The Story of Zimbabwe

I feel like I needed to find out the history of Zimbabwe. I have read about the situation in Zimbabwe. On one hand, I do not like what I see in Zimbabwe. I am sitting here watching this documentary about the situation, with Zimbabwe going through economic collapse and people starving, going through these times. I have a problem with Mugabe and his corruption. At the same time, I notice that there are people who feel like Zimbabwe would have been better off ruled by Britain. Well, I don't really agree with that. It isn't to take away from the fact that Zimbabwe was once the Breadbasket of Africa. It is to say that this is what I feel. It is my feeling that there are those who believe that Black people as a race are not fit to rule anything or themselves. This has encouraged me to go and do research on colonialism.

Where else do we start, but at the beginning. People have been living in what is now Zimbabwe for ages. There are caves with paintings made by the Khoisan people, as well as pottery and arrowheads that were found by archaeologists. Later on, the Gokomere, a Bantu people, came to what is now Zimbabwe, displacing the earlier Khoisan people, around 500 A.D.

From 1075-1220, you had the Kingdom of Mapungubwe. There was trade in ivory and gold. Mapungubwe was later abandoned for the Zimbabwe plateau, bringing with them their art and stone masonry. LIke Mapungubwe, the economy was rooted in the trade of ivory and gold. There was trade with Arabia and Asia. Cattle domestication was practiced in Zimbabwe. It's capital city, Great Zimbabwe, means house of stone. Stone masonry was used for buildings. In 1430 AD, Prince Nyatsimba Mutota went to the north of Zimbabwe to look for salt among the Shona-Tavara people. He conquered the land where the Shona-Tavara people were living in and it became the Mutapa Kingdom. By 1450, Great Zimbabwe was abandoned. Around the 1500's the Portuguese arrived on the coast. Many ventured into the backcountry and lived alongside the local population. Some became interpreters and political advisors for the Shona kings. King Sebastiao of Portugal made a grant of arms for the Mwenemutapa( Gules between two arrows Argent an African hoe barwise bladed Or handled Argent - The shield surmounted by a Crown Oriental). Later on Gonçalo de Silveira, a Jesuit missionary was sent to convert the Mwenemutapa to Christianity. Muslim merchants living in the capital didn't like this and threatened to kill Silveira. After some of the Portuguese heard this, it was used as a reason for go inland to take over the gold mines and ivory routes. Francisco Barreto led an expidition of 1,000 Portuguese. This was unsuccessful due to diseases. Many went back and massacred the Swahili traders out of rage. The decline of Mutapa began with fighting between the Portuguese and mwenemutapa. Several Shona states united to form the Rozwi Empire and forced out the Portuguese. Under the Rozwi Empire, stone masonry was revived. The economy was based on gold mining, cattle, and farming. Like the previous empires, trade was established with the Arab traders. Rozwi was known for having military strategists. The empire declined in the early 19th century. There were people who migrated from the Natal and Transvaal of South Africa into Rozwi. During the Mfecane, the Ndebele arrived and many started wars with Rozwi, establishing their own rule.

In the 1880's, the British came into Zimbabwe with Cecil Rhodes and the British South Africa Company. At the time, King Lobengula was ruling. It was also known that there were valuable resources, such as gold and diamonds in southern Africa. Rhodes used a business associate, Charles Rudd, to get a concession from Lobengula for the mining rights and sought out a royal charter for the British South Africa Company. They both deceived Lobengula, stating that there would be no more than 10 White men working in the mines at Matebeland, but never put it in the contract. They did put in the contract that the mining companies would do whatever they felt was necessary to maintain mining operations. Rhodes sent the Pioneer Column, protected by the British South Africa Police, using the Rudd Concession as a reason. Fort Salisbury was established(today called Harare, Zimbabwe's capital). The British South Africa Police defeated the Ndebele in what is the First Matabele War(1893-1894). The Ndebele fought against the British South Africa Company in the Second Matabele War(1896-1897) and lost. In 1923, Zimbabwe would become a self-governing British Colony, known as Rhodesia at this time. More Europeans would settle in what was then Rhodesia. Under British rule, there were laws that restricted what Black Zimbabweans could do. The Land Apportionment Act of 1930 was one of them. This act banned Blacks from buying land outside of "reserves". If you were living in the urban areas and Black, you couldn't buy land. Blacks rented homes in townships outside of the city, not unlike what was going on in South Africa. White immigrants were encouraged to move to Zimbabwe. Many bought land set aside for them for farming. Other forms of discrimination included the Industrial Conciliation Act. It provided the structure for industrial bargaining. However, Africans were excluded from this because the definition of employee applied to everyone, except Africans. In 1902, all Africans were required to carry a "situpa" pass. Later on, they were required to carry another pass in addition to the "situpa". There were laws restricting movement to other nations. The African Labour Act basically meant unskilled Africans could not be recruited to South Africa, not that it would have mattered. The same measures of racial segregation and discrimination were being practiced there too. The Native Accomodation and Registration Act in 1946 required employers and the local governments housing for African workers and their families. One might think "this sounds good. housing provided". Well, here is something you need to see. If you were unemployed, you could be forcefully removed from that town that you lived in. It basically meant that if you were African and unemployed, you were breaking the law. The pass laws were later appealed, but the "situpa" law still stood. Blacks were all but excluded from voting through laws that required property ownership in order to vote. Most Blacks didn't own property. In the Parliament, there were 8 seats reserved for Blacks and a further 8 reserved for tribal leaders. This is out of 66 seats.

In 1953, consolidated Rhodesia and Nyasaland together to form the short lived Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. During the 1950's and 1960's, there was a growing movement of African nationalism. There was also political dissent in Nyasaland. The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland split into three territories: Nyasaland, Northern Rhodesia, and Southern Rhodesia. Northern Rhodesia would become the independent nation of Zambia and Nyasaland would become the independent nation of Malawi. Both became independent in 1964. President Ian Smith declared independence from Britain(a Unilateral Declaration of Independence), but wasn't recognized under "No Independence Before African Rule". Between 1964-1979, a war for independence resulted. This would be known as the Rhodesian Bush War. It would be Ian Smith's government fighting against Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union. In 1980, Zimbabwe became an independent nation. Mugabe would become the new President of Zimbabwe.

Under the early years of Mugabe's rule, there were several uprising in the Matabeleland region of Zimbabwe. Mugabe would win re-election in 1990. It was found that the campaign was neither fair or free. The 1990's were marked by strikes over salaries, student protests over increased government control over universities. By 1997, one quarter of the population was infected with HIV.

Since 1999, there have been many problems in Zimbabwe. Whites made up less than one percent of the population, although they had 70% of the land. Mugabe implemented a land redistribution program to give land to Black people. Alot of White people were forced off of the farms that they owned. Agriculture was a major part of the economy. Now mining tourism make up a major part of the economy. There has been a shortage of hard currency and because of this, there has also been hyperinflation.