Rhodesian Bush War

  • Rhodesian Bush War
  • Second Chimurenga
Part of the Cold War and decolonisation of Africa

The geopolitical situation after the independence of Angola and Mozambique in 1975.
  Rhodesia
  South Africa and South West Africa
  States giving governmental support to the guerrillas (Frontline States)
Date4 July 1964 – 12 December 1979[n 1]
(15 years, 5 months, 1 week and 1 day)
Location
Result

Lancaster House Agreement

  • End to armed hostilities
  • Free elections with ZANU and ZAPU participation
  • Formation of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia
Territorial
changes		 Rhodesia disestablished; Zimbabwe gains internationally recognised independence in its place.
Belligerents
Commanders and leaders
Estado Novo (Portugal) Kaúlza de Arriaga
Strength

Rhodesia 1979:[9]

  • 10,800 regulars
  • 15,000 reservists
  • 8,000 police
  • 19,000 police reservists
  • 52,800 Total Force

1979:[10]

  • 25,500 guerrillas

1979:[9]

  • 20,000 guerrillas
Casualties and losses
1,361 Rhodesian security forces members killed[11] c. 10,000 guerrillas killed[11]
Around 20,000 people killed overall[12]

The Rhodesian Bush War, also known as the Second Chimurenga as well as the Zimbabwean War of Independence,[13] was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979[n 1] in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe-Rhodesia and now Zimbabwe).[n 2][24]

The conflict pitted three forces against one another: the Rhodesian white minority-led government of Ian Smith (later the Zimbabwe-Rhodesian government of Bishop Abel Muzorewa); and militant African guerillas organisations such as Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army, the military wing of Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union; and the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army of Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African People's Union.

The war and its subsequent Internal Settlement, signed in 1978 by Smith and Muzorewa, led to the implementation of universal suffrage in June 1979 and the end of white minority rule in Rhodesia, which was renamed Zimbabwe Rhodesia under a black majority government. However, this new order failed to win international recognition and the war continued. Neither side achieved a military victory and a compromise was later reached.[25]

Negotiations between the government of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, the government of the United Kingdom, and Mugabe and Nkomo's united "Patriotic Front" took place at Lancaster House, London in December 1979, and the Lancaster House Agreement was signed. The country returned temporarily to British control and new elections were held under British and Commonwealth supervision in March 1980. ZANU won the election and Mugabe became the first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe on 18 April 1980, when the country achieved internationally recognised independence.

  1. ^ Wood 2008, p. 6.
  2. ^ Smith 1997, pp. 109–116.
  3. ^ Houser, George M. Rhodesia To Zimbabwe: A Chronology. New York: The Africa Fund, 1977, p. 7: ZAPU and the African National Congress of South Africa jointly began an armed struggle in northwestern Rhodesia centered in Wankie. This campaign lasted into 1968, with several hundred ZAPU and South African ANC guerrillas involved. South African troops entered Rhodesia to support the government. Prime Minister Vorster said: "We are good friends (with Rhodesia) and good friends know what their duty is when the neighbour's house is on fire."
  4. ^ Norman 2003, p. 65.
  5. ^ a b Thomas 1995, pp. 16–17.
  6. ^ "'Da mu nisam 'sredio' susret s Titom, Mugabe nikad ne bi priznao Hrvatsku': prekaljeni diplomat Frane Krnić za 'Slobodnu' otkrio svoje veze s nedavno preminulim liderom Zimbabvea". Slobodna Dalmacija. 17 September 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  7. ^ a b Smith 1997, pp. 249–252.
  8. ^ a b Grundy, Trevor (30 March 2006). "Death of a hero: James Chikerema 1925–2006". The Zimbabwean. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  9. ^ a b Lohman & MacPherson 1983, Synopsis.
  10. ^ Preston 2004, p. 66.
  11. ^ a b The Roots and Consequences of 20th-Century Warfare. ABC-CLIO. 2016. p. 417. ISBN 9781610698023.
  12. ^ Moorcraft & McLaughlin 2008.
  13. ^ Kriger 1988, p. 304.
  14. ^ Binda 2008, p. 38.
  15. ^ Cilliers 1984, p. 4.
  16. ^ Smith 1997, pp. 100–106.
  17. ^ Sibanda 2005, p. 104.
  18. ^ Sellström 1999, p. 337.
  19. ^ Moorcraft & McLaughlin 2008, p. 37.
  20. ^ Williams & Hackland 1988, p. 50.
  21. ^ "Rhodesia reverts to British rule". BBC News. London. 11 December 1979. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  22. ^ Palley 1966, pp. 742–743.
  23. ^ Smith 1997, p. 305.
  24. ^ Stearns 2002, p. 1069.
  25. ^ Evans, M. (1992). "Making an African army: the case of Zimbabwe, 1980–87" (PDF). Peace, Politics and Violence in the New South Africa. African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific. Retrieved 26 December 2015. The Rhodesian-Zimbabwean bush war ended in a military stalemate. The ZANU government came to office following a Commonwealth-controlled ceasefire and a British-supervised election. As Mugabe put it: 'We did not win a military victory. We achieved a political settlement. A compromise.'


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