Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant'
1st June 2012, 10:24
"Rhodesia has formally ended nearly 90 years of white minority rule and declared it will now be known as Zimbabwe-Rhodesia.
In the absence of any official ceremony crowds of revellers, mainly black, gathered in the streets of Salisbury and surrounding townships at midnight to mark the change.
But although the name may have changed and there are 12 black faces in the cabinet under a new, black prime minister - Bishop Muzorewa - much will stay the same.
The man in overall command of the military will remain in his post, as will those in charge of the army, air force and police. The jobs of top civil servants - all white - are protected under the new constitution"
The interim state of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia lasted little more than six months, before the country became a British colony once again.
Zimbabwe's independence on 18 April 1980 was internationally recognised.
A violent campaign supported by President Mugabe to seize white-owned farms began in 2000. The European Union imposed sanctions on the country in 2002 and Mr Mugabe's re-election was condemned as seriously flawed by international observers.
(More at http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/1/newsid_2492000/2492915.stm)
In the absence of any official ceremony crowds of revellers, mainly black, gathered in the streets of Salisbury and surrounding townships at midnight to mark the change.
But although the name may have changed and there are 12 black faces in the cabinet under a new, black prime minister - Bishop Muzorewa - much will stay the same.
The man in overall command of the military will remain in his post, as will those in charge of the army, air force and police. The jobs of top civil servants - all white - are protected under the new constitution"
The interim state of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia lasted little more than six months, before the country became a British colony once again.
Zimbabwe's independence on 18 April 1980 was internationally recognised.
A violent campaign supported by President Mugabe to seize white-owned farms began in 2000. The European Union imposed sanctions on the country in 2002 and Mr Mugabe's re-election was condemned as seriously flawed by international observers.
(More at http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/1/newsid_2492000/2492915.stm)