ABSTRACT
Settler rule in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) was an experiment that lasted 89 years.1 This period could be roughly divided into four political phases, namely, the Company era (1890-1923), during which the British South Africa Company (BSACo) was in control; the Responsible Government (1923-1953), whereby settler-run parties governed under the advice of a governor but with a measure of political freedom; the Federal Era (1953-1963), during which Southern Rhodesia became part of a Federation encompassing Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland; before finally the Rhodesian Front (1963-1977) and the Internal Settlement (1978-79) periods, which marked a violent and contested period of transitional government leading to majority rule. In Southern Rhodesia, settler colonialism was imposed violently and was sustained violently, and settler rule ended after a protracted violent armed struggle.
