Abstract

Rhodesia: Sanctions on Trial

Rhodesia is legally a British colony. However, it differs from other colonies because it has never been ruled by British Government. It was colonized toward the end of the last century by Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa. Company Agents of the company made agreements with chiefs of African tribes to prospect for minerals. When Africans found that white men were also beginning to take their land, they objected and several wars took place. African tribes, mainly the two groups known as the Matabele and the Mashona, were conquered. Throughout the decolonization period from 1947, British Parliaments that had always adopted the principle that independence would be granted only after the whole population of a colony had expressed its desire to end colonial status.