Zimbabwe

ZIMBABWEEEEE!!!!!!!!! Bantu-speaking people who migrated from the north developed a strong presence in present-day Zimbabwe by AD 500. Other wise known as Rhodesia. Early Shona groups that began arriving in the 10th century made trade links on Africa's southeastern coast. They developed a major trading empire centered at the city of Great Zimbabwe. Its powerful kings built stone fortresses and were rich in cattle, ivory, gold, and farmland. //Zimbabwe// means “stone houses” and implies power and permanence. Great Zimbabwe's granite ruins stand today as a national monument. By the 16th century, Great Zimbabwe was in decline, and power splintered among several Shona states, most notably the Mutapa Torwa and later the Rosvi. The Rosvi Dynasty declined in the early 1800s, and the Shona were subdued by the Ndebele migrating from the south. In 1888, Cecil John Rhodes formed the British South Africa Company and received a charter from Britain's Queen Victoria to colonize areas north of the Limpopo River. Whites, mostly British, came searching for gold and farmland. These settlers voted in 1923 to become the British colony of Southern Rhodesia. In 1930, the Land Apportionment Act gave half of the land to the whites, an inequality that later caused rebellion and civil war. In 1965, the white-minority government led by Ian Smith declared independence from Britain. That prompted UN sanctions and started years of civil war. In 1979, a power-sharing agreement caused multiracial elections in 1980. Zimbabwe was then internationally recognized as an independent republic. Robert Mugabe was elected prime minister. Mugabe was reelected in 1985 as he worked to increase his power. In 1987, his Shona-dominated Zimbabwe African National Union reconciled with its rival, Ndebele-dominated Zimbabwe African People's Union, to form a strong ruling party called ZANU-PF. The national constitution was amended to eliminate the office of prime minister and create a strong executive president, the post Mugabe assumed. Opposition to ZANU-PF grew in the 1990s but was disorganized and divided. To make his reelection in 1996, Mugabe agreed to pay pensions to veterans of the civil war, a decision that set off an economic crisis. Mugabe's attempts at land reform (promised since independence) had been largely unsuccessful, so in February 2000 the government sponsored a referendum to give it authority to acquire white-owned farms without compensation. The referendum failed, but squatters organized by the War Veteran's Association, with Mugabe's backing, invaded and occupied more than one thousand white-owned farms. Mugabe then made the unpopular and expensive decision to send troops into the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In June 2000 elections, voters cut ZANU-PF's parliamentary majority by giving 57 seats to the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change. Mugabe tightened his control over the media and his party. He was reelected in 2002; the MDC accused ZANU-PF of voter intimidation and electoral fraud. In 2005, the government demolished the shanties of 700,000 urban residents and relocated many to rural areas, a plan criticized as an attempt to weaken opposition support in cities. || //__**History Timeline**__//-** Zimbabwe History Timeline & Facts ** ** Concise Facts and History about Zimbabwe  ** **__ 700AD __**** - ** Arabian and Persians trade with ivory, rhino horn, gold, shells and slaves **__ 1000 AD __** - the Shona people began their rule and built a city called Zimbabwe **__ 1400s __** - the Karanga branch of the Shona established the Mwanamutapa Empire **__ 1500's __** - the Rowzi branch rebelled and formed the Changamire Empire **__ 1500s __** - Christianity was introduced by the Portuguese explorers **__ 1830s __** Nguni people from the south defeated the empire **__ 1800-1900's __** - European slave traders establish coastal ports for the increasing traffic in slaves destined for the Americas The slaves were emancipated in the 1830's **__ 1888 __** Lobengula, the ruler, signed an agreement that granted mineral rights to the British South African Company **__ 1893 __** - The British South African Company occupied the region and called the territory Rhodesia **__ 1897 __** - Great Britain recognized southern and northern Rhodesia as separate territories 1923 Southern Rhodesia became a self-governing British Colony **__ 1953 __** Great Britain set up the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, which included the territories of Southern and Northern Rhodesia **__ 1963 __** - The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was dissolved **__ 1964 __** - Northern Rhodesia became Zambia **__ 1964 __** - Southern Rhodesia became known as Rhodesia 11 November 1965 Prime Minister, Ian Smith, declared Rhodesia independent. Great Britain declared this action illegal and banned trade with Rhodesia **__ 1966 __** The United Nations imposed sanctions on Rhodesia 1969 A new constitution was introduced to prevent black Africans from ever gaining control of the government **__  2 March 1970 __** Rhodesia declared itself a republic **__ 1970-1974 __** Civil War between government troops and black guerrillas **__ 1977-1979 __** Prime Minister Smith began to make plans to establish a new government with a majority of black leaders **__ April 1979 __** - Election resulted in a majority of black leaders **__ April 1979 __** - Abel T. Muzorewa became the first black Prime Minister **__ 1 June 1979 __** - Zimbabwe proclaimed independence **__ 31 May 1979 __**  - The nation of Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia, was formed **__ 18 April 1980 __** - Great Britain recognized the country's independence and Rhodesia's name was officially changed to Zimbabwe **__ February 2000 __** - In a referendum held Zimbabwe voters rejected a new constitution which included provisions that called for redistribution of white-owned farmland to blacks || **//__Historical Conflicts__//**-**__ Historical Conflicts __** Land reform has always been an issue in Zimbabwe. In 1888, white colonists under the auspices of the British South Africa Company, led by Cecil Rhodes, expropiated the country's best agricultural lands and began colonial rule. By the 1950s, the struggle for self-determination by the black majority was evident. Although the British supported voting rights for the black population, the white minority government refused to share power. In 1965, Ian Smith's regime declared independence from England and UN sanctions were placed on Zimbabwe. The war for liberation began in 1968 and lasted through 1979. At independence in 1980, around two-fifths of the total land area was occupied by the minority white commercial farmers, while the majority black peasants remained in less arable communal areas. Negotiated ‘sunset clauses’ in the Lancaster House Agreement, which gave Zimbabwe its independence, protected white commercial farmers from government land acquisition for the first ten years. In 1990, the Government of Zimbabwe amended the constitution so that enforced land acquisitions were possible, but by 1999, eleven million hectares of the best agricultural lands were still owned by 4,500 white commercial farmers. Fast Track Land Reform, begun in 2000, was intended equal land. While approximately 300,000 small farmers were provided with five to ten hectares of land, and land was set aside for 51,000 black commercial farmers, the entire process was legally unclear and characterized by extreme violence, intimidation, and displacement. Moreover, at the end of 2002, although 11.5 million hectares were transferred from white commercial farmers to black Zimbabweans, much of this land went to government ministers and elites or was taken over by dubious war veterans. || || **//__Flag and Significance__//** The green symbolizes the abundance of the land. Yellow represents the natural resources. Red represents the blood spilt for the country. Black symbolizes the people. The white triangle symbolizes peace, and the red star represents internationalism. The image of the bird stands for the empire of Great Zimbabwe. || **//__Enemies-__ Nguni:I//**n the 1830's Nguni people, the Ndebele, entered what is now Zimbabwe from the southwest under their king, Mzilikazi. Mzilikazi had fled the Transvaal. T(present-day northern South Africa) after his armies were defeated by Afrikaners. The king built a new Ndebele capital, called Bulawayo, in the southwest. The Ndebele kingdom replicated the military and economic organization of the Zulu and introduced the Ndebele dialect. In addition to his powerful military force, the Ndebele monarch derived his wealth and power from large herds of cattle. During the mid-19th century most of the Karanga chieftaincies of central and northern Zimbabwe retained their independence, though from time to time they were forced to pay tribute to the Ndebele.
 * //__**History Summary-**__//
 * __//**Map of your Country**//__

Rhodesian Bush War- also known as the Zimbabwe War of Liberation or the Second Chimurenga—was a civil war in the former country of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) fought from July 1964 to 1979. The Rhodesian government under Ian Smith and Zimbabwe-Rhodesian government under Abel Muzorewa fought against Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union and Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African People's Union. The war caused the end of the white minority ruled Rhodesia and the short-lived government of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, and resulted in the creation of the Republic of Zimbabwe under the leadership of Prime Minister Robert Mugabe. || by Coy Reid
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