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The African nation of Zimbabwe celebrates its independence on this day, which was originally established in 1980. After years of colonial rule and war, the country finally found its freedom in the face of the white-minority government that fought to control it.

The territory of Zambesi was first occupied by Cecil Rhodes and his British South Africa Company  that claimed the region as its own. The area remained a place of interest by the United Kingdom  as it was rich for mining and other resources. Rhodes first came to Africa in the 1800’s. In 1923, it became a self-governing British colony called Southern Rhodesia.

In 1953, as African nationalism began to grow, the area known as Northern Rhodesia, (now Zambia) was combined with Southern Rhodesia and the colony of Nyasaland. Ten years later, the United Kingdom ended the consolidation of the three colonies. In the north, there was diversity in the democratic process but the white minority rulers of Southern Rhodesia still ran the country.

The United Kingdom saw Southern Rhodesia’s resistance to democracy for the Black majority as an offense, especially after Rhodesia’s Prime Minister, Ian Smith, declared independence from the British. That led to sanctions from the United Nations and gave rise to armed resistance beginning in 1965 that lasted all the way until 1980.

Joshua Nkomo‘s Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) and Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) led a devastating Civil War in Rhodesia.They attacked Smith’s Rhodesian Front forces with. the support both of communist nations and nearby African nations. ZAPU had support and training from the Soviet Union, Cuba, and followed the teachings of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin.

Little Known Black History Fact: Zimbabwe Independence  was originally published on blackamericaweb.com

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