Zimbabwe Wins Independence Under Majority Rule

Date

1980

Category

Politics & governance

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa (Zimbabwe)

Era

Contemporary

Significance

Zimbabwe achieved internationally recognised independence in 1980, ending white-minority rule in the former Rhodesia after a long liberation war.

At the stroke of midnight on 18 April 1980, the Union Jack was lowered in Salisbury and a new flag raised, its Zimbabwe Bird set against colours for the African majority and the blood shed in the struggle. Robert Mugabe, whose ZANU (PF) party had swept February elections, was sworn in as the country's first prime minister and, in a widely noted speech, pledged racial reconciliation with the defeated white settlers. The settlement followed the Lancaster House Agreement, which ended the guerrilla war between white-ruled Rhodesia and Black nationalist forces. Independence marked the collapse of one of Africa's last white-supremacist regimes and was celebrated across the continent as a milestone in decolonisation, with Bob Marley performing at the ceremony. Mugabe's rule, initially praised for expanding schooling and health care, later hardened into authoritarianism and economic collapse, but 1980 stood as a defining moment of African self-determination.

Empires active in 1980

• Soviet Union
  1922 CE – 1991 CE
• British Empire
  1583 CE – 1997 CE
• Portuguese Empire
  1415 CE – 1999 CE
• Yugoslavia
  1918 CE – 1992 CE

Related politics & governance events

• Iranian Revolution
  January–February 1979
• Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika
  1985–1991 (from 11 March 1985)
• Fall of the Berlin Wall
  9 November 1989
• Revolutions of 1989 across Eastern Europe
  1989 (Autumn of Nations)
• German reunification
  3 October 1990
• Dissolution of the Soviet Union
  August–December 1991

Further reading

The State of Africa: A History of the Continent Since Independence

The wider story

The State of Africa: A History of the Continent Since Independence

Martin Meredith

Gripping account of Africa's nations from independence to the present.

Get it on Amazon →

As an Amazon Associate, Human Saga earns from qualifying purchases.