When was the Rhodesian Bush War? South Africa and Rhodesia C aim – to explain what South Africa did, why they did this and how it affected the war B/A aim – to explain the reasons for South Africa’s actions and how far this affected the war When was the Rhodesian Bush War? What did the South Africans do during this war? Why did they do these things? Fill in PLC

What effect did this have? Date during the war What South Africa did Why they did this What effect did this have? 1965-1976 1976 Late 1970s What affected the course of the Rhodesian Bush War? Was South Africa most influential in this?

How did South Africa’s involvement affect the Rhodesian Bush War? Refused to observe UN sanctions – some say Rhodesia would only have lasted months without it. Before 1976 Rhodesia got most of their oil from Mozambique. Then Mozambique became independent and closed its borders and refused to let any goods get through to Rhodesia. Then South Africa quickly built a railway to provide the oil. It was more expensive to reroute trade through South Africa – the ports were much more congested. South Africa pressured Rhodesia to end the war from 1976 as they believed Rhodesia had gone too far by going into Mozambique to kill ZAPU insurgents and they felt they were a destabilising nation. America had also told South Africa that they would face serious sanctions next if they kept trading with Rhodesia. Rhodesia started to experience ‘unexplained’ snarl-ups in the South African transport system – oil and arms were particularly affected. Rhodesian exports piled up in South African ports and South African loans came to a halt. If the Mozambique border was still open Rhodesia may have been able to withstand this. South Africa financed the first black Rhodesian PM Bishop Muzorewa as they felt he would be more stabilising. South Africa had never recognised Ian Smith’s government.

What is this a photograph of? Who are these men? Ian Smith Mugabe Secretary of state for foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Lord Carrington Bishop Muzowera Nkomo

Write a statement for one of these men explaining why they are there, what they want from Lancaster House and whether they would be happy with the settlement. Ian Smith Mugabe Secretary of state for foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Lord Carrington Bishop Muzowera Nkomo

What was the Lancaster House Agreement? After two failed conferences convened by the United Kingdom in 1976 and 1977 in Geneva and Malta, increasing international pressure finally led to the 1979 “constitutional conference” at Lancaster House in London. By this time the white minority government had conceded nominal power to Bishop Abel Muzorewa, leading a black civilian government elected in a non-racial election in which the liberation movements did not participate as a result of a combination of self-denial and exclusion. This failed to end the war as the patriotic front felt that Muzorewa was a puppet, but for the UK and the West it created a “recognizable” Rhodesia–Zimbabwe. In these circumstances a constitution was reluctantly accepted and a ceasefire concluded between the liberation movements and the Muzorewa regime on 28 December 1979. (Ironically the UK, under whose ultimate colonial legal authority most of the land had been alienated, was able to cast itself in the role of arbitrator and mediator at Lancaster House. Lord Carrington and his team earned much praise for their use of “dominant third-party mediation”. This enabled Britain to avoid any further formal responsibility for reconciliation in Zimbabwe.) The Lancaster House Agreement created a constitution for an independent Zimbabwe, based on majority rule. However, it granted the white Zimbabweans significant minority rights: 20 seats out of 100 in the first parliament and, even more important, a strict and detailed protection of commercial farmland. Rhodesian perpetrators of human rights violations were allowed to go unpunished. All this came in the name of reconciliation.

Homework – due Tuesday 17th March Read the chapter and answer these questions List the reasons why Rhodesia declared a UDI. List the countries that ignored the sanctions. What does the ignorance of the sanctions suggest about the international opinion of Rhodesia? P. 159 – How did the sanctions eventually start harming Rhodesia? What were ZANLA, ZIPRA and the MK? Why were the black nationalists easy to defeat in the first stage? How did ZIPRA and ZANLA change their tactics? What did the National Front do in response to this change in tactics? Why was the situation so bad in 1979?