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On 11 November 1965, Ian Smith, the Rhodesian Prime Minister, and his Cabinet broke away from the Queen and the British Government, unilaterally declaring independence. This was the first time a British colony had done so since America in 1776 and it caused reverberations not only in Britain, but throughout the world.
Southern Rhodesia had been part of the Central African Federation created by Britain in 1953. The Federation had been broken up in 1963 when Zambia (Northern Rhodesia) and Malawi (Nyasaland) gained their independence. Ian Smith maintained that at the conference at Victoria Falls that year, Rab Butler had privately promised to grant Southern Rhodesia independence on its own terms in return for cooperation over the break up of the federation. This would have effectively ruled out black majority rule indefinitely and Rab Butler categorically denied having given any such undertaking.
Relations remained strained between Rhodesia and Britain, and attempts by the new British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, to reach an agreement with Ian Smith in January 1965, during his visit to London to attend Winston Churchills's funeral, were unsuccessful. The British terms for independence included a move towards black majority rule. Ian Smith did not "believe in black majority rule ever in Rhodesia, not in a thousand years".
There were 4 million black people in Southern Rhodesia, outnumbering white people by sixteen to one. The right to vote, determined by wealth and education, excluded the majority of the black population. African nationalist leaders, including Joshua Nkomo, were afraid that a deal might be brokered between the British government and the white minority in Rhodesia that would continue to exclude black people from power. However, divisions amongst the black nationalists seriously weakened their position and, when violent feuding broke out, it gave Ian Smith the opportunity to suppress them. Black political parties were banned and their leaders detained, many in remote camps.Smith returned to London in October 1965, where Wilson made it clear that in return for independence Rhodesia had to take steps to end racial discrimination and speed up progress to majority rule. Unsurprisingly, Smith rejected the deal. Both prime ministers made public broadcasts, Smith stating that Rhodesia was being denied the right to be "master in our own house" and Wilson warning that independence taken by unilateral action "would be acting illegally in a state of rebellion" and urging Smith to "think again".
At the end of October, Wilson flew to Salisbury in a last ditch attempt to prevent UDI. Over a 5-day period he spoke to more than 100 community leaders. He met with nationalist leaders that Smith had detained, including Joshua Nkomo (Zimbabwe African Peoples Union - ZAPU) and the Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole (Zimabawe African National Union - ZANU), but failed to give them the assurances they were looking for. He made it clear that the British government favoured a gradual transfer to majority rule and would not use troops in the event of UDI. His subsequent announcement, at a press conference in Salisbury on 30 October, that military force would not be used was a "disastrous error" according to Dennis Healey, the then Secretary of State for Defence, and nationalist Josheph Msika (ZAPU) argued that this gave a "signal" to declare UDI.
Four days after Wilson had left Rhodesia, Smith declared a state of emergency citing security reasons, which gave him powers to act without consulting parliament. His Cabinet met on the night of 10 November and the following morning they agreed to proceed with UDI and all signed a declaration of independence.
Gallery
Proclamation of Independence printed in This is Rhodesia 1965
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Harold Wilson meets Joshua Nkomo in Rhodesia, October 1965
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Harold Wilson meets the Reverend Ndabaningi in Rhodesia, October 1965
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