Green Colonialism in Zimbabwe, 1890-1980 By Vimbai Kwashirai

Historical Context

Zimbabwe was not a single state before British settlers created the arbitrary boundary of what was called Southern Rhodesia in the early 1890s. In the 1700s and 1800s, the Zimbabwean plateau was dominated by the Rozvi Empire of the Shona people, who had been settled in the region for centuries. In 1821 Mzilikazi broke away from King Shaka's Zulu Empire in South Africa. He migrated north of the Limpopo River and established the Ndebele State (1837–1894), succeeding the Rozvi as the predominant power in the region. British imperial interests in the area were primarily motivated by speculative mineral discoveries thought to rival the Witwatersrand mines in South Africa. Cecil John Rhodes obtained the controversial Rudd Concession in 1888 from Lobengula, Mzilikazi's successor. The Rudd Concession formed the basis of the 1889 Royal Charter granted to Rhodes' British South Africa Company (BSAC), empowering the firm to occupy the region. The pioneer column, consisting of 200 white men, or makiwa, led by Leander Jameson, occupied the area in 1890, and Matabeleland was provisionally brought under control through war in 1893. The two major ethnic groups in Zimbabwe, the Shona and Ndebele, subsequently suffered defeat in the First Chimurenga (liberation war) of 1896–1997. The countrywide resistance to imperial occupation was staged separately in Matabeleland and Mashonaland. From the Mazoe valley, the greatest spiritual medium Charwe, or Mbuya Nehanda, a heroine of national importance, led the Chimurenga in Mashonaland until her capture and hanging by BSAC authorities. With the defeat of the indigenous people in 1898, British settlers regarded the region's natural resources as spoils of war, especially its land, minerals, forests, cattle, and wildlife.

In 1923 Britain took over the present-day Zimbabwe from the BSAC as Southern Rhodesia. Colonial rule lasted three generations, characterised by company rule 1890–1923. Settlers voted for self rule in 1923 against possible amalgamation with South Africa but later formed and dominated a federation with Malawi and Zambia in 1953–1963. Ian Douglas Smith, the last white prime minister, rebelled against Whitehall in