Rhodesia in the context of "1979 Rhodesian general election"

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⭐ Core Definition: Rhodesia

Rhodesia (/rˈdʒə/ roh-DEE-zhə, /rˈdʃə/ roh-DEE-shə; Shona: Rodizha), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised country in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the de facto successor state to the British colony of Southern Rhodesia following a unilateral declaration of independence issued by the ruling white-minority government. Throughout this fourteen-year period, Rhodesia faced internal conflict and political unrest. Following the Lancaster House Agreement in 1979, the territory returned to British political control and then subsequently gained internationally recognised independence as Zimbabwe in 1980.

The rapid decolonisation of Africa in the late 1950s and early 1960s alarmed a significant proportion of Southern Rhodesia's white population. In an effort to delay the transition to black majority rule, the predominantly white Southern Rhodesian government issued its own Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965. The new nation, identified simply as Rhodesia, initially sought recognition as an autonomous realm within the Commonwealth of Nations, but reconstituted itself as a republic in 1970. Following the declaration of independence in 1965, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution that called upon all states not to grant recognition to Rhodesia. Two African nationalist parties, the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) and Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), launched an armed insurgency against the government upon UDI, sparking the Rhodesian Bush War. Growing war weariness, diplomatic pressure, and an extensive trade embargo imposed by the United Nations prompted Rhodesian prime minister Ian Smith to concede to majority rule in 1978. However, elections and a multiracial provisional government, with Smith succeeded by moderate Abel Muzorewa, failed to appease international critics or halt the war. By December 1979, Muzorewa had secured an agreement with ZAPU and ZANU, allowing Rhodesia to briefly revert to colonial status pending new elections under British supervision. ZANU secured an electoral victory in 1980, and the country achieved internationally recognised independence in April 1980, as Zimbabwe.

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Rhodesia in the context of Harare

Harare (/həˈrɑːr/ hə-RAR-ay), formerly known as Salisbury, is the capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 982.3 km (379.3 sq mi), a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 census, and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metropolitan province. The city is situated in north-eastern Zimbabwe in the country's Mashonaland region. Harare Metropolitan Province incorporates the city and the municipalities of Chitungwiza, Epworth and Ruwa. The city sits on a plateau at an elevation of 1,483 metres (4,865 feet) above sea level, and its climate falls into the subtropical highland category.

The city was founded in 1890 by the Pioneer Column, a small military force of the British South Africa Company, and was named Fort Salisbury after the British Prime Minister Lord Salisbury. Company administrators demarcated the city and ran it until Southern Rhodesia achieved responsible government in 1923. Salisbury was thereafter the seat of the Southern Rhodesian (later Rhodesian) government and, between 1953 and 1963, the capital of the Central African Federation. It retained the name Salisbury until 1982 when it was renamed Harare on the second anniversary of Zimbabwe's independence from the United Kingdom. The national parliament moved out of Harare upon completion of the New Parliament of Zimbabwe in Mount Hampden in April 2022.

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Rhodesia in the context of 1973 Oil Crisis

In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began after Egypt and Syria launched a large-scale surprise attack in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to recover the territories that they had lost to Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War.

In an effort that was led by Faisal of Saudi Arabia, the initial countries that OAPEC targeted were Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This list was later expanded to include Portugal, Rhodesia, and South Africa.

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Rhodesia in the context of List of sovereign states headed by Elizabeth II

The number of states headed by Elizabeth II varied during her 70 years as queen, altogether seeing her as sovereign of a total of 32 independent countries during this period. In her capacity as Queen of the United Kingdom (including the British overseas territories), she was also monarch of three Crown Dependencies— the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey (as the Duke of Normandy), and the Isle of Man (as the Lord of Mann). As Queen of New Zealand, she was also monarch of two associated states—the Cook Islands and Niue—after they acquired this status in 1965 and 1974, respectively.

The situations in two countries differ from the others. The government of the unrecognised state of Rhodesia proclaimed its allegiance to Elizabeth II as Queen of Rhodesia from 1965 to 1970. However, she did not accept either the role or the title and it was not accepted or recognised by any other state. Fiji became a republic through a military coup in 1987, after which its Great Council of Chiefs continued to recognise Elizabeth II as queen, or Paramount Chief of Fiji, until the council's disestablishment on 14 March 2012. This was only a ceremonial title, with no role in government.

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Rhodesia in the context of Iain Duncan Smith

Sir George Iain Duncan Smith (born 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who was Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003. He was Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2010 to 2016. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Chingford and Woodford Green, formerly Chingford, since 1992.

The son of W. G. G. Duncan Smith, a Royal Air Force flying-ace, Duncan Smith was born in Edinburgh and raised in Solihull. After education at the HMS Conway training school and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he served in the Scots Guards from 1975 to 1981, seeing tours in Northern Ireland and in Rhodesia. He joined the Conservative Party in 1981. After unsuccessfully contesting Bradford West in 1987, he was elected to Parliament at the 1992 general election. He was a backbencher during the premiership of John Major (in office from 1990 to 1997). In the shadow cabinet of William Hague, Duncan Smith served as Shadow Secretary of State for Social Security between 1997 and 1998, and as Shadow Secretary of State for Defence from 1998 to 2001.

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Rhodesia in the context of Ode to Joy

"Ode to Joy" (German: "An die Freude" [an diː ˈfʁɔʏdə]) is an ode written in the summer of 1785 by the German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller. It was published the following year in the German magazine Thalia. In 1808, a slightly revised version changed two lines of the first stanza and omitted the last stanza.

"Ode to Joy" is best known for its use by Ludwig van Beethoven in the final (fourth) movement of his Ninth Symphony, completed in 1824. Beethoven's text is not based entirely on Schiller's poem, and it introduces a few new sections. Beethoven's melody, but not Schiller's text, was adopted as the "Anthem of Europe" by the Council of Europe in 1972 and later by the European Union. Rhodesia's national anthem from 1974 until 1979, "Rise, O Voices of Rhodesia", also used Beethoven's melody.

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Rhodesia in the context of People's Republic of Mozambique

The People's Republic of Mozambique (Portuguese: República Popular de Moçambique) was a communist state that existed in present-day Mozambique from 1975 to 1990. It was established when the country gained independence from Portugal in June 1975 and the Mozambican Liberation Front ("FRELIMO") established a communist state led by Samora Machel. The state enjoyed close political and military ties with the Soviet Union, which was one of the first nations to provide diplomatic recognition and financial support to the fledgling FRELIMO government. For the duration of its history, the People's Republic of Mozambique remained heavily dependent on Soviet aid, both in financial terms as well as with regard to food security, fuel, and other vital economic necessities. From 1977 to 1992, the country was devastated by a deadly civil war which pitted the armed forces against the anti-communist Mozambique National Resistance (RENAMO) insurgency, backed by neighbouring Rhodesia and South Africa.

The People's Republic of Mozambique enjoyed close relations with the People's Republic of Angola, Cuba, and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), all of which were socialist states at the time. The People's Republic of Mozambique was also an observer of the COMECON ("Council for Mutual Economic Assistance"), which was an economic organization of communist states. Mozambique made a bid to formally join COMECON as a member state in the early 1980s but was rebuffed, despite East German sponsorship and endorsements. Following the decline of Soviet and COMECON economic influence in the 1980s, the People's Republic of Mozambique sought rapprochement with the United States, the International Monetary Fund and West Germany after the death of Samora Machel and the beginning of economic reforms under Joaquim Chissano.

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Rhodesia in the context of Mozambican Civil War

The Mozambican Civil War (Portuguese: Guerra Civil Moçambicana) was a civil war fought in Mozambique from 1977 to 1992 due to a combination of local strife and the polarizing effects of Cold War politics. The fighting was between Mozambique's ruling Marxist Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO), the Rhodesia-backed anti-communist insurgent forces of the Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO), and a number of smaller factions such as the PRM, UNAMO, COREMO, UNIPOMO, and FUMO.

RENAMO opposed FRELIMO's attempts to establish a socialist one-party state, and was heavily backed by the anti-communist governments of Rhodesia and South Africa who supported them in order to undermine FRELIMO's support for militant nationalist organisations in their own countries. Over one million Mozambicans were killed in the fighting or starved due to interruptions to food supply; an additional five million were displaced across the region. The Mozambican Civil War destroyed much of Mozambique's critical infrastructure in rural areas, including hospitals, rail lines, roads, and schools. FRELIMO's security forces and RENAMO insurgents were accused of committing numerous human rights abuses, including the use of child soldiers and indiscriminately salting a significant percentage of the countryside with land mines. Three neighboring states—Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Malawi—eventually deployed troops into Mozambique to defend their own vested economic interests against RENAMO attacks.

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Rhodesia in the context of Zimbabwe African National Union

The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) was a militant socialist organisation that fought against white-minority rule in Rhodesia, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) in 1963. ZANU split in 1975 into wings loyal to Robert Mugabe and Ndabaningi Sithole, later respectively called ZANU–PF and ZANU–Ndonga. These two sub-divisions ran separately at the 1980 general election, where ZANU–PF has been in power ever since, and ZANU–Ndonga a minor opposition party.

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