http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodesia's_Unilateral_Declaration_of_Independence

in for Rhodie FAL pron

It was a ballsy move which nearly resulted in England invading Rhodesia.

Did they have the wherewithal to do it at that time?

In the end the British public as well as the soldiers didn't have the nerve to basically fight their own countrymen so Rhodesia got away with it.

 

The thing is if you read the set up of the agreements that would have become Zimbabwe Rhodesia it was actually a pretty fair agreement but Mugabe and his thugs wouldn't take it so they continued with the fight.

 

The insistence by the British that the terrorists be allowed to participate in the process was ridiculous.  

I do think that had the coup not occurred in Portugal that Rhodesia may have made it long enough to fully secure its independence under the Zimbabwe-Rhodesia regime and defeat the terrorists for most intents and purposes.  With terrorist forces virtually annihilated, multiple elections in which blacks could fully participate (they could actually vote throughout UDI if they met the same requirements as whites; most who qualified chose not to vote or even register to vote), and a continued supply line through Portugal (and probably South Africa, since they would have behaved differently lacking the leverage given them by Portugal's fall to the socialists), I don't see how the UK would have had much leverage to force Rhodesia to come to its terms.

Carter and Young did them in.

They certainly were gearing up to approve military action.  Queen Elizabeth II made it clear she would use her powers as commandress-in-chief of the UK's armed forces to stop any such operation if Parliament approved the use of military force to end Rhodesia's rebellion.  It's the only instance I can think of from the 20th century where the British monarch threatened to use their constitutional powers (whether veto power or others) to stop a law or government action.

The United States also unilaterally declared its independence.

Any of you well-read guys have a good book or two regarding Rhodesia/Bush War?

Not trying to hijack your thread, Saiga, just interested in reading up on the Jewel of Africa!

Cheers,

Spenny

R.I.P. Rhodesia. Wish I was alive when she was still a nation. It looked like beautiful country till the Commies took over.

My favorite has been 3 Sips of Gin.

I agree. Fire force has good info, but is limited to rli. Three sipa of gin does a good job of background info of Rhodesia as well as mil bush war info.

I can't afford Pamwe chete tho

What exactly are your interests in the subject?  That would determine the literature that would be recommended.  You find in various books information on the Bush War, on the Rhodesian military more generally, on specific units, on the tactics used by Rhodesian forces, on their arms and equipment, the politics, the effect on the citizenry, etc.

I know very little about Rhodesia, mostly with relation to their choice of firearms and the various FAL variants which were utilized during the Bush War.  I'd honestly be interested in every facet of the country and conflict.  If this would be more suitable to IM, I'd be happy to send you one.  I've cleared my backlog of books recently, so please recommend anything and everything you'd like.

Thanks!

Spenny

JRT Wood's books are invaluable on the subject.  They greatly detail the political history of Rhodesia from the collapse of the Federation onwards and also the political history of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.  The Welensky Papers: A History of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, So Far and No Further! : Rhodesia's Bid for Independence During the Retreat from Empire, 1959-1965, and A Matter of Weeks Rather Than Months: The Impasse Between Harold Wilson and Ian Smith; Sanctions, Aborted Settlements, and War, 1965-1969 are the three extant books on the subject and he's finishing a book which will cover 1970-1980.  These books are quite the tomes.  The books are quite large, somewhat thick, and have double columns of small text.  Loads of information.

Wood also has a book called Counterstrike from the Sky: The Rhodesian All-Arms Fireforce in the War in the Bush, 1974-1980 which is a good primer on the fire force tactics and related arms, equipment, and doctrines the Rhodesians used to great effect in the Bush War in response to the terrorists.  It's a much quicker read than the above books.  It does leave one wanting more information, despite being quite informative for someone who has little to no knowledge of the subject (it's certainly the best introductory work out there, and also comes with an interesting DVD).  For a soldier's perspective, Chris Cocks' Fire Force: One Man's War in the Rhodesian Light Infantry and The War Diaries of Andre Dennison (edited by Wood) are good accounts, with perspectives from the RLI and RAR, respectively (there are also formal histories of these units available).  For the air war, Peter Petter-Bowyer's Winds of Destruction is the best account out there (there is also a hard-to-find book out there detailing the aircraft of the RhAF).  Dennis Croukamp's book The Bush War in Rhodesia provides a multi-unit perspective that includes the Selous Scouts.

For a basic overview of the war, currently the best book would seem to be The Rhodesian War: A Military History by Paul Moorcraft.  Also invaluable is Ian Smith's perspective, and he wrote The Great Betrayal and an updated version called Bitter Harvest.  Both are worth looking at.  Bill Buckley also did a long, interesting interview with him on The Firing Line (the show covered Rhodesia as a topic at least three times).  There is also Douglas Reed's The Battle for Rhodesia, written before the fall.  Wood is also working on a comprehensive military history of the Bush War (as well as books on more specialized military and political topics).

There are other works that deal with civilian life in Rhodesia and the aftermath of its fall and also Zimbabwean politics (Martin Meredith's books are good) and also of the role of farmers during the Bush War (such as The Farmer At War), which should also be interesting to those concerned about the violence on the border with Mexico and its impact on ranchers, potential and actual.

The African Nettle by Frank S. Meyer et al is valuable in providing a perspective on contemporary happenings in Africa.  Most of the contributors are European, American, and African conservatives.

That's enough to easily keep one occupied for the better part of a year.

Another great one is "Who will teach the wisdom"

Thank you very much.  I think this should keep me very well occupied until the 50th Anniversary of Rhodesian Independence.  

Your insight, as always, is greatly appreciated.  Now off to the book store!

Cheers,

Spenny

I have a few books on the tactics of the Rhodesian War, but nothing on the politics.

What do you have besides Wood's book?  I'm interested in reading more on the subject.

 

And I, for one, rejoice that they threw off the shackles of colonialism.

They are so much better off now.

Progressive westerners did everything they could to put groups like ZANU in charge, they least they can do is own the result.

this. Rhodesia and the rest of the commonwealth nations had had a very open door policy towards British immigrants, even going so far as to offer assisted passage to them (ten quid tourists). everyone knew someone who had gone, there was no way in hell the British Army was going fight them

Lol. The whole point of being a Progressive is that all bad policy outcomes are due to racism/colonialism.

Here's a nice little article from The American Spectator:

Hip, Hip, Hooray, It's Rhodesia Independence Day

did you ever finish your rhody FAL?