FREE BUSH WAR RHODESIA 1966-1980 PDF Peter Baxter | 72 pages | 19 Jul 2014 | Helion & Company | 9781909982376 | English | Solihull, United Kingdom Bush War Rhodesia | i-go-books Lancaster House Agreement. The war and its subsequent Internal Settlementsigned in by Smith and Muzorewa, led to the implementation of universal suffrage in June 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. The country returned temporarily to British control and new elections were held under British and Commonwealth supervision in March ZANU won the election and Mugabe became the first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe on 18 Aprilwhen the country achieved internationally recognised independence. The origin of Bush War Rhodesia 1966-1980 war in Rhodesia can be traced to the conquest of the region by the British South Africa Company in the late 19th century, and the dissent of native leaders who opposed foreign rule. Britain's unwillingness to compromise led to Rhodesia's unilateral declaration of independence UDI on 11 November Although Rhodesia had the private support of neighbouring South Africa and Portugalwhich still owned Mozambiqueit never gained formal diplomatic recognition from any country. Although the vote in Rhodesia was constitutionally open to all, regardless of race, property requirements left many blacks unable to participate. Amidst this backdrop, African nationalists advocated armed struggle to bring about black rule, primarily denouncing the wealth disparity between the races. Cold War politics played into the conflict. Each group fought a separate war against the Rhodesian security forces, Bush War Rhodesia 1966-1980 the two groups sometimes fought against each other as well. Ian Smith further expounded this by portraying the conflict as primarily anti-communist in nature. Having previously witnessed the communist redistribution of resources after the Mau Mau RebellionRhodesians refused to allow the majority-rule policy to come into effect. In ignoring other contributing factors to the conflict, Smith and the RF were able to strengthen ties with the West, however, Britain remained neutral. The division between the communists and anti-communists caused the fighting to spill over the Rhodesian borders. Neighboring African nations, supported primarily by North Korea, China, and the Soviet Union, utilized communist material support to begin launching guerrilla attacks on the RF. The United States took the official position that it would not recognize Rhodesia as an independent sovereign. However, many American soldiers who had seen combat in Vietnam quickly joined into the Rhodesian Front. The RF created advertising campaigns in order to attract soldiers from Western countries, and the RF amassed a force of nearly 1, soldiers that were highly trained in special forces and guerrilla warfare, bringing the total RF military force to over 10, men. Many of the professional American soldiers entering the RF directly into the force became de facto members of the Rhodesian government. This was jointly in efforts to combat the push from the anti-communist West and to challenge the Chinese presence in the region. While the Soviets were large suppliers of munitions and training, they refused to directly enter the conflict. Chinese influence throughout the conflict was primarily focused on small scale sabotage efforts and anti-western propaganda. Inevitably, the Bush War occurred within the context of regional Cold War in Bush War Rhodesia 1966-1980, and became embroiled in conflicts in several neighbouring countries. The conflict was seen by the nationalist groups and the UK Government of the time as a war of national and racial liberation. The Rhodesian government saw the conflict as a fight between one part of Bush War Rhodesia 1966-1980 country's population the Whites on behalf Bush War Rhodesia 1966-1980 the whole population including the Black majority against several externally financed parties made up of predominantly Black radicals and communists. The Nationalists considered their country occupied and dominated by a foreign power, namely Britain, since The British government, in the person of the governorhad indirectly ruled the country fromwhen it took over from the British South Africa Company and granted self-governing status to a locally elected government, made up predominantly of Whites. Ian Smith's Rhodesian Front party was elected to power in and unilaterally declared independence on 11 November to preserve what it saw as the self-government it had possessed since The Rhodesian government contended that it was defending Western values, Christianity, the rule of law and democracy by fighting Communists, but it was unwilling to compromise on most political, economic and social inequalities. The Smith administration claimed that the legitimate voice of the black Shona and Ndebele population were the traditional chiefs, not the ZANU and ZAPU nationalists, whom it regarded as dangerous, violent usurpers. In —, the Smith administration tried to blunt the power of the nationalist cause by acceding to an "Internal Settlement" which ended minority rule, changed the name of the country to Zimbabwe-Rhodesiaand arranged multiracial elections, which were held in and won by Bishop Abel Muzorewawho became the country's first Black head of government. Unsatisfied with this and spurred on by Britain's refusal to recognise the new order, the nationalist forces persisted. The war ended when, at the behest of both South Africa its major supporter and the United States, the Zimbabwe-Rhodesian government ceded power to Britain in the Lancaster House Agreement in December The UK Government held another election in to form a new government. The election was won by ZANU. The new government, headed by Robert Mugabewas recognised internationally, and the country was renamed Zimbabwe. Despite the effect of economic and diplomatic sanctions, Rhodesia developed and maintained a powerful and professional military. Bush War Rhodesia 1966-1980 army was always relatively small, just 3, regular troops in While the regular army consisted of a professional core of white soldiers and some units, such as the Rhodesian SAS and the Rhodesian Light Infantrywere all-whiteby — the rest was majority black. By contrast, army reserves were largely white, and toward the end of the war were increasingly called up to deal with the growing insurgency. The regular army was supported by the para-military British South Bush War Rhodesia 1966-1980 Police of about 8, to 11, men the majority of whom were black and 19, to 35, police reservists which, like their army Bush War Rhodesia 1966-1980, were largely white. The police reserves acted as a type of home guard. The Rhodesian Army fought bitterly against the black nationalist guerrillas. As the war went on, the frequent call-up of reservists was increasingly used to supplement the professional soldiers and the many volunteers from overseas. Byall white men up to the age of 60 were subject to periodic Bush War Rhodesia 1966-1980 to the army; younger men Bush War Rhodesia 1966-1980 to 35 might expect to spend alternating blocks of six weeks in the army and at home. Considering the arms embargothe Rhodesian Army was well-equipped. Other weapons included the Bren LMG in both. After UDIRhodesia was heavily reliant on South African and domestically produced weapons and equipment, as well as international smuggling operations, commonly referred to as "sanction-busting". The Rhodesian Air Force RhAF operated a variety of equipment and carried out numerous roles, with air power providing the Rhodesians with a significant advantage over their guerrilla enemy. The arms embargo caused a lack of spare parts from external suppliers and RhAF had to find alternative means to keep its aircraft flying. At the beginning of the war, much of Rhodesia's military hardware was of British and Commonwealth origin, but during the course of the conflict, new equipment such as Eland armoured cars were procured from South Africa. During the course of the war, most white citizens carried personal weapons, and it was not unusual to see white housewives carrying submachine guns. A siege mentality set in and all civilian transport had to be escorted in convoys for safety against ambushes. Farms and villages in rural areas were frequently attacked by guerrillas. The fighting was Bush War Rhodesia 1966-1980 rural, as the two rival movements tried to win peasant support and to recruit fighters while harassing the administration and the white civilians. ZANLA, in the end, was present on a more or less permanent basis in over half the country, as evidenced by the location of the demobilisation bases at the end of the war, which were in every province except Matabeleland North. ZANLA concentrated on the politicisation of the rural areas using Bush War Rhodesia 1966-1980, persuasion, ties of kinship and collaboration with spirit mediums. From to there were 2, vehicle detonations of land mines mainly Soviet TM46skilling people and injuring 4, Mining of roads increased In response, the Rhodesians co-operated with the South Africans to develop a range of mine protected vehicles. They began by replacing air in tyres with water which absorbed some of the blast and reduced the heat of Bush War Rhodesia 1966-1980 explosion. Initially, they protected the bodies with steel deflector plates, sandbags and mine conveyor belting. Later, purpose built vehicles with V shaped blast hulls dispersed the blast and Bush War Rhodesia 1966-1980 in such vehicles became unusual events. Using SA-7 surface-to-air missilesthe guerrillas shot down each plane during its ascent from Kariba Airport. About 1, Soviets, East German and Cuban instructors were deployed to the area. On the advice of the Soviets, ZIPRA built up its conventional forces, and Bush War Rhodesia 1966-1980 with Soviet armoured vehicles and a number of small aeroplanes, [61] in Zambia.