ABSTRACT
On 18 April 1980, the Union Jack was finally lowered at Government House, Harare. Presiding over this muted piece of imperial theatre, Lord Soames, who had been appointed interim governor of Rhodesia at the end of 1979, was flanked by Prince Charles, with both men mustering the appropriate level of solemnity that befitted the occasion. The impact of Rhodesia’s decision to declare Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) was felt far beyond the country’s national borders. In southern Africa, Ian Smith’s regime enjoyed support from the apartheid state and Portuguese East Africa. On 11 November 2015, 50 years since UDI had been declared, approximately 30 scholars from within and outside the southern African region came together to debate further the legacy of Rhodesia’s UDI. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
