Rhodesia

Rhodesia was the name of the British colony of Southern Rhodesia after 1965. Landlocked and located in southern Africa. The colony was named after Cecil Rhodes, whose British South Africa Company acquired the land in the nineteenth century. At an earlier period, the name "Rhodesia" was used to refer to a larger region that corresponds to both Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia) and Zambia (Northern Rhodesia).

1890–1953
The territory which later comprised Rhodesia was eventually taken over through military force by the British South Africa Company and the defeat of King Lobengula during the Matabele War. The early white settlers were mostly soldiers and mining prospectors who were either recruited or encouraged to come by the BSAC. Although viable mineral deposits (chromium, gold, platinum and coal) were found, these were modest in scale and many of the white settlers took advantage of generous land grants to build up agricultural estates (known as “white farms”). This process was facilitated by the fact that the authorities in Rhodesia did not initially recognise the ownership of land by native blacks. Blacks living on land granted to white settlers were either evicted or declared to be tenants.

In 1899, a Legislative Council was created with a minority of elected seats, through which the BSAC had to pass government measures. The electorate was almost exclusively comprised of white settlers, and the proportion of elected seats increased steadily over time. 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.