Rhodesian Bush War

The Rhodesian Bush War—also called the Rhodesian Civil War, the Second Chimurenga, or the Zimbabwe War of Independence—was a civil conflict that lasted from July 1964 to December 1979. It took place in the unrecognised state of Rhodesia, which later became the temporary British colony of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia and is now independent Zimbabwe.

Three main sides fought in this war: the white minority-led government of Rhodesia under Ian Smith (later replaced by Bishop Abel Muzorewa’s Zimbabwe-Rhodesian government); the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA), the armed wing of Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU); and the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA), the military wing of Joshua Nkomo’s Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU).

The war, along with the Internal Settlement signed in 1978 by Smith and Muzorewa, led to universal suffrage in June 1979 and the end of white minority rule. The country was renamed Zimbabwe Rhodesia under a black majority government, but this new arrangement failed to gain international recognition, so the fighting continued. Neither side won a clear military victory, and a compromise was eventually reached.

In December 1979, talks between the Zimbabwe-Rhodesian government, the United Kingdom, and the united Patriotic Front (led by Mugabe and Nkomo) took place at Lancaster House in London, resulting in the Lancaster House Agreement. The country briefly returned to British control, and new elections were held in March 1980 under British and Commonwealth supervision. ZANU won, and Mugabe became the first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe on 18 April 1980, when the country achieved internationally recognised independence.

The war’s roots go back to the late 19th century, when the British South Africa Company conquered the region, sparking dissent among native leaders opposed to foreign rule. British settlers began arriving in Southern Rhodesia in the 1890s, and though the territory never became a full dominion, these settlers effectively governed it after 1923.

In his “Wind of Change” speech, UK Prime Minister Harold Macmillan announced Britain’s new policy of granting independence to its African colonies only under majority rule. Many white Rhodesians feared that such immediate change would cause chaos, similar to what happened in the former Belgian Congo after its independence in 1960. Britain’s refusal to compromise led Rhodesia to unilaterally declare independence (UDI) on 11 November 1965. Although Rhodesia had private support from neighbouring South Africa and Portugal (which then governed Mozambique), no country ever granted it diplomatic recognition.

While voting in Rhodesia was constitutionally open to all races, property requirements prevented many Black Africans from participating. The 1969 constitution reserved only eight of 66 parliamentary seats for “Non-Europeans,” with another eight reserved for tribal chiefs. Against this backdrop, African nationalists pushed for armed struggle to achieve black rule, mainly protesting the vast wealth gap between the races. Two rival nationalist groups emerged in August 1963: ZAPU and ZANU, split by disagreements over tactics, tribalism, and personal clashes. ZANU and its military wing ZANLA, led by Robert Mugabe, were mostly Shona. ZAPU and ZIPRA, under Joshua Nkomo, were mainly Ndebele.

Cold War politics shaped the conflict. The Soviet Union backed ZIPRA, while China supported ZANLA. Each group fought a separate war against the Rhodesian Security Forces, and they sometimes fought each other. In June 1979, Cuba and Mozambique offered direct military help to the Patriotic Front, but Mugabe and Nkomo refused. Other foreign contributions included North Korean military officials, who trained Zimbabwean militants in explosives and arms at a camp near Pyongyang. By April 1979, 12,000 ZANLA guerrillas were training in Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Libya, while 9,500 of its 13,500 active cadres operated inside Rhodesia. South Africa secretly provided material and military support to the Rhodesian government.

The ruling Rhodesian Front (RF) took a hard line against the communist ideology of ZIPRA and ZANLA. Ian Smith portrayed the conflict as primarily anti-communist. White Rhodesians saw Britain’s demand for majority rule as a direct attack on their way of life. Having witnessed the Mau Mau Rebellion, they refused to accept majority rule. Much of Rhodesia’s economy and land was controlled by whites, and fearing total confiscation by ZIPRA or ZANLA, the RF chose to maintain unofficial minority rule. By ignoring other factors, Smith and the RF strengthened ties with the West, but Britain remained neutral. The communist-anti-communist divide caused fighting to spill across Rhodesia’s borders. Neighbouring African nations, backed mainly by North Korea, China, and the Soviet Union, used communist material support to launch guerrilla attacks on the Rhodesian Security Forces, as well as on civilians and infrastructure.

The United States officially refused to recognise Rhodesia as an independent state, but some American veterans of the Vietnam War joined the Rhodesian Security Forces. The Rhodesian government ran advertising campaigns to recruit soldiers from Western countries, eventually amassing nearly 1,400 highly trained special forces and guerrilla fighters.