View source for Southern Rhodesia

{{Short description|British colony in Africa (1923–1980)}}
{{About|the British colony|the unrecognised state that existed from 1965–1979|Rhodesia|the region|Rhodesia (region)|6=other uses|7=Rhodesia (disambiguation)}}
{{Use South African English|date=April 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Southern Rhodesia
| common_name            = Southern Rhodesia
| status                 = Self-governing [[Evolution of the British Empire|British colony]] (1923–1965)<br>[[Crown colony]] (de facto; 1965–1980)
| empire                 = United Kingdom
| life_span              = 1923–1965<br>1979–1980
| p1                     = Company rule in Rhodesia{{!}}'''1923:'''<br>{{nowrap|Company rule<br>in Rhodesia}}
| flag_p1                = Flag of the British South Africa Company.svg
| p2                     = Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland{{!}}'''1963:'''<br>{{nowrap|Federation of<br>Rhodesia and<br>Nyasaland}}
| flag_p2                = Flag of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (1953–1963).svg
| flag_p3                = Flag of Zimbabwe Rhodesia.svg
| p3                     = Zimbabwe Rhodesia{{!}}'''1979:'''<br>Zimbabwe Rhodesia
| s1                     = Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland{{!}}'''1953:'''<br>{{nowrap|Federation of<br>Rhodesia and<br>Nyasaland}}
| flag_s1                = Flag of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (1953–1963).svg
| s2                     = Rhodesia (1964–1965){{!}}'''1964:'''<br>Rhodesia
| flag_s2                = Flag of Rhodesia (1964–1968).svg
| flag_s3                = Flag of Zimbabwe.svg
| s3                     = Zimbabwe{{!}}'''1980:'''<br>Zimbabwe
| image_flag             = Flag of Southern Rhodesia (1924–1964).svg
| flag_type              = [[Flag of Southern Rhodesia|Flag<br>(1924–1964)]]
| image_coat             = Coat of arms of Rhodesia (1924–1981).svg
| coa_size               =
| symbol_type            = [[Coat of arms of Rhodesia|Coat of arms<br>(1924–1981)]]
| national_anthem        = "[[God Save the King/Queen]]" {{center|[[File:United States Navy Band - God Save the Queen.ogg]]}}
| image_map              = LocationZimbabwe.svg
| image_map_caption      =
| capital                = [[Harare|Salisbury]]
| common_languages       = [[English language|English]] (official)<br />[[Shona language|Shona]] and [[Northern Ndebele language|Sindebele]] widely spoken, some [[Afrikaans]]
| government_type        = [[Constitutional monarchy]]
| title_leader           = [[List of British monarchs|Monarch]]
| leader1                = {{nowrap|[[George V]]}}
| year_leader1           = 1923–1936
| leader2                = {{nowrap|[[Edward VIII]]}}
| year_leader2           = 1936
| leader3                = {{nowrap|[[George VI]]}}
| year_leader3           = 1936–1952
| leader4                = {{nowrap|[[Elizabeth II]]}}
| year_leader4           = 1952–1964{{efn|name=note_a}}
| leader5                = {{nowrap|[[Elizabeth II]]}}
| year_leader5           = 1979–1980
| title_representative   = [[Governor of Southern Rhodesia|Governor]]
| representative1        = Sir [[John Chancellor (colonial administrator)|John Chancellor]]
| year_representative1   = 1923–1928 (first)
| representative2        = Sir [[Humphrey Gibbs]]
| year_representative2   = 1959{{efn|name=note_b}}–1965{{efn|name=note_c}}
| representative3        = [[Christopher Soames|Lord Soames]]
| year_representative3   = 1979–1980 (last)
| title_deputy           = [[Prime Minister of Rhodesia|Prime Minister]]
| deputy1                = Sir [[Charles Patrick John Coghlan|Charles Coghlan]]
| year_deputy1           = 1923–1927 (first)
| deputy2                = [[Ian Smith]]
| year_deputy2           = 1964{{efn|name=note_d}} (last)
| legislature            = [[Legislative Assembly of Rhodesia|Legislative Assembly]]
| event_pre              = [[1922 Southern Rhodesian government referendum|Government referendum]]
| date_pre               = 27 October 1922
| event_start            = Annexed by the UK
| date_start             = 12 September
| year_start             = {{start date|1923}}
| event1                 = [[First Cabinet of Southern Rhodesia|First responsible government]]
| date_event1            = 1 October 1923
| event2                 = [[Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland|Federation]]
| date_event2            = 1953–1963
| event3                 = [[Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence|UDI]]
| date_event3            = 11 November 1965
| event4                 = [[Rhodesia|Republic declared]]
| date_event4            = 3 March 1970
| event5                 = [[Zimbabwe Rhodesia]]
| date_event5            = 1 June 1979
| event_end              = [[Lancaster House Agreement|Independence]]
| date_end               = 18 April
| year_end               = 1980
| currency               = {{unbulleted list|[[Southern Rhodesian pound]]|[[Rhodesian pound]]|[[Rhodesian dollar]]}}
| stat_year1             = 1904
| stat_area1             = {{convert|143830|mi2|km2|0|disp=number}}
| ref_area1              = <ref name="britcensus">{{cite web|title=Census of the British empire. 1901|url=https://archive.org/stream/cu31924030396067#page/n243/mode/2up|publisher=Openlibrary.org|access-date=26 December 2013|page=177|year=1906|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315035638/https://archive.org/stream/cu31924030396067#page/n243/mode/2up|archive-date=15 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>
| stat_pop1              = 605,764
| ref_pop1               = <ref name="britcensus" />
| footnotes              = {{notelist|refs=
{{efn|name=note_a|The unrecognized government purported to have Elizabeth II continue to reign under the unrecognized title, [[Queen of Rhodesia]], after 1964 and until the abolition of the unrecognized Rhodesian monarchy in 1970.}}
{{efn|name=note_b|Gibbs' governorship of Southern Rhodesia began during the [[Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland|Federation period]]. For a brief time, Gibbs was also the Acting [[Governor-General of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland]].}}
{{efn|name=note_c|Gibbs' de facto governorship ended with the internationally unrecognized [[Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence|declaration of independence]] on 11 November 1965, as the attached 1965 Constitution abolished the post and created the positions of Governor-General and [[Administrator of the government#Rhodesia|Officer Administering the Government]] (for when a Governor-General was not appointed by the [[Queen of Rhodesia]]). On 17 November 1965, his responsibilities were bestowed by the unrecognized government upon [[Clifford Dupont]] as Acting Officer Administering the Government. Gibbs remained the de jure legal Governor until 24 June 1969.}}
{{efn|name=note_d|Smith continued to lead the unrecognized government as [[Prime Minister of Rhodesia]] until 1 June 1979.}}
  }}
| today                  = [[Zimbabwe]]
}}
{{History of Zimbabwe}}

'''Southern Rhodesia''' was a [[self-governing colony|self-governing]] British [[Crown colony]] in [[Southern Africa]], established in 1923 and consisting of [[British South Africa Company]] (BSAC) territories lying south of the [[Zambezi River]].<ref name="Southern Rhodesia Act 1965">{{cite web|title=Southern Rhodesia Act 1965|url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1965/76/enacted|publisher=legislation.gov.uk|access-date=5 June 2022|year=1965}}</ref><ref name="Southern Rhodesia Act 1979">{{cite web|title=Southern Rhodesia Act 1979|url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/52/introduction|publisher=legislation.gov.uk|access-date=5 June 2022|year=1979}}</ref> The region was informally known as South Zambesia until Britain annexed it at the behest of the [[British South Africa Company]]. The colony was then renamed for that company’s founder, [[Cecil Rhodes]]. The bounding territories were [[Bechuanaland]] ([[Botswana]]), [[Northern Rhodesia]] (Zambia), [[Portuguese Mozambique]] (Mozambique) and the [[South African Republic|Transvaal Republic]] (for two brief periods known as the British [[Transvaal Colony]]; from 1910, the [[Union of South Africa]] and, from 1961, the Republic of South Africa). Since 1980, the colony's territory is the independent nation of [[Zimbabwe]].

This southern region, known for its extensive gold reserves, was first purchased by the BSAC's [[Pioneer Column]] on the strength of a mineral concession extracted from its [[Matabeleland|Matabele]] king, [[Lobengula]], and various majority [[Mashonaland|Mashona]] vassal chiefs in 1890. Though parts of the territory were laid-claim-to by the Bechuana and [[Portuguese Empire|Portugal]], its first people, the "Bushmen" (or [[San people|Sān]] or [[Khoisan]]), had possessed it for countless centuries beforehand and had continued to inhabit the region.<ref>''The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland'', J. Theodore Bent, Longmans, Green & Co., London, 1892.</ref> Following the colony's unilateral dissolution in 1970 by the Republic of Rhodesia government, the Colony of Southern Rhodesia was re-established in 1979 as the successor state to the Republic of [[Zimbabwe Rhodesia]] which, in-turn, was the [[predecessor state]] of the Republic of Zimbabwe. Its only true geographical borders were the rivers Zambezi and [[Limpopo River|Limpopo]], its other boundaries being (more or less) arbitrary, and merging imperceptibly with the peoples and domains of earlier chiefdoms of pre-colonial times.

The British colony was established ''[[de jure]]'' in 1923, having earlier been occupied, constructed and administered by the British South Africa Company and its sub-concessionaires who were mostly British subjects. In 1953, it was merged into the [[Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland]], which lasted until 1963. Southern Rhodesia was renamed [[Rhodesia (1964–1965)|Rhodesia]] and remained a ''[[de jure]]'' British colony until 1980. However, the Rhodesian government issued a [[Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence|Unilateral Declaration of Independence]] (UDI) in 1965 and established a fully independent [[Rhodesia]], which immediately became an [[List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies|unrecognised state]]. In 1979, it reconstituted itself under majority rule as Zimbabwe Rhodesia, which also failed to win international recognition. After a period of interim British control following the [[Lancaster House Agreement]] in December 1979, the country achieved internationally recognised independence as Zimbabwe in April 1980.

== History ==
=== Origin as "Rhodesia" ===
{{main|Company rule in Rhodesia}}
{{See also|Rhodesia (name)|l1=Rhodesia}}

Initially, the territory was referred to as "South Zambezia", a reference to the River [[Zambezi]], until the name "Rhodesia" came into use in 1895. This was in honour of [[Cecil Rhodes]], the British empire-builder and key figure during the British expansion into [[southern Africa]]. In 1888 Rhodes obtained [[mineral rights]] from the most powerful local traditional leaders through [[Treaty|treaties]] such as the [[Rudd Concession]] and the [[Moffat Treaty]], which was signed by King [[Lobengula]] of the [[Northern Ndebele people|Ndebele people]]. "Southern" was first used in 1898 and dropped from normal usage in 1964, on the break-up of the [[Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland]]. "[[Rhodesia]]" then remained the name of the country until the creation of [[Zimbabwe Rhodesia]] in 1979. Legally, from the British perspective, the name Southern Rhodesia continued to be used until 18 April 1980, when the Republic of [[Zimbabwe]] was promulgated.{{citation needed|date=June 2025}}

The British government agreed that Rhodes' company, the [[British South Africa Company]] (BSAC), would [[Company rule in Rhodesia|administer]] the territory stretching from the [[Limpopo]] to [[Lake Tanganyika]] under [[charter]] as a [[protectorate]]. [[Queen Victoria]] signed the charter in 1889. Rhodes used this document in 1890 to justify sending the [[Pioneer Column]], a group of white settlers protected by well-armed [[British South Africa Police]] (BSAP) and guided by the big game hunter [[Frederick Selous]], through Matabeleland and into Shona territory to establish Fort Salisbury (now [[Harare]]). In 1893–1894, with the help of their new [[Maxim gun]]s, the BSAP defeated the Ndebele in the [[First Matabele War]], a war which also resulted in the death of King Lobengula and the death of most of the members of the [[Shangani Patrol]]. Shortly after the disastrous BSAP [[Jameson Raid]] into the [[Transvaal Republic]], the Ndebele were led by their spiritual leader Mlimo against the white colonials and thus began the [[Second Matabele War]] (1896–97) which resulted in the extermination of nearly half the British settlers. After months of bloodshed, Mlimo was found and shot by the American scout [[Frederick Russell Burnham]] and soon thereafter Rhodes walked unarmed into the Ndebele stronghold in [[Matobo Hills]] and persuaded the [[impi]] to lay down their arms, effectively ending the revolt.<ref name="farwell">{{cite book|last=Farwell|first=Byron|title=The Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Land Warfare: An Illustrated World View|publisher=W. W. Norton & Co.|year=2001|page=539|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m-XpP_pdANcC&q=Cecil+Rhodes+boldly+walked+unarmed&pg=PA539|isbn=0-393-04770-9|access-date=2 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708015051/http://books.google.com/books?visbn=0393047709&id=m-XpP_pdANcC&pg=PA539&lpg=PA539&ots=XHkbH7K9Em&dq=Cecil+Rhodes+boldly+walked+unarmed&sig=dVixJwT8o4WckD9Dvz2C_Vfz3X8|archive-date=8 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

A [[Southern Rhodesian Legislative Council|legislative council]] was created in 1899 to manage the company's civil affairs, with a minority of elected seats, through which the BSAC had to pass government measures. As the company was a British institution in which settlers and capitalists owned most shares, and local black African tribal chiefs the remainder, and the electorate to this council was limited to those shareholders, the electorate was almost exclusively white settlers. Over time as more settlers arrived and a growing number had less than the amount of land required to own a share in the company or were in trades supporting the company as workers, successive activism resulted in first increasing the proportion of elected seats, and eventually allowing non-shareholders the right to vote in the election. Prior to about 1918, the opinion among the electorate supported continued BSAC rule but opinion changed because of the development of the country and increased settlement. In addition, a decision in the British courts that land not in private ownership belonged to the [[British Crown]] rather than the BSAC gave great impetus to the campaign for self-government. In the resulting treaty government self-government, Crown lands which were sold to settlers allowed those settlers the right to vote in the self-governing colony.

[[File:Cecil Rhodes ww.jpg|thumb|center|upright|[[Cecil Rhodes]] (1853–1902), Founding chairman of the board of directors of [[De Beers]] Mining Company, funded by Nathaniel, 1st Lord Rothschild<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.debeersgroup.com/the-group/our-history |title=Our History |access-date=7 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301155724/https://www.debeersgroup.com/the-group/our-history |archive-date=1 March 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.rothschildarchive.org/business/rothschild_clients/ |title=The Business ‹ Private clients :: The Rothschild Archive |access-date=7 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027061553/https://www.rothschildarchive.org/business/rothschild_clients/ |archive-date=27 October 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>]]

===Century up to independence===
The territory north of the Zambezi was the subject of separate treaties with African chiefs: today, it forms the country of Zambia. The first BSAC Administrator for the western part was appointed for [[Barotseland]] in 1897 and for the whole of [[North-Western Rhodesia]] in 1900. The first BSAC Administrator for the eastern part, [[North-Eastern Rhodesia]], was appointed in 1895.<ref>P E N Tindall, (1967). A History of Central Africa, Praeger, pp. 133–34.</ref><ref>E A Walter, (1963).The Cambridge History of the British Empire: South Africa, Rhodesia and the High Commission Territories, Cambridge University Press, pp. 696–97.</ref> The whites in the territory south of the river paid it scant regard though, and generally used the name "Rhodesia" in a narrow sense to mean their part. The designation "Southern Rhodesia" was first used officially in 1898 in the Southern Rhodesia Order in Council of 20 October 1898, which applied to the area south of the Zambezi,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rhodesia.me.uk/documents/OrderInCouncil1898.pdf|title=Southern Rhodesia Order in Council|year=1898|website=rhodesia.me.uk|access-date=24 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203002814/http://www.rhodesia.me.uk/documents/OrderInCouncil1898.pdf|archive-date=3 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> and was more common after the BSAC merged the administration of the two northern territories as [[Northern Rhodesia]] in 1911.

As a result of the various treaties between the BSAC and the black tribes, Acts of Parliament delineating BSAC and Crown Lands, overlapping British colonial commission authority of both areas, the rights of the increasing number of British settlers and their descendants were given secondary review by authorities. This resulted in the formation of new movements for expanding the self-government of the Rhodesian people which saw BSAC rule as an impediment to further expansion.

The [[Southern Rhodesian Legislative Council]] [[Southern Rhodesian Legislative Council election, 1920|election of 1920]] returned a large majority of candidates of the [[Responsible Government Association]] and it became clear that BSAC rule was no longer practical. Opinion in the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] and South Africa favored incorporation of Southern Rhodesia in the [[Union of South Africa]], but, by forcing the pace of negotiation, the Southern Rhodesians obtained unfavorable terms and the electorate backed [[responsible government]] in a [[Southern Rhodesia government referendum, 1922|1922 referendum]].

In view of the outcome of the referendum, the territory was annexed by the United Kingdom on 12 September 1923.<ref>Southern Rhodesia (Annexation) Order in Council, 30 July 1923 which provided by section 3 thereof: "From and after the coming into operation of this Order the said territories shall be annexed to and form part of His Majesty's Dominions, and shall be known as the Colony of Southern Rhodesia".</ref><ref>Stella Madzibamuto v Desmond William Larder – Burke, Fredrick Phillip George (1969) A.C 645 – Authority for date of annexation having been 12 September 1923, being the date the Rhodesia (Annexation) Order in Council came into effect</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">''Collective Responses to Illegal Acts in International Law: United Nations Action in the Question of Southern Rhodesia'' by Vera Gowlland-Debbas</ref><ref>Stella Madzibamuto v Desmond William Larder – Burke, Fredrick Phillip George (1969) A.C 645</ref> Shortly after annexation, on 1 October 1923, the first constitution for the new Colony of Southern Rhodesia came into force.<ref>Southern Rhodesia Constitution Letters Patent 1923</ref><ref name="ReferenceA"/> Under this constitution [[Charles Coghlan (politician)|Sir Charles Coghlan]] became the first Premier of [[First Cabinet of Southern Rhodesia]] and upon his death in 1927 he was succeeded by [[Howard Unwin Moffat]].

During [[World War II]], Southern Rhodesian military units [[Southern Rhodesia in World War II|participated]] on the side of the United Kingdom. Southern Rhodesian support for the Allied war effort was based on a mixture shared kinship and identity with Britain and support for democracy.<ref>Bishi, George. {{"'}}Filthiest Gangs of Thugs': Anti-Fascism and Anti-Nazism Perceptions in Southern Rhodesia, 1930s to 1940s". ''South African Historical Journal'' 74, no. 1 (2022): 100–19.</ref> Southern Rhodesian forces were involved on many fronts including the [[East African campaign (World War II)|East]] and [[North African campaign]]s, [[Italian campaign (World War II)|Italy]], [[Battle of Madagascar|Madagascar]] and [[Burma campaign|Burma]]. Southern Rhodesian forces had the highest loss ratio of any constituent element, colony, dependency or dominion of the [[British Empire]] forces during World War II. Additionally, the Rhodesian pilots earned the highest number of decorations and ace appellations of any group within the empire. This resulted in the royal family paying an unusual state visit to the colony at the end of the war to thank the Rhodesian people.

Economically, Southern Rhodesia developed an economy that was narrowly based on production of a few primary products, notably chrome and tobacco. It was therefore vulnerable to the economic cycle. The deep recession of the 1930s gave way to a post-war boom. This boom prompted the immigration of about 200,000 white settlers between 1945 and 1970, taking the white population up to 307,000. A large number of these immigrants were of British working-class origin. The black population was about 6 million.<ref>{{cite news |title=A Split in Rhodesia Ranks |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |date=3 July 1977 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A05E0D71F30E03ABC4B53DFB166838C669EDE |access-date=12 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305060450/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A05E0D71F30E03ABC4B53DFB166838C669EDE |archive-date=5 March 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the 1940s, the founding of a university to serve central African countries was proposed. Such a university was eventually established in [[Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia|Salisbury]], with funding provided by the British and Southern Rhodesian governments and some private sources. One condition of British funding was that student admission should be based on "academic achievement and good character" with no racial distinction. [[University of Zimbabwe|University College of Rhodesia]] (UCR) received its first intake of students in 1952. Until 1971 it awarded degrees of the [[University of London|Universities of London]] and [[University of Birmingham|Birmingham]]. In 1971 UCR became the University of Rhodesia and began awarding its own degrees. In 1980 it was renamed the University of Zimbabwe.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uz.ac.zw/admini/registry/downloads/00-Prelims1a-Historical%20.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070615073902/http://www.uz.ac.zw/admini/registry/downloads/00-Prelims1a-Historical%20.pdf|url-status=dead|title=History of the University of Zimbabwe|archive-date=15 June 2007}}</ref>

<gallery widths=200 heights=140>
File:BSAC settlers Southern Rhodesia.jpg|White settlers in Southern Rhodesia, 1922
File:Rhodesie Sud timbre 1drouge 041947.jpg|A [[postage stamp]] commemorating the royal visit of 1947
</gallery>

===1953–1965===
[[File:Rhodesialand.png|thumb|Land apportionment in Rhodesia in 1965]]

In 1953, with calls for independence mounting in many of its African possessions, the United Kingdom created the [[Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland]] (or the Central African Federation, CAF), which consisted of Southern Rhodesia, [[Northern Rhodesia]] and [[Nyasaland]] (now Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi, respectively). The idea was to try to steer a middle road between the differing aspirations of the black nationalists, the colonial administration and the white settler population. The CAF sought to emulate the experience of Australia, Canada and South Africa – wherein groups of colonies had been federated together to form viable independent nations. Originally designed to be "an indissoluble federation", the CAF quickly started to unravel due to the low proportion of British and other white citizens in relation to the larger black populations. Additionally, by incorporating the tribes within the Federation as potential citizens, the Federation created the paradoxical situation of having a white elite owning most of the land and capital, whilst being completely dependent upon cheap black labour.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was dissolved on 1 January 1964. However, it was expected that only Nyasaland would be let go, whilst the remainder of Rhodesia both north and south would be united. Although Northern Rhodesia had a white population of over 100,000, as well as additional British military and civil units and their dependents, most of these were relatively new to the region, were primarily in the extraction business, had little landed interests, and were more amenable to allowing [[black nationalism]] than the Southern Rhodesians. Accordingly, Britain granted independence to Northern Rhodesia on 24 October 1964. However, when the new nationalists changed its name to ''Zambia'' and began tentatively at first and later in rapid march an Africanisation campaign, Southern Rhodesia remained a British colony, resisting attempts to bring in majority rule. The colony attempted to change its name to ''Rhodesia'' although this was not recognised by the United Kingdom. The majority of the Federation's military and financial assets went to Southern Rhodesia, since the British government did not wish to see them fall into the hands of the nationalist leaders, and since Southern Rhodesia had borne the major expenses of running the Federation. With regard to the latter, however, Northern Rhodesia was the wealthiest of the three member states (due to its vast copper mines) and had contributed more to the overall building of infrastructure than the other two members did. Southern Rhodesia, recognising an inevitable dissolution of the Federation, was quick to use federal funds in building its infrastructure ahead of the others. A key component of this was the building of the [[Kariba Dam]] and its [[hydroelectric]] facility (shafts, control centre, etc.), which was situated on the Southern Rhodesian side of the [[Zambezi]] Gorge. This situation caused some embarrassment for the Zambian government later when it was a "front line state" in support of insurgents into Rhodesia in that its major source of electric power was controlled by the Rhodesian state.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

===Return to "Rhodesia"===

With the protectorate of Northern Rhodesia no longer in existence, in 1964, Southern Rhodesia reverted to the name ''Rhodesia'' (see next section).

In 1965, [[Rhodesia]] [[Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence|unilaterally declared itself independent]] under a white-dominated government led by [[Ian Smith]]. After a [[Second Chimurenga|long civil war]] ensued between the white (until 1979) government and two African majority, [[Soviet Bloc]]-aligned 'liberation movements' ([[Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army]] and [[Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army]]), the Salisbury government, realizing the situation was untenable, and facing strong international pressure, concluded the [[Internal Settlement]] with black nationalist leaders in March 1978. A [[1979 Zimbabwe Rhodesia general election|general election a year later]] resulted in the creation of a unity government, which in December 1979 concluded the [[Lancaster House Agreement]], whereby Britain resumed control of the country for a brief period before granting independence to the renamed Zimbabwe on 18 April 1980.

===Legal aspects of the name since 1964===

On 7 October 1964, the Southern Rhodesian government announced that when [[Northern Rhodesia]] achieved independence as Zambia, the Southern Rhodesian government would officially become known as the Rhodesian Government and the colony would become known as Rhodesia.<ref name="SR IS Press">Southern Rhodesia Information Service Press Statement 980/64 A.G.C.</ref>

On 23 October of that year, the Minister of Internal Affairs notified the press that the Constitution would be amended to make this official. The Legislative Assembly then passed an Interpretation Bill to declare that the colony could be referred to as Rhodesia. The Bill received its third reading on 9 December 1964, and passed to the Governor for [[royal assent]].

However, no royal assent was granted to the Bill. Section 3 of the Southern Rhodesia (Annexation) Order 1923 provided that Southern Rhodesia "shall be known as the Colony of Southern Rhodesia" and the Southern Rhodesia (Constitution) Act 1961 and the [[Order-in-Council]] which followed it both referred to it as such. The country's name had been agreed previously by both Southern Rhodesia and the United Kingdom, and it was therefore [[ultra vires|outside the powers]] of Southern Rhodesian institutions to amend them unilaterally.<ref name="Palley">See {{cite book |title=The Constitutional History and Law of Southern Rhodesia |first=Claire |last=Palley |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1966 |pages=742–43 }}</ref> Notwithstanding the Governor's lack of assent to the Interpretation Bill the United Kingdom's Colonial Office was, by 1965, officially using the name "Rhodesia" in British Government–issued Gazettes of the period (for instance see: The [[1965 Queen's Birthday Honours]] of 12 June 1965).<ref>Supplement to ''The London Gazette'' no. 43667 published on 4 June 1965, p. 5503. "Colonial Office, Great Smith Street, London S.W.1. 12th June, 1965. The Queen has been graciously pleased, on the occasion of the Celebration of Her Majesty's Birthday, to approve the award of the [[Colonial Police Medal]] to the undermentioned officers: RHODESIA for Meritorious Service, Jack Berry, Superintendent, British South Africa Police, &c...",</ref>

The Rhodesian government, which had begun using the new name anyway, did not press the issue. The [[Unilateral Declaration of Independence (Rhodesia)|Unilateral Declaration of Independence]], adopted on 11 November 1965, was in the name of "Rhodesia", which remained unchanged by the declaration of a republic in 1970, the title of the republican constitution of 1969, like the constitution before it, being "Constitution of Rhodesia".<ref name="IECL">[https://books.google.com/books?id=qdFGLppsxcEC&dq=%22Constitution+of+Rhodesia%22+1969&pg=PR20-IA1 ''International Enclopedia of Comparative Law''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121203915/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qdFGLppsxcEC&lpg=PR20-IA1&dq=%22Constitution%20of%20Rhodesia%22%201969&pg=PR20-IA1#v=onepage&q=%22Constitution%20of%20Rhodesia%22%201969&f=true |date=21 November 2018 }}, J C B Möhr, 1976, p. xx</ref> Following the [[Internal Settlement]] of 1978, the country's name was changed to [[Zimbabwe Rhodesia]].

While the new name was widely used, 'Southern Rhodesia' remained the colony's formal name in United Kingdom constitutional theory: for example, the Act passed by the United Kingdom Parliament declaring the independence a legal nullity was entitled the [[Southern Rhodesia Act 1965]].<ref name="IECL"/>

On 21 December 1979, the [[Lancaster House Agreement]] was signed, providing for the country to temporarily return to British rule before transitioning to independence under majority rule following an election. The Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Southern Rhodesia Constitution (Interim Provisions) Order 1979, establishing the offices of Governor and Deputy Governor of Southern Rhodesia, filled by [[Christopher Soames|Lord Soames]] and Sir [[Antony Duff]] respectively. Their roles were to administer the country on a caretaker basis and organise an election. To that end, they were vested with full executive and legislative powers.<ref>[https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/1979-12-14/debates/143b022d-7167-4f01-aa88-c6bb82f00e81/SouthernRhodesiaConstitution(InterimProvisions)Order1979 Southern Rhodesia Constitution (Interim Provisions) Order 1979] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121203821/https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/1979-12-14/debates/143b022d-7167-4f01-aa88-c6bb82f00e81/SouthernRhodesiaConstitution(InterimProvisions)Order1979 |date=21 November 2018 }}, [[Hansard (UK)|Hansard]], 14 December 1979</ref>

The new governor arrived in Salisbury on 12 December 1979, and on that day the [[Parliament of Rhodesia|Parliament of Zimbabwe Rhodesia]] handed power over to him by passing the Constitution of Zimbabwe Rhodesia (Amendment) (No. 4) Act, declaring that "Zimbabwe Rhodesia shall cease to be an independent State and become part of Her Majesty's dominions". After the [[1980 Southern Rhodesian general election]], British rule ceased and Zimbabwe became independent at midnight on 17 April 1980.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rTDvVo52tEAC&dq=%22Constitution+of+Zimbabwe+Rhodesia%22&pg=PA91 ''Collective Responses to Illegal Acts in International Law: United Nations Action in the Question of Southern Rhodesia''], Vera Gowlland-Debbas
Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1990, p. 91</ref>

==Judiciary==
{{Main|High Court of Southern Rhodesia}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
|+ List of chief justices of Southern Rhodesia
!rowspan="2"|Incumbent
!colspan="2"|Tenure
!rowspan="2" width=50% |Notes
|-
!Took office
!Left office
|-
|[[Murray Bisset|Sir Murray Bisset]]
|1927
|1931
|Previously Test cricketer for South Africa
|-
|[[Fraser Russell|Sir Fraser Russell]]
|1931
|?1943
|
|-
|[[Robert James Hudson|Sir Robert James Hudson]]
|1943
|15 May 1950
|
|-
|[[Vernon Lewis (judge)|Vernon Lewis]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vukutu.com/blog/2009/12/heroes-the-underground-railroad-in-rhodesia/|title=Heroes: the underground railroad in Rhodesia|publisher=Vukutu|access-date=26 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304111519/http://www.vukutu.com/blog/2009/12/heroes-the-underground-railroad-in-rhodesia/|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>
|1950
|1950
|Died in service, 1950
|-
|[[Robert Tredgold|Sir Robert Tredgold]]
|1950
|1955
| Chief Justice of [[Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland]], 1953?–1961
|-
|[[John Murray (judge)|Sir John Murray]]
|1 August 1955
|1961
|
|-
|[[Sir Hugh Beadle]]
|1961
|1977
|
|-
|[[Hector Macdonald (judge)|Hector Macdonald]]
|1977
|1980
|
|}

==See also==
* [[Administrative posts of the British South Africa Company in Southern Rhodesia]]
* [[Albert Lutuli|Albert John Lutuli]], a famous South African born in Southern Rhodesia
* [[Governor-General of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland]]
* [[History of Zimbabwe]]
* [[List of presidents of Zimbabwe]]
* [[President of Rhodesia]]
* [[Southern Rhodesia in World War I]]
* [[Tati Concessions Land]], a region detached from [[Matebeleland]] and annexed to the [[Bechuanaland Protectorate]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last=Blake |first=Robert |title=A History of Rhodesia |location=New York |publisher=Knopf |year=1978 |isbn=0-394-48068-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofrhodesi00blak }}
* {{cite book |last1=Shutt |first1=Allison K. |title=Manners Make a Nation: Racial Etiquette in Southern Rhodesia, 1910–1963 |date=2015 |publisher=University of Rochester Press |location=Rochester}}

== External links ==
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Rhodesia | volume= 23 |last1= Hillier |first1= Alfred Peter |author1-link= Alfred Peter Hillier |last2= Cana |first2= Frank Richardson |author2-link= || pages = 1004–08 |short= 1}}
* {{Cite EB1922|wstitle=Rhodesia |volume= 32 |last= Cana |first= Frank Richardson |author-link= |pages= 269–73 |short= 1}}

{{Rhodesian topics}}
{{British overseas territories}}
{{Regions of Africa}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Southern Rhodesia| ]]
[[Category:1923 establishments in Africa]]
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[[Category:20th century in Zimbabwe]]
[[Category:Countries and territories where English is an official language]]
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