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Relations between the UK and Zimbabwe have been complex since the latter's independence in 1980. The territory of modern Zimbabwe had been colonised by the British South Africa Company in 1890, with the Pioneer Column raising the Union Jack over Fort Salisbury (modern-day Harare) and formally establishing company, and by extension, British, rule over the territory. [1] In 1920 Rhodesia, as the land had been called by the company in honour of their founder, Cecil Rhodes, was brought under jurisdiction of the Crown as the colony of Southern Rhodesia. Southern Rhodesia over the decades following its establishment would slowly be populated by large numbers of Europeans emigrants who came to form a considerable diaspora, largely consisting of Britons but also smaller groups of Italians, Greeks and Afrikaners. [2] A settler culture that had already existed since the time of company would come to cement fully and the white population began to identify as Rhodesians, often in conjunction with British/Afrikaner/Southern European identities of their ancestors. [3] Southern Rhodesia would go on to participate heavily in both the First and Second wars, providing soldiers and military equipment to the British war effort. [4] [5]
During the years after the war, the relationship between Britain and Southern Rhodesia became increasingly strained. The UK had opted to decolonise Africa and had adopted a firm policy of no independence before majority rule, which deeply upset the white establishment of the colony, in particular the radical Rhodesian Front party led by Winston Field and later, Ian Smith. Relations between the British Government and the colonial Southern Rhodesian government deteriorated for much of the early 1960s and negotiations between the two dragged on with little to no success. Eventually, relations broke down entirely and Southern Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence from Britain. [6] The move was met with zero recognition (bar Apartheid South Africa and Portugal, both of whom never formally recognised Rhodesia as a sovereign state and only tacitly cooperated with them) from the international community and the UK government and the illegitimate state was still formally considered under British sovereignty for its roughly 15-year span of existence. [7] For the first 5 years of its proclaimed independence, Rhodesia still declared loyalty to Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Rhodesia, but this was never recognised by the British monarch who continued to encourage Smith's illegal government to resign. Given her refusal to appoint a Governor-general, from 1965 to 1970, an "Officer Administering the Government", Clifford Dupont served as the de facto head of state instead of the legal Governor of Rhodesia, Sir Humphrey Gibbs. Rhodesia eventually moved to sever all links with Britain and became a self-declared republic with an internationally unrecognised president in 1970. [8]
Throughout the subsequent Rhodesian Bush War between white Rhodesians and black paramilitaries such as ZANU and ZAPU, the UK continued to remain staunchly opposed to the rogue state and extensively sanctioned it, even enforcing blockades using the Royal Navy to cut off Rhodesian oil imports via Portuguese Mozambique. [9] When Rhodesia failed to hold out after 15 years of fighting and came to the negotiating table with the black resistance groups and moderate African nationalist parties, the UK again became directly involved in Rhodesia's affairs. After a brief stint as the nation of Zimbabwe Rhodesia following an Internal Settlement that was denounced by the international community for not being satisfactory enough, the nation transiently reverted to its status as a self-governing British colony before being granted full independence and majority rule as Zimbabwe in 1980 under the landmark Lancaster House Agreement. [10]
Relations between the UK and Zimbabwe in the two decades directly following independence were close and friendly, as a large amount of the British descended white settlers remained in the country (though there was some exodus, but not overly significant) and continued to serve in important positions in politics, business, media, law and most notably agriculture. [11] The UK and Zimbabwe cooperated on many levels and the relationship between Mugabe and Thatcher was reportedly close. [12] This strong period of relations lasted for roughly 20 years until Tony Blair withdrew British funding for land reform in the country, a policy Blair disagreed with. This, coupled with British government's strong condemnation of various human rights abuses committed by Mugabe against opposition groups led to a severe collapse in relations between the two nations. Mugabe proceeded to engage in a mass eviction of white landowners from their farms, which directly led to the collapse of Zimbabwean economy, national food supply and agricultural exports. [13] Following this was a mass exodus of middle to high class White Zimbabweans from the country, with many having been highly educated and working in fields such as the law and education. [14] [15] Many of them fled to the UK due to their British culture and ancestral connections. [16] [17] After a coup d'état against Mugabe due to widespread economic failure and oppression, Emmerson Mnangagwa was elected as the President of Zimbabwe and made significant overtures to the whites that had left the country during Mugabe's presidency. He promised all seized land would be restored and significant financial compensation given for the loss of land, Mnangagwa also offered to pay a fee for anyone willing to return and farm in the country in an effort to bring back Zimbabwe's functioning food production. [18] [19] [20] In light of this, relations between the UK and Zimbabwe have been slowly improving under Mnangagwa, and the country applied to rejoin the Commonwealth in 2018 after its 2003 withdrawal. Tensions still remain however over human rights and particularly the Zimbabwean Army's role in suppressing internal dissent. [21] [22] [23]
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As part of the Scramble for Africa, what is now Zimbabwe was colonised by the British Empire. The area was named Rhodesia after the British mining magnate Cecil Rhodes. The area was under the control of the British South Africa Company.
In 1923, company rule in Rhodesia ended and what is now Zimbabwe became the Colony of Southern Rhodesia.
After a decade and a half of the Rhodesian Bush War, the Lancaster House Agreement agreed that Zimbabwe would become an independent country as from 18 April 1980, when Zimbabwe became a republic in the Commonwealth of Nations
On 18 April 1980, Zimbabwe was formally granted independence from the United Kingdom. Robert Mugabe became the first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. Mugabe kept several British advisors around him during the early part of his rule, including Lord Soames who he formed a friendship with. Throughout the 1980s Mugabe surprised many by maintaining a close relationship with the United Kingdom while scorning the Soviet Union. He allowed Britain to maintain military bases in the country. Throughout the 1980s, Mugabe described himself as "an Anglophile" and was frequently seen to wear British-made Savile Row suits. [24] Mugabe also heavily promoted cricket in Zimbabwe, saying "Cricket civilizes people and creates good gentlemen," he declared. "I want everyone to play cricket in Zimbabwe. I want ours to be a nation of gentlemen." [25] After independence Zimbabwe became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Mugabe also formed a "genuine friendship" and political alliance with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In 1986, Mugabe and Thatcher got into a heated argument about sanctions on South Africa, when Thatcher refused to budge Mugabe described her as "racist" to the press. [26] However, shortly thereafter the two leaders resumed their close partnership. When white South African mercenaries were sent by the government of Apartheid South Africa to sabotage equipment in Zimbabwe and effect a breakout of prisoners at a Zimbabwean prison, Thatcher shared crucial intelligence with Mugabe which allowed the Zimbabwean authorities to apprehend the offenders and thwart their efforts. later in 1988, Mugabe was hosted by Thatcher at Chequers, where the two had talks described as "almost gossipy" in what was called an “excellent atmosphere"; both leaders were actively determined to repair relations from that point forward. [27] Thatcher visited Zimbabwe in 1989 and was given a tour of rural communes. The communes had formerly been farms owned by white Zimbabweans, but which had been purchased from those farmers, by the Zimbabwean government with money provided for this purpose by the British government. About these communities Thatcher commented "The land settlement scheme we saw this morning seemed to us extremely good in every way, not only for the variety of agriculture and the kind of village and rural life they were having, but also the education they were giving in the schools and the health service which they received." [28] Writing for theguardian about that visit, Richard Dowden (director of the Royal African Society) said "she visited Mugabe in Zimbabwe, where British troops were training Mozambicans to fight off the South African-backed Renamo movement. A mock attack was organised and she sat between Mugabe and Joachim Chissano to observe. The "bushes" right in front of them suddenly sprang to life and started shooting. The noise was deafening and nobody had warned the watchers that tracer bullets fired away somehow look as if they are coming towards you. I saw Mugabe and Chissano duck and some of the officials flung themselves down. Thatcher didn't blink." [29] On another occasion, "a call came through to Downing Street on a Sunday afternoon from a public phone. It was Mugabe. He had come to London privately with his then wife, Sally, who needed regular dialysis for diabetes. He asked if he could come to visit Thatcher. She agreed and on a Sunday evening at Downing Street the two sat and talked informally about the world and life like old friends – she sipping whisky and he water. It was not the only time that happened." [30] When members of Mugabe's cabinet celebrated Margaret Thatcher's removal from office in 1990, Mugabe rebuked them, reportedly saying: "Who organised our independence? Let me tell you – if it hadn't been for Mrs Thatcher none of you would be here today. I'm sorry she's gone." [24] [31] Recently declassified files show that throughout the 1980s Mugabe would visit Thatcher every single time he was in London, which was eleven times in ten years. [27]
In 1991, Zimbabwe hosted the 1991 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting where the Commonwealth issued the Harare Declaration. Diana, Princess of Wales visited Mr Mugabe in Harare in 1993. Mugabe was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994 with an honorary knighthood (later revoked). [32] The England cricket team played Zimbabwe in Harare in 1996 in a match attended by Mugabe.
In 1997, the new British government led by Tony Blair withdrew British funding for land reform in Zimbabwe. The previous prime ministers of Margaret Thatcher and John Major had both supported helping Zimbabwe financially to redress colonial era imbalances in landownership, however the government of Tony Blair disagreed with this approach and withdrew the funding. Then, after the 2000 Zimbabwean parliamentary election was marred with extreme amounts of state sanctioned violence and political oppression, the government of Tony Blair openly criticized human rights abuses being committed by Mugabe's government. [33] After this Mugabe engaged in his controversial land-reform program, in which the predominantly white farm owners were forced off their lands along with their workers, who were typically of regional descent. This was often done violently and without compensation. In this first wave of farm invasions, a total of 110,000 square kilometres of land had been seized. Several million black farm workers were excluded from the redistribution, leaving them without employment. According to Human Rights Watch, by 2002 the War Veterans Association had "killed white farm owners in the course of occupying commercial farms" on at least seven occasions, in addition to "several tens of [black] farm workers". [34] This increased criticism from Tony Blair's government. In response Mugabe said "Blair, keep your England and let me keep my Zimbabwe!" at a summit in Johannesburg. [35] Mugabe also told a crowd at his 90th birthday "The British, we don't hate you, we only love our country better." [24] However, at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2002, Zimbabwe was formally suspended from the Commonwealth. Later in 2003, Zimbabwe formally withdrew from the Commonwealth.
On 18 February 2002, the European Union announced a travel ban on Robert Mugabe, which prohibited him from entering the United Kingdom . [36]
Extreme state-sanctioned violence during the 2008 Zimbabwean general election only added to the gap between the British government and the government of Robert Mugabe. [37] British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the violence was "a new low" for Zimbabwe. [38]
Zimbabwe's new president Emmerson Mnangagwa began a process of attempting to reconcile with the UK. He welcomed politicians and business leaders from the UK to engage with Zimbabwe saying "Our quarrel with Britain is over" and that "we have opened our doors to old and new friends." [39] Mnangagwa visited Britain in November 2021 where he met face to face with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. President Mnangagwa wrote on Twitter that evening that:"Thank you to PM @BorisJohnson and @antonioguterres for welcoming me to #COP26. As the first President of Zimbabwe to visit the United Kingdom in a quarter of a century, it is clear that re-engagement is working!" [40] Prime Minister Johnson wrote on Twitter that evening that it was "Great meeting with ministers from across #ourCommonwealth this morning for talks with Minister Sibusiso Moyo on how Britain, the Commonwealth & the wider international community will do everything it can in supporting Zimbabwe on its path of reform." [41] The first British minister to visit Zimbabwe since the early 2000s was Rory Stewart who was "warmly welcomed" by the government of President Mnangagwa when he visited the country in late 2017. [42]
From 14 May 2012 until 30 December 2020, trade between Zimbabwe and the UK was governed by the Eastern and Southern Africa–European Union Economic Partnership Agreement, while the United Kingdom was a member of the European Union. [43] Following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, the UK and the 'Eastern and Southern African' states signed a continuity trade agreement on 31 January 2019, based on the EU free trade agreement; the agreement entered into force on 1 January 2021. [44] [45] Trade value between the 'Eastern and Southern Africa' countries and the United Kingdom was worth £1,922 million in 2022. [46]
Until roughly 2,000 years ago, what would become Zimbabwe was populated by ancestors of the San people. Bantu inhabitants of the region arrived and developed ceramic production in the area. A series of trading empires emerged, including the Kingdom of Mapungubwe and Kingdom of Zimbabwe. In the 1880s, the British South Africa Company began its activities in the region, leading to the colonial era in Southern Rhodesia.
Rhodesia, officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979. During this fourteen-year period, Rhodesia served as the de facto successor state to the British colony of Southern Rhodesia, and in 1980 it became modern day Zimbabwe.
Ian Douglas Smith was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 1964 to 1979. He was the country's first leader to be born and raised in Rhodesia, and led the predominantly white government that unilaterally declared independence from the United Kingdom in November 1965 in opposition to the UK's demands for the implementation of majority rule as a condition for independence. His 15 years in power were defined by the country's international isolation and involvement in the Rhodesian Bush War, which pitted the Rhodesian Security Forces against the Soviet- and Chinese-funded military wings of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU).
Land reform in Zimbabwe officially began in 1980 with the signing of the Lancaster House Agreement, as a program to redistribute farmland from white Zimbabweans to black Zimbabweans as an effort by the ZANU-PF government to give more control over the country's extensive farmlands to the black African majority. Before the implementation of these policies, the distribution of land in what was then known as Rhodesia saw a population of 4,400 white Rhodesians owning 51% of the country's land while 4.3 million black Rhodesians owned 42%, with the remainder being non-agricultural land. The discrepancy of this distribution, as well as the overall dominance of the white population in the newly-independent but largely unrecognized Rhodesian state was challenged by the black nationalist organizations ZANU and ZAPU in the Rhodesian Bush War. At the establishment of the modern Zimbabwean state in 1980 after the bush war, the Lancaster House Agreement held a clause that prohibited forced transfer of land, this resulted in changes in land distribution from the willing sale or transfer by owners being minor until 2000, when the government of Robert Mugabe began a more aggressive policy.
Zimbabwe Rhodesia, alternatively known as Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, also informally known as Zimbabwe or Rhodesia, was a short-lived sovereign state that existed from 1 June 1979 to 18 April 1980, though lacked international recognition. Zimbabwe Rhodesia was preceded by another state named the Republic of Rhodesia and was briefly under a British-supervised transitional government sometimes referred to as a reestablished Southern Rhodesia, which according to British constitutional theory had remained the lawful government in the area after Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965. About three months later, the re-established colony of Southern Rhodesia was granted internationally-recognized independence within the Commonwealth as the Republic of Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) is a political organisation which has been the ruling party of Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. The party was led for many years by Robert Mugabe, first as prime minister with the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and then as president from 1987 after the merger with the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) and retaining the name ZANU–PF, until 2017, when he was removed as leader.
The Lancaster House Agreement refers to an agreement signed on 21 December 1979 in Lancaster House, following the conclusion of a constitutional conference where different parties discussed the future of Zimbabwe Rhodesia, formerly known as Rhodesia. The agreement effectively concluded the Rhodesian Bush War. It also marked the nullification of Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence, as British colonial authority was to be restored for a transition period, during which free elections under supervision by the British government would take place. Crucially, ZANU and ZAPU, the political wings of ZANLA and ZIPRA, would be permitted to stand candidates in the forthcoming elections. This was however conditional to compliance with the ceasefire and the verified absence of voter intimidation.
The Rhodesian Bush War also known as the Second Chimurenga as well as the Zimbabwean War of Independence, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia.
White Zimbabweans, also known as Rhodesians, are Zimbabwean people of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, these Zimbabweans of European ethnic origin are mostly English-speaking descendants of British settlers. A small minority are either Afrikaans-speaking descendants of Afrikaners from South Africa or those descended from Greek, Portuguese, Italian, and Jewish immigrants.
The Internal Settlement was an agreement which was signed on 3 March 1978 between Prime Minister of Rhodesia Ian Smith and the moderate African nationalist leaders comprising Bishop Abel Muzorewa, Ndabaningi Sithole and Senator Chief Jeremiah Chirau. After almost 15 years of the Rhodesian Bush War, and under pressure from the sanctions placed on Rhodesia by the international community, and political pressure from South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the Rhodesian government met with some of the internally based moderate African nationalist leaders in order to reach an agreement on the political future for the country.
Pieter Kenyon Fleming-Voltelyn van der Byl was a Rhodesian politician who served as his country's Foreign Minister from 1974 to 1979 as a member of the Rhodesian Front (RF). A close associate of Prime Minister Ian Smith, Van der Byl opposed attempts to compromise with the British government and domestic black nationalist opposition on the issue of majority rule throughout most of his time in government. However, in the late 1970s he supported the moves which led to majority rule and internationally recognised independence for Zimbabwe.
Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa is a Zimbabwean politician who is serving as President of Zimbabwe since 24 November 2017. A member of ZANU–PF and a longtime ally of former President Robert Mugabe, he held a series of cabinet portfolios and was Mugabe's Vice-President until November 2017, when he was dismissed before coming to power in a coup d'état. He secured his first full term as president in the disputed 2018 general election. Mnangagwa was re-elected in the August 2023 general election with 52.6% of the vote.
Lieutenant General George Peter Walls was a Rhodesian soldier. He served as the Head of the Armed Forces of Rhodesia during the Rhodesian Bush War from 1977 until his exile from the country in 1980.
Sydney Tigere Sekeramayi is a Zimbabwean politician who served in the government of Zimbabwe as Minister of Defence between 2013 and 2017. He has been a minister in the Cabinet since independence in 1980, serving as Minister of Defence from 2001 to 2009 and Minister of State Security from 2009 to 2013.
Foreign relations exist between Australia and Zimbabwe. Both countries have full embassy level diplomatic relations. Australia maintains an embassy in Harare, and Zimbabwe maintains an embassy in Canberra.
Robert Gabriel Mugabe was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) from 1975 to 1980 and led its successor political party, the ZANU – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF), from 1980 to 2017. Ideologically an African nationalist, during the 1970s and 1980s he identified as a Marxist–Leninist, and as a socialist during the 1990s and the remainder of his career.
Zimbabwe and the Commonwealth of Nations have had a controversial and stormy diplomatic relationship. Zimbabwe is a former member of the Commonwealth, having withdrawn in 2003, and the issue of Zimbabwe has repeatedly taken centre stage in the Commonwealth, both since Zimbabwe's independence and as part of the British Empire.
Racism in Zimbabwe was introduced during the colonial era in the 19th century, when emigrating white settlers began racially discriminating against the indigenous Africans living in the region. The colony of Southern Rhodesia and state of Rhodesia were both dominated by a white minority, which imposed racist policies in all spheres of public life. In the 1960s–70s, African national liberation groups waged an armed struggle against the white Rhodesian government, culminating in a peace accord that brought the ZANU–PF to power but which left much of the white settler population's economic authority intact.
The modern political history of Zimbabwe starts with the arrival of white people to what was dubbed Southern Rhodesia in the 1890s. The country was initially run by an administrator appointed by the British South Africa Company. The prime ministerial role was first created in October 1923, when the country achieved responsible government, with Sir Charles Coghlan as its first Premier. The third premier, George Mitchell, renamed the post prime minister in 1933.
State House, formerly known as Government House, is the official residence of the President of Zimbabwe and is located in Harare, Zimbabwe. It was previously used by the Administrator of Southern Rhodesia, Governor of Southern Rhodesia and the Governor-General of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in addition to being occupied by the internationally unrecognised Rhodesian Officer Administering the Government and later President of Rhodesia. It was constructed in 1910 to a design by Detmar Blow in the Cape Dutch revival style.