded the on Aug., and the  was already uploaded, both are in the current Rhodesia article, but note that my SR draft deals with Southern Rhodesia up to the CAF, whereas the Rhodesia draft (yet to be written) will cover (Southern –Northern no longer– mostly UDI) Rhodesia up to Z-R and Zimbabwe independence. Anyway, I am alright on the flag front, but what I do need is images of notable people, places, and maps. So, if you come across any of these, they could really enhance the article(s).

Thanks for confirming what I thought was the nature of Federal troops within the CAF and their deployment at uprisings consisted of. If you know how many Federal viz. Territorial troops there were (and maybe a brief overview for the composition of the latter), that would be useful; as would a more detailed account of the uprisings in Nyasaland. As for Territorial troops involvement in the British-MRLA conflict (which, admittedly, I know little about) leading to the formation of the Selous Scouts, that certainly could be mentioned (though, number of troops deployed should be noted, if not scope of operations – which could be outlined in the Selous Scouts article, barely a substub). Likewise, counterinsurgency role played (by them, and others) in the Chimurenga war is clearly historically notable and I planned on accounting for it (now with your help) in the Rhodesia draft.

A few words on that. I don't think I will start the Rhodesia article draft until the Southern Rhodesia one is complete, so it might be a while – largely depending how long it will take for the BSA Co. section in the SR draft to crystalize. In a sense, I authored the CAF article largely towards this end (it, in itself, I consider rather draft-like), as a chronological middle-ground, but I feel, for my own orientation with the material, that I must start from the beginning.

At any rate, I will give you time to acquaint yourself with my SR draft and CAF article, and I am looking forward to learning your thoughts on these. El_C -- I've got numbers on the Rhodesian troops in Malaya during the conflict there.

Apparently there was only one battalion, called the Rhodesian Army Regiment(odd name considering it was only one battalion) which numbered about the same as a regular light infantry battalion, about 430 people give or take plus their non-combat support staff, bringing the total number to around 500 or so with about 60-80 additional soldiers comprising C squadron (Rhodesia) of the Malayan Scouts, which was renamed C Squadron (Rhodesia) of the Special Air Service in 1958. The RAR concentrated mostly on small, highly mobile units much like Special Forces in most western nations today. I've got some operational information about the Rhodesian troop deployments against the MRLA as well, and per your suggestion, ill make sure to include them in the background on the Selous Scouts and Rhodesian SAS in the appropriate section of the SR draft when I get that section drafted to where I want it to be.

Im still trying to find ratios of Territorial to Federation troops, though I do have a bit of information on the Federation's deployments during the uprisings in Nyasaland which ill be including the Rhodesian aspect of in my draft for the SR article and in-depth information for the CAF article.

Scuzz138 10:36 04 Mar 2005 (UTC) --- Hey C, Sorry its been awhile again but going to college has been crazy, at least the term's almost over(finals are next week) and I can get back to working on the CAF, SR and post-UDI Military stuff, something I WANT to do as opposed to what I have to do. I've got just about everything we're after and it took quite awhile to get some of it. Anyway, ill be uploading the images and churning out what ive got as soon as finals are completed. Like I said last time, I have a whole lot of pertinent images relating to SR that are waiting to be uploaded, not so many relating to the Federation or Nyasaland but I did manage to get ahold of even more information on those subjects than what I had last time I posted here. Its been sort of difficult and im glad you've been patient with me because I've only been able to do research when ive got the chance between projects for my classes but its actually worked out well, as its pretty much ready to go as soon as I get a chance to upload/format what ive got, but I haven't had time to get any of the related materials off my storage account at the school and onto my hard drive then onto the article drafts, which is something I really have to do before they delete all of it.

The progress you've made so far on both fronts is a good foundation for the expansion we'll be able to make when I get the chance to work on this, then we can move onto the Rhodesian Republic and Zimbabwe-Rhodesia as soon as the Federation and Southern Rhodesia articles are completed to your(and my) satisfaction. As far as my opinion on how they're coming along goes, I'd say quite well. There aren't any factual errors, chronology's good on both articles as far as they've gotten so far. The only thing is that they're both sort of short at the moment, and as you said we need images of people, places and maps, but that'll be changing rather soon, I just have to survive my final exams first and get all of what ive got uploaded. After that im sure it'll be pretty substantial.

Anyway, ill let you know next week after exams are over before I get the wheels turning on this. I didnt figure it'd take this long but its better late than never I suppose.

Scuzz138 23:42 25 April 2005 (UTC)

El_C, why not move this to User:El C/Southern Rhodesia and put the talk comments back here? Tomer TALK 03:36, August 4, 2005 (UTC)