Rhodesian Front

Rhodesian Front
AbbreviationRF
LeaderIan Smith
Founded1 March 1962 (1962-03-01)
Dissolved6 June 1981 (1981-06-06)
Preceded byDominion Party[1]
Southern Rhodesia Liberal Party
Succeeded byRepublican Front
HeadquartersSalisbury, Rhodesia
IdeologyWhite minority interests[2]
White nationalism[3][4][5]
Rhodesian nationalism[6][7]
National conservatism[8]
Social conservatism[9][10]
Anti-communism[3]
Political positionRight-wing to far-right[11]
Colours  Purple   White
Party flag
border=black
Politics of Rhodesia
Political history
Government
Legislature
Elections
Political parties
Foreign relations
National symbols

The Rhodesian Front (RF) was a conservative political party in Southern Rhodesia,[12][13][14] subsequently known as Rhodesia. Formed in March 1962 by white Rhodesians opposed to decolonisation and majority rule, it won that December's general election and subsequently spearheaded the country's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1965, remaining the ruling party and upholding white minority rule through the majority of the Bush War until 1979. Initially led by Winston Field, the party was led through most of its lifetime by co-founder Ian Smith. Following the end of the Bush War and the country's reconstitution as Zimbabwe, it changed its name to the Republican Front in 1981.

  1. ^ Lipschutz, Mark R.; Rasmussen, R. Kent (1989). University of California Press (ed.). Dictionary of African Historical Biography. p. 265.
  2. ^ Leaver, John David (2006). "Multiracialism and nationalisms: A political retrospective on 1950s Southern Rhodesia ('Colonial Zimbabwe')". Journal of Third World Studies. 23 (2): 167–188. JSTOR 45194313.
  3. ^ a b Donal Lowry (2009). "The impact of anti-communism on white Rhodesian political culture, c.1920s-1980". In Onslow, Sue (ed.). Cold War in Southern Africa: White Power, Black Liberation. New York: Routledge. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-415-47420-7. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  4. ^ Cilliers, Jakkie (17 April 2015). Counter-Insurgency in Rhodesia (e-Book 1st ed.). London: Routledge. p. 18. ISBN 9781315713854. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  5. ^ Good, Kenneth (1974). "Settler Colonialism in Rhodesia". African Affairs. 73 (290): 10–36. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a096439. JSTOR 720978.
  6. ^ Preston, Matthew (2004). I.B.Tauris (ed.). Ending Civil War: Rhodesia and Lebanon in Perspective. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 107. ISBN 9781850435792.
  7. ^ West, Michael O. (2002). Indiana University Press (ed.). The Rise of an African Middle Class: Colonial Zimbabwe, 1898-1965. Indiana University Press. p. 229. ISBN 0253215242.
  8. ^ Rhodesian Front [dead link‍]
  9. ^ Hume, Ian (2018). Outskirts Press (ed.). From the Edge of Empire: A Memoir. Outskirts Press. p. 149. ISBN 9781478794554.
  10. ^ Roscoe, Adrian (2007). Columbia University Press (ed.). The Columbia Guide to Central African Literature in English Since 1945. Columbia University Press. p. 35. ISBN 9780231503792.
  11. ^ Evans, Michael (2007). "The Wretched of the Empire: Politics, Ideology and Counterinsurgency in Rhodesia, 1965–80". Small Wars & Insurgencies. 18 (2): 175–195. doi:10.1080/09574040701400601. S2CID 144153887.
  12. ^ Hsu, Chia Yin; Luckett, Thomas M.; Vause, Erika (2015). The Cultural History of Money and Credit: A Global Perspective. Lexington Books. p. 142. ISBN 9781498505932.
  13. ^ Onslow, Sue (2009). Cold War in Southern Africa: White Power, Black Liberation. Routledge. p. 92. ISBN 9781135219338.
  14. ^ Butler, L. J. (2002). Britain and Empire: Adjusting to a Post-Imperial World. I.B.Tauris. p. 164. ISBN 9781860644481. Retrieved 19 February 2017.