Republic of Zimbabwe - Revision history

Verda.Majo: /* Second Chimurenga */ shortened section a bit due to creation of a main page; will further simplify this section over time as main page on Second Chimurenga develops

2026-03-10T15:25:46Z

Second Chimurenga: shortened section a bit due to creation of a main page; will further simplify this section over time as main page on Second Chimurenga develops

Show changes

Verda.Majo: /* Early history */ replaced image for this section

2026-03-09T12:36:22Z

Early history: replaced image for this section

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	== History ==		== History ==
			[[File:Great Zimbabwe ruins viewed from a hilltop.png\|alt=A photo from a distance showing several remnants of enclosures made of stone arranged on the landscape, with a particularly high-walled and large enclosure in the distance.\|thumb\|The Great Enclosure of the ruins of Great Zimbabwe.]]
			[[File:Great Zimbabwe ruins stone steps.png\|alt=A photo showing a series of stone steps between stone walls forming a passageway in the ruins.\|thumb\|Stone steps and a passageway in the ruins of Great Zimbabwe.]]

	=== Early history ===		=== Early history ===
	[[File:Ruins of Great Zimbabwe.jpg\|alt=A circular enclosure made of stone walls is situated on a landscape of grass and trees, with hills in the background.\|thumb\|Part of the ruins of Great Zimbabwe.]]
	The country which is now known as Zimbabwe has been inhabited by many different peoples and kingdoms with complex relationships throughout history and was not a single geographical entity before its colonial occupation by the British.<ref name=":1">[https://www.sahistory.org.za/place/zimbabwe "Zimbabwe."] [[South African History Online]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20240225185001/https://www.sahistory.org.za/place/zimbabwe Archived] 2023-02-25.</ref> As noted in an article on the Government of Zimbabwe website, "the political, social, and economic, relations of these groups were complex, dynamic, fluid and always changing. They were characterised by both conflict and co-operation." The region's history includes the rise and fall of several large and influential states as well as people living in smaller forms of social organization.<ref name=":2">[https://www.zim.gov.zw/index.php/en/my-government/government-ministries/about-zimbabwe/460-history-of-zimbabwe?showall=1 "History of Zimbabwe."] About Zimbabwe, Official Government of Zimbabwe Web Portal. [https://web.archive.org/web/20240412191116/https://www.zim.gov.zw/index.php/en/my-government/government-ministries/about-zimbabwe/460-history-of-zimbabwe?showall=1 Archived] 2024-04-12.</ref>		The country which is now known as Zimbabwe has been inhabited by many different peoples and kingdoms with complex relationships throughout history and was not a single geographical entity before its colonial occupation by the British.<ref name=":1">[https://www.sahistory.org.za/place/zimbabwe "Zimbabwe."] [[South African History Online]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20240225185001/https://www.sahistory.org.za/place/zimbabwe Archived] 2023-02-25.</ref> As noted in an article on the Government of Zimbabwe website, "the political, social, and economic, relations of these groups were complex, dynamic, fluid and always changing. They were characterised by both conflict and co-operation." The region's history includes the rise and fall of several large and influential states as well as people living in smaller forms of social organization.<ref name=":2">[https://www.zim.gov.zw/index.php/en/my-government/government-ministries/about-zimbabwe/460-history-of-zimbabwe?showall=1 "History of Zimbabwe."] About Zimbabwe, Official Government of Zimbabwe Web Portal. [https://web.archive.org/web/20240412191116/https://www.zim.gov.zw/index.php/en/my-government/government-ministries/about-zimbabwe/460-history-of-zimbabwe?showall=1 Archived] 2024-04-12.</ref>

Verda.Majo: /* Second Chimurenga */ added see main article link

2026-03-09T06:20:46Z

Second Chimurenga: added see main article link

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:20, 9 March 2026
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	=== Second Chimurenga ===		=== Second Chimurenga ===
	[[File:An artistic depiction of a pungwe meeting in Zimbabwe.png\|alt=An ink and watercolor depiction of an outdoor meeting. Villagers are seated around a freedom fighter who appears to be speaking to them. One villager is carrying a baby. Other freedom fighters stand guard around the edges of the meeting, looking outward and holding their guns. The sky is painted dark with small light spots, seemingly suggesting night time.\|thumb\|240x240px\|An artistic depiction of a ''pungwe'', a night meeting between the people and freedom fighters which also functioned as a community court.<ref>Chirenje, J. Mutero. [https://archive.org/details/historyofzimbabw0000chir/page/73/mode/1up "A history of Zimbabwe for primary schools"]. 1982. pp. 72-4. (Image on p. 73).</ref>]]Zimbabwe's liberation war is known as the Second Chimurenga, the First Chimurenga being the uprisings waged against the colonizing forces in the 1890s.<ref name=":9" /> The Shona word ''chimurenga'' carries various meanings such as uprising or revolution.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=VaShona Project\|date=2019-10-31\|url=https://vashona.com/en/dictionary/sn/chimurenga\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250222113548/https://vashona.com/en/dictionary/sn/chimurenga\|archive-date=2025-02-22\|quote=chimurenga		{{Main article\|Second Chimurenga}}[[File:An artistic depiction of a pungwe meeting in Zimbabwe.png\|alt=An ink and watercolor depiction of an outdoor meeting. Villagers are seated around a freedom fighter who appears to be speaking to them. One villager is carrying a baby. Other freedom fighters stand guard around the edges of the meeting, looking outward and holding their guns. The sky is painted dark with small light spots, seemingly suggesting night time.\|thumb\|240x240px\|An artistic depiction of a ''pungwe'', a night meeting between the people and freedom fighters which also functioned as a community court.<ref>Chirenje, J. Mutero. [https://archive.org/details/historyofzimbabw0000chir/page/73/mode/1up "A history of Zimbabwe for primary schools"]. 1982. pp. 72-4. (Image on p. 73).</ref>]]Zimbabwe's liberation war is known as the Second Chimurenga, the First Chimurenga being the uprisings waged against the colonizing forces in the 1890s.<ref name=":9" /> The Shona word ''chimurenga'' carries various meanings such as uprising or revolution.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=VaShona Project\|date=2019-10-31\|url=https://vashona.com/en/dictionary/sn/chimurenga\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250222113548/https://vashona.com/en/dictionary/sn/chimurenga\|archive-date=2025-02-22\|quote=chimurenga
	/t͡ʃimuréŋa/		/t͡ʃimuréŋa/
	noun , class(7) synonyms: bongozozo dialects/origins: Zezuru		noun , class(7) synonyms: bongozozo dialects/origins: Zezuru

Verda.Majo: /* Second Chimurenga */ added more detail about the role of frontline states and wrote some information about guerrilla training facilities in Tanzania

2026-03-08T15:15:59Z

Second Chimurenga: added more detail about the role of frontline states and wrote some information about guerrilla training facilities in Tanzania

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:15, 8 March 2026
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	=== Second Chimurenga ===		=== Second Chimurenga ===
	[[File:An artistic depiction of a pungwe meeting in Zimbabwe.png\|alt=An ink and watercolor depiction of an outdoor meeting. Villagers are seated around a freedom fighter who appears to be speaking to them. One villager is carrying a baby. Other freedom fighters stand guard around the edges of the meeting, looking outward and holding their guns. The sky is painted dark with small light spots, seemingly suggesting night time.\|thumb\|~~201x201px~~\|An artistic depiction of a ''pungwe'', a night meeting between the people and freedom fighters which also functioned as a community court.<ref>Chirenje, J. Mutero. [https://archive.org/details/historyofzimbabw0000chir/page/73/mode/1up "A history of Zimbabwe for primary schools"]. 1982. pp. 72-4. (Image on p. 73).</ref>]]Zimbabwe's liberation war is known as the Second Chimurenga, the First Chimurenga being the uprisings waged against the colonizing forces in the 1890s.<ref name=":9" /> The Shona word ''chimurenga'' carries various meanings such as uprising or revolution.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=VaShona Project\|date=2019-10-31\|url=https://vashona.com/en/dictionary/sn/chimurenga\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250222113548/https://vashona.com/en/dictionary/sn/chimurenga\|archive-date=2025-02-22\|quote=chimurenga		[[File:An artistic depiction of a pungwe meeting in Zimbabwe.png\|alt=An ink and watercolor depiction of an outdoor meeting. Villagers are seated around a freedom fighter who appears to be speaking to them. One villager is carrying a baby. Other freedom fighters stand guard around the edges of the meeting, looking outward and holding their guns. The sky is painted dark with small light spots, seemingly suggesting night time.\|thumb\|240x240px\|An artistic depiction of a ''pungwe'', a night meeting between the people and freedom fighters which also functioned as a community court.<ref>Chirenje, J. Mutero. [https://archive.org/details/historyofzimbabw0000chir/page/73/mode/1up "A history of Zimbabwe for primary schools"]. 1982. pp. 72-4. (Image on p. 73).</ref>]]Zimbabwe's liberation war is known as the Second Chimurenga, the First Chimurenga being the uprisings waged against the colonizing forces in the 1890s.<ref name=":9" /> The Shona word ''chimurenga'' carries various meanings such as uprising or revolution.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=VaShona Project\|date=2019-10-31\|url=https://vashona.com/en/dictionary/sn/chimurenga\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250222113548/https://vashona.com/en/dictionary/sn/chimurenga\|archive-date=2025-02-22\|quote=chimurenga
	/t͡ʃimuréŋa/		/t͡ʃimuréŋa/
	noun , class(7) synonyms: bongozozo dialects/origins: Zezuru		noun , class(7) synonyms: bongozozo dialects/origins: Zezuru
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	===== Independent African countries =====		===== Independent African countries =====
	[[File:Map detail of southern Africa with independence dates.png\|alt=A map detail showing southern African countries with their formal dates of independence. Includes Tanzania (1961), Malawi (1964), Zambia (1964), Botswana (1966), Lesotho (1966), Swaziland (1968), Angola (1975), Mozambique (1975), Zimbabwe (1980), Namibia (1990). South Africa is labelled saying "Union in 1910 and de facto independence in 1931."\|thumb\|291x291px\|A map detail showing countries in southern Africa with their formal dates of independence.]]		[[File:Map detail of southern Africa with independence dates.png\|alt=A map detail showing southern African countries with their formal dates of independence. Includes Tanzania (1961), Malawi (1964), Zambia (1964), Botswana (1966), Lesotho (1966), Swaziland (1968), Angola (1975), Mozambique (1975), Zimbabwe (1980), Namibia (1990). South Africa is labelled saying "Union in 1910 and de facto independence in 1931."\|thumb\|291x291px\|A map detail showing countries in southern Africa with their formal dates of independence.]]
	By the mid-1960s, Zimbabwe's neighboring countries Zambia and Botswana had gained formal independence from European colonialism. Later, in 1975, Mozambique and Angola gained independence. Though not an immediate neighbor of Zimbabwe, Tanzania also had involvement in various international negotiation proceedings and provided various forms of support to national liberation movements in Africa, including Zimbabwe's.<ref>{{Citation\|author=Chambi Chachage, Annar Cassam (Eds.)\|year=2010\|title=Africa's Liberation\|title-url=https://library.memoryoftheworld.org/#/book/18959308-a6be-48b2-bfbc-3d07deb88357\|chapter=Mwalimu Julius Nyerere: an intellectual in power (Haroub Othman)\|page=38-9\|quote=Frelimo was founded in Tanzania; the ANC, after its banning in South Africa, opened its first external mission in Tanzania; and MOLINACO, MPLA, ZANU, ZAPU, PAC and many others had Tanzania's full support. In the UN Decolonisation Committee (known as the Committee of 24), Tanzania's then permanent representative to the UN, Salim Ahmed Salim, held the chairmanship for several years. [...] Tanzania's support to the liberation movements was not only manifested in the political and diplomatic arenas but also in the material and military fields.\|publisher=Pambazuka Press}}</ref> The group of anti-apartheid independent African countries known as the [[Frontline States]] included Zambia, Tanzania, Botswana, Mozambique, and Angola—with Zimbabwe joining them after 1980.<ref>{{Citation\|author=Carol B. Thompson\|year=1985\|title=Challenge to Imperialism: The Frontline States in the Liberation of Zimbabwe}}</ref>		By the mid-1960s, Zimbabwe's neighboring countries Zambia and Botswana had gained formal independence from European colonialism. Later, in 1975, Mozambique and Angola gained independence. Though not an immediate neighbor of Zimbabwe, Tanzania also had involvement in various international negotiation proceedings and provided various forms of support to national liberation movements in Africa, including Zimbabwe's.<ref>{{Citation\|author=Chambi Chachage, Annar Cassam (Eds.)\|year=2010\|title=Africa's Liberation\|title-url=https://library.memoryoftheworld.org/#/book/18959308-a6be-48b2-bfbc-3d07deb88357\|chapter=Mwalimu Julius Nyerere: an intellectual in power (Haroub Othman)\|page=38-9\|quote=Frelimo was founded in Tanzania; the ANC, after its banning in South Africa, opened its first external mission in Tanzania; and MOLINACO, MPLA, ZANU, ZAPU, PAC and many others had Tanzania's full support. In the UN Decolonisation Committee (known as the Committee of 24), Tanzania's then permanent representative to the UN, Salim Ahmed Salim, held the chairmanship for several years. [...] Tanzania's support to the liberation movements was not only manifested in the political and diplomatic arenas but also in the material and military fields.\|publisher=Pambazuka Press}}</ref> The group of anti-apartheid independent African countries known as the [[Frontline States]] included Zambia, Tanzania, Botswana, Mozambique, and Angola—with Zimbabwe joining them after 1980.<ref name=":27">{{Citation\|author=Carol B. Thompson\|year=1985\|title=Challenge to Imperialism: The Frontline States in the Liberation of Zimbabwe}}</ref>

			The guerrilla forces of Zimbabwe's national liberation struggle had training camps and bases in various countries of the region, initially in Tanzania, and later also in Mozambique, Zambia, and Angola. The Frontline States also provided a diplomatic base for the movement.<ref name=":27" /> While Zimbabwe's national liberation movement remained for the most part split between ZANU and ZAPU (and their separate armed wings, ZANLA and ZIPRA), the Frontline States made various attempts at fostering a greater level of unity among the movement, though the differing national liberation organizations at various times expressed major dissatisfaction with the arrangements favored by the Frontline States.<ref>{{Citation\|author=Robert Mugabe\|year=1983\|title=Our War of Liberation\|title-url=Library:Our_War_of_Liberation\|chapter=Introduction by N M Shamuyarira and C M B Utete\|quote=In Lusaka, the Frontline leaders wanted to unite ZANU, ZAPU, ANC, and FROLIZI. Their original plan was that Nkomo would be President of the unified movement, with Muzorewa as his Deputy and Sithole as Secretary-General. It fell through because the ZANU delegation did not accept the dissolution of the party and Nkomo's leadership. They wanted the war to continue. However, under heavy pressure an criticism from the leaders of the Frontline states, Sithole, Nkomo, Muzorewa and Chikerema signed the Zimbabwe Declaration of Unity of 8 December 1974. [...] ZIPA, as has been said, was set up with the blessing of the Frontline leaders — in an effort to bypass established national leadership in favour of the military commanders. From the start, it was crippled by internal contradictions. It was unable to establish itself as a political organisation. ZANLA and ZIPRA never merged within it. The Frontline leaders were ultimately forced to begin looking for a viable political formation to fill the void at meetings in Maputo and Dar es Salaam.}}</ref>

			Speaking on Tanzania's involvement, former military instructor Humphrey Makuyana recalled in an interview that early on, ZANLA's training efforts were "fragmented, small-scale and constrained by limited infrastructure"<ref name=":28">{{Web citation\|newspaper=Herald Online\|title=Nachingwea became strategic engine of Zanla\|date=2026-03-08\|url=https://www.heraldonline.co.zw/nachingwea-became-strategic-engine-of-zanla/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260308145954/https://www.heraldonline.co.zw/nachingwea-became-strategic-engine-of-zanla/?__cf_chl_rt_tk=I17QAit7dbS.KuSyAOKp9llIDx1CQfI3G6M8eSeCETY-1772981994-1.0.1.1-zB6gN6jhM2g7RIdg4SoYqMUyBxDXwr0XA0BixFSZ.R0\|archive-date=2026-03-08}}</ref> but that later on, the opening of the Nachingwea Training Garrison in Tanzania was a decisive turning point in the struggle:<blockquote>The opening of the Nachingwea Training Garrison in Tanzania to ZANLA marked a decisive turning point in the struggle. More than a mere training facility, Nachingwea became the strategic engine of ZANLA, producing the highest volume of recruits and some of the most proficient fighters of the war. [...] Crucially, the effectiveness of these forces was complemented by ZIPRA cadres, who were trained in Angola and the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)\|Soviet Union]], and deployed primarily to the north-western regions of Rhodesia. Together, these parallel training pipelines transformed the war into a multi-front, multi-doctrinal struggle that the Rhodesian regime could no longer contain.<ref name=":28" /></blockquote>Makuyana expressed that this facility enabled ZANLA to train at least five thousand recruits per intake in a continuous and organized manner, ensuring a steady flow of fighters into operational zones. The late-1970s surge in ZANLA's presence across rural and semi-urban areas was attributed to this increased capacity. Makuyana also commented on the political education at this facility, which he said emphasized nationalism, Pan-Africanism and socialist-oriented ideology.<ref name=":28" />

	===== Socialist countries =====		===== Socialist countries =====

Verda.Majo: /* Independent African countries */ added some information to this section and added a map

2026-03-08T13:08:03Z

Independent African countries: added some information to this section and added a map

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:08, 8 March 2026
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	===== Independent African countries =====		===== Independent African countries =====
			[[File:Map detail of southern Africa with independence dates.png\|alt=A map detail showing southern African countries with their formal dates of independence. Includes Tanzania (1961), Malawi (1964), Zambia (1964), Botswana (1966), Lesotho (1966), Swaziland (1968), Angola (1975), Mozambique (1975), Zimbabwe (1980), Namibia (1990). South Africa is labelled saying "Union in 1910 and de facto independence in 1931."\|thumb\|291x291px\|A map detail showing countries in southern Africa with their formal dates of independence.]]
			By the mid-1960s, Zimbabwe's neighboring countries Zambia and Botswana had gained formal independence from European colonialism. Later, in 1975, Mozambique and Angola gained independence. Though not an immediate neighbor of Zimbabwe, Tanzania also had involvement in various international negotiation proceedings and provided various forms of support to national liberation movements in Africa, including Zimbabwe's.<ref>{{Citation\|author=Chambi Chachage, Annar Cassam (Eds.)\|year=2010\|title=Africa's Liberation\|title-url=https://library.memoryoftheworld.org/#/book/18959308-a6be-48b2-bfbc-3d07deb88357\|chapter=Mwalimu Julius Nyerere: an intellectual in power (Haroub Othman)\|page=38-9\|quote=Frelimo was founded in Tanzania; the ANC, after its banning in South Africa, opened its first external mission in Tanzania; and MOLINACO, MPLA, ZANU, ZAPU, PAC and many others had Tanzania's full support. In the UN Decolonisation Committee (known as the Committee of 24), Tanzania's then permanent representative to the UN, Salim Ahmed Salim, held the chairmanship for several years. [...] Tanzania's support to the liberation movements was not only manifested in the political and diplomatic arenas but also in the material and military fields.\|publisher=Pambazuka Press}}</ref> The group of anti-apartheid independent African countries known as the [[Frontline States]] included Zambia, Tanzania, Botswana, Mozambique, and Angola—with Zimbabwe joining them after 1980.<ref>{{Citation\|author=Carol B. Thompson\|year=1985\|title=Challenge to Imperialism: The Frontline States in the Liberation of Zimbabwe}}</ref>

	===== Socialist countries =====		===== Socialist countries =====

Verda.Majo: small additions to the economy section regarding sanctions, debt, and austerity/structural adjustment

2026-03-07T13:52:02Z

small additions to the economy section regarding sanctions, debt, and austerity/structural adjustment

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:52, 7 March 2026
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	According to Chidiebere C. Ogbonna in the African Research Review, from 1966 until the present, "Zimbabwe at one time or another has been under sanctions either by the United Nations the United States, the European Union or all the aforementioned. In total, Zimbabwe has been sanctioned in seven sanction-episodes: 1966, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2009, making it one of the most sanctioned countries in the world." Ogbonna states that in a simple analysis, Zimbabwe has become a regular candidate of the "sanctions industry."<ref>Chidiebere C Ogbonna [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319870565_Targeted_or_Restrictive_Impact_of_US_and_EU_Sanctions_on_Education_and_Healthcare_of_Zimbabweans "Targeted or Restrictive: Impact of U.S. and EU Sanctions on Education and Healthcare of Zimbabweans."] September 2017, African Research Review 11(3):31 DOI:10.4314/afrrev.v11i3.4</ref>		According to Chidiebere C. Ogbonna in the African Research Review, from 1966 until the present, "Zimbabwe at one time or another has been under sanctions either by the United Nations the United States, the European Union or all the aforementioned. In total, Zimbabwe has been sanctioned in seven sanction-episodes: 1966, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2009, making it one of the most sanctioned countries in the world." Ogbonna states that in a simple analysis, Zimbabwe has become a regular candidate of the "sanctions industry."<ref>Chidiebere C Ogbonna [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319870565_Targeted_or_Restrictive_Impact_of_US_and_EU_Sanctions_on_Education_and_Healthcare_of_Zimbabweans "Targeted or Restrictive: Impact of U.S. and EU Sanctions on Education and Healthcare of Zimbabweans."] September 2017, African Research Review 11(3):31 DOI:10.4314/afrrev.v11i3.4</ref>

	According to a 2022 article by [[Xinhua\|Xinhua News]], the U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwe have accumulated since 2001, following a government decision to repossess land from minority white farmers for redistribution to landless indigenous Zimbabweans. The Xinhua article notes that though the Zimbabwean government said the land reform would promote democracy and the economy, "Western countries launched repeated sanctions with little regard for the average person's suffering." Linda Masarira, president of the Labour Economists and Afrikan Democrats (LEAD) political party, said sanctions have been used as a tool of economic warfare against Zimbabwe, and that sanctioning Zimbabwe "was an action that the United States of America decided to do on Zimbabwe to ensure that they make our economy scream, they make things hard for Zimbabweans and imply that black Zimbabweans, native Zimbabweans cannot do their own farming, or run their own economy."<ref>Tichaona Chifamba, Zhang Yuliang, Cao Kai. [https://english.news.cn/20220711/5ed659ab8a7e40c5a2baa116589bcede/c.html "Two-decade-old U.S. sanctions leave Zimbabweans suffering, triggering protests".] Xinhua. 2022-07-11. [https://web.archive.org/web/20220909064843/https://english.news.cn/20220711/5ed659ab8a7e40c5a2baa116589bcede/c.html Archived] 2022-09-09.</ref>		According to a 2022 article by [[Xinhua\|Xinhua News]], the U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwe have accumulated since 2001, following a government decision to repossess land from minority white farmers for redistribution to landless indigenous Zimbabweans. The Xinhua article notes that though the Zimbabwean government said the land reform would promote democracy and the economy, "Western countries launched repeated sanctions with little regard for the average person's suffering."<ref name=":26" />

			Linda Masarira, president of the Labour Economists and Afrikan Democrats (LEAD) political party, said sanctions have been used as a tool of economic warfare against Zimbabwe, and that sanctioning Zimbabwe "was an action that the United States of America decided to do on Zimbabwe to ensure that they make our economy scream, they make things hard for Zimbabweans and imply that black Zimbabweans, native Zimbabweans cannot do their own farming, or run their own economy."<ref name=":26">Tichaona Chifamba, Zhang Yuliang, Cao Kai. [https://english.news.cn/20220711/5ed659ab8a7e40c5a2baa116589bcede/c.html "Two-decade-old U.S. sanctions leave Zimbabweans suffering, triggering protests".] Xinhua. 2022-07-11. [https://web.archive.org/web/20220909064843/https://english.news.cn/20220711/5ed659ab8a7e40c5a2baa116589bcede/c.html Archived] 2022-09-09.</ref>

			As observed by writer Mafa Kwanisai Mafa, Zimbabwe's response to the disastrous effects of tropical cyclone Idai in 2019 could have been better had it not been for sanctions hampering Zimbabwe's medical system and delivery of other services.<ref>{{Web citation\|author=Mafa Kwanisai Mafa\|newspaper=Hampton Institute\|title=Disaster in Zimbabwe: Cyclone Idai, Climate Change, and Capitalism's Assault on the Global South\|date=2019-04-20\|url=https://www.hamptonthink.org/read/disaster-in-zimbabwe-cyclone-idai-climate-change-and-capitalisms-assault-on-the-global-south\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002151831/https://www.hamptonthink.org/read/disaster-in-zimbabwe-cyclone-idai-climate-change-and-capitalisms-assault-on-the-global-south\|archive-date=2020-10-02\|quote=If Zimbabwe was not under sanctions, its response to Cyclone Idai could have been much better. Destruction could have been avoided; lives could have been saved. Like every nation under US sanctions, Zimbabwe is experiencing failing healthcare, dwindling government coffers, failed service delivery, and food and basics shortages.}}</ref>

			=== Debt ===
			At independence in 1980, under international pressure, Zimbabwe took on $700 million in debt from the former Rhodesian regime.<ref>{{Web citation\|author=Mafa Kwanisai Mafa\|newspaper=Hampton Institute\|title=Disaster in Zimbabwe: Cyclone Idai, Climate Change, and Capitalism's Assault on the Global South\|date=2019-04-20\|url=https://www.hamptonthink.org/read/disaster-in-zimbabwe-cyclone-idai-climate-change-and-capitalisms-assault-on-the-global-south\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002151831/https://www.hamptonthink.org/read/disaster-in-zimbabwe-cyclone-idai-climate-change-and-capitalisms-assault-on-the-global-south\|archive-date=2020-10-02\|quote=Zimbabwe at independence adopted the Rhodesian debt whose money was used kill the black people in their quest for freedom and self-determination. South Africa also adopted the Apartheid debt which it is still paying up to this day - a debt whose money was used to oppress butcher them with impunity.}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Debt Justice\|title=Zimbabwe\|url=https://debtjustice.org.uk/countries/zimbabwe\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260307132052/https://debtjustice.org.uk/countries/zimbabwe\|archive-date=2026-03-07\|quote=At Zimbabwe’s birth in 1980, the country inherited a $700 million debt from the Rhodesian government of Ian Smith. The loans had been used to buy weapons in the 1970s, breaking UN sanctions. The new government came under international pressure to take on the debt, whilst being promised over $2 billion by western governments for reconstruction and development. Most of the aid money never materialised. Instead new loans were taken out to pay the Rhodesian debts, fund post-war reconstruction and cope with a large drought in the early 1980s.}}</ref>

			=== Austerity ===
			In the 1990s, Zimbabwe undertook the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP), which entailed neoliberal structural adjustment.<ref>{{Citation\|author=A. S. Mlambo\|year=1997\|title=The Economic Structural Adjustment Programme: The Case of Zimbabwe, 1990-1995\|title-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289336044_The_Economic_Structural_Adjustment_Programme_The_Case_of_Zimbabwe_1990-1995\|publisher=University of Zimbabwe Publications\|isbn=0-908307-72-1}}</ref><ref>{{Web citation\|author=Thabani Mahubaba\|newspaper=Zimbabwean Patriot\|title=ESAP: The Genesis of Zimbabwe’s Economic Turmoil at the Hands of the West\|date=2025-05-03\|url=https://zimbabweanpatriot.co.zw/2025/05/03/esap-the-genesis-of-zimbabwes-economic-turmoil-at-the-hands-of-the-west/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260124172446/https://zimbabweanpatriot.co.zw/2025/05/03/esap-the-genesis-of-zimbabwes-economic-turmoil-at-the-hands-of-the-west/\|archive-date=2026-01-24}}</ref>

	== Further reading ==		== Further reading ==

Verda.Majo: /* International context */ expanded section

2026-03-03T14:41:46Z

International context: expanded section

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:41, 3 March 2026
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	==== International context ====		==== International context ====
	Throughout the time period which the Second Chimurenga spanned, Zimbabwe's neighboring countries in southern Africa were also undergoing revolutionary struggles, with various interactions between the movements of the respective countries as well as between their governments at the time. The status of the various national liberation movements, independent African states, and reactionary colonizer regimes of the region and the shifting situations within each of these countries over time impacted each other's revolutions in a variety of ways.<ref>{{Web citation\|author=Ngwabi M Bhebe\|newspaper=Herald Online Sunday News\|title=Frontline States and African liberation\|date=2015-05-17\|url=https://www.heraldonline.co.zw/frontline-states-and-african-liberation/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260215161745/https://www.heraldonline.co.zw/frontline-states-and-african-liberation/\|archive-date=2026-02-15}}</ref> Beyond the region itself, the machinations and internal affairs of imperial core countries and the impacts of the [[Sino-Soviet split]] would also come to have an effect on the liberation movements in southern Africa.<ref>{{Citation\|author=Alexandr Voevodskiy\|title=Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and Africa\|title-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370096258_7_The_Sino-Soviet_Split_and_Soviet_Policy_towards_Southern_African_Liberation_Movements_in_the_early_1960s\|chapter=The Sino-Soviet Split and Soviet Policy towards Southern African Liberation Movements in the early 1960s\|page=179-198\|quote=The Soviet-Chinese split had a significant impact on the activities of the Southern African liberation movements. [...] The ideological disputes [...] placed the Africans in the position of having to choose one of the conflicting parties. This situation was extremely inconvenient, since in their struggle against the colonial and racist regimes in Southern Africa, the liberation movements counted on the support of both the USSR and China. [...] The USSR, for one reason or another, refused to give assistance to such organizations as ZANU, PAC, SWANU, Coremo, etc. Initially, these organizations did not reject the possibility of cooperation with the Soviet Union. At the Afro-Asian forums and meetings with Soviet representatives, they asked for various kinds of assistance and for their students to be accepted for training in Soviet educational institutions. However, each time they ran into a blank wall. The USSR, relying on the ANC, ZAPU, SWAPO, FRELIMO, and MPLA, could not cooperate with competing groups. Their orientation towards Beijing closed the possibility of cooperation with the USSR and its closest allies.}}</ref>		Throughout the time period which the Second Chimurenga spanned, Zimbabwe's neighboring countries in southern Africa were also undergoing revolutionary struggles, with various interactions between the movements of the respective countries as well as between their governments at the time. As differing organizations within Zimbabwe's national liberation movement would be aided or at times hindered by different countries internationally, as well as establish headquarters in exile and guerrilla training operations in different countries, it is important to note the international context at various points in the struggle. The status of the various national liberation movements, independent African states, and reactionary colonizer regimes of the region and the shifting situations within each of these countries over time impacted each other's revolutions in a variety of ways.<ref>{{Web citation\|author=Ngwabi M Bhebe\|newspaper=Herald Online Sunday News\|title=Frontline States and African liberation\|date=2015-05-17\|url=https://www.heraldonline.co.zw/frontline-states-and-african-liberation/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260215161745/https://www.heraldonline.co.zw/frontline-states-and-african-liberation/\|archive-date=2026-02-15}}</ref> Beyond the region itself, the machinations and internal affairs of imperial core countries, the overall dynamics of the [[Cold War]], and the impacts of the [[Sino-Soviet split]] would also come to have an effect on the liberation movements in southern Africa.<ref>{{Citation\|author=Alexandr Voevodskiy\|title=Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and Africa\|title-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370096258_7_The_Sino-Soviet_Split_and_Soviet_Policy_towards_Southern_African_Liberation_Movements_in_the_early_1960s\|chapter=The Sino-Soviet Split and Soviet Policy towards Southern African Liberation Movements in the early 1960s\|page=179-198\|quote=The Soviet-Chinese split had a significant impact on the activities of the Southern African liberation movements. [...] The ideological disputes [...] placed the Africans in the position of having to choose one of the conflicting parties. This situation was extremely inconvenient, since in their struggle against the colonial and racist regimes in Southern Africa, the liberation movements counted on the support of both the USSR and China. [...] The USSR, for one reason or another, refused to give assistance to such organizations as ZANU, PAC, SWANU, Coremo, etc. Initially, these organizations did not reject the possibility of cooperation with the Soviet Union. At the Afro-Asian forums and meetings with Soviet representatives, they asked for various kinds of assistance and for their students to be accepted for training in Soviet educational institutions. However, each time they ran into a blank wall. The USSR, relying on the ANC, ZAPU, SWAPO, FRELIMO, and MPLA, could not cooperate with competing groups. Their orientation towards Beijing closed the possibility of cooperation with the USSR and its closest allies.}}</ref>

	~~The settler~~-colonial regimes of southern Africa included South Africa, Zimbabwe (then "Rhodesia"), and [[Republic of Namibia\|Namibia]] ("South West Africa")—with Namibia having come under the control of South Africa following World War I. In South Africa and Namibia, the theory of supposed "separate development" was enforced under the racial segregation of apartheid, while ~~a de facto form of~~ apartheid was enforced in Rhodesia, ~~though~~ the settler regime claimed supposed theoretical distinctions from South African apartheid.<ref>{{Citation\|author=Aquino de Bragança and Immanuel Wallerstein\|year=1982\|title=The African Liberation Reader, Volume 1\|title-url=https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Library:The_African_Liberation_Reader,_Volume_1:_The_Anatomy_of_Colonialism\|chapter=The Rule of White Settlers\|quote=As a direct consequence, a particularly sharp and explicit form of racial discrimination developed, known in South Africa as apartheid. It was in theory a system of 'separate development', and one which applied to both South Africa and Namibia. While the government in power in Rhodesia made some theoretical distinctions between its own laws and those of South Africa, the position of the national liberation movements was that these distinctions were paper ones, the reality being substantially the same.}}</ref> ~~Other neighboring~~ countries were under colonial rule by Portugal, a situation which saw a significant shift after April 1974, when a coup d'etat occurred in Portugal.<ref>{{Web citation\|author=Vijay Prashad\|newspaper=Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research\|title=How Africa’s National Liberation Struggles Brought Democracy to Europe: The Seventeenth Newsletter (2024)\|date=2024-04-25\|url=https://thetricontinental.org/newsletterissue/carnation-revolution/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250923184527/https://thetricontinental.org/newsletterissue/carnation-revolution/\|quote=The soldiers were fed up with the colonial wars, which – despite the great brutality of the Estado Novo – had failed to quell the ambitions of the people of Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe. The advances made by the African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC), Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO), and People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) were considerable, with Portugal’s army losing more soldiers than at any time since the eighteenth century. [...] Portugal’s social revolution of 1974–1975 swept large majorities of people into a new sensibility, but the state refused to capitulate. It inaugurated the Third Republic, whose presidents all came from the ranks of the military and the National Salvation Junta: António de Spínola (April–September 1974), Francisco da Costa Gomes (September 1974–July 1976), and António Ramalho Eanes (July 1976–March 1986). These were not men from the ranks, but the old generals. Nonetheless, they were eventually forced to surrender the old structures of Estado Novo colonialism and withdraw from their colonies in Africa.}}</ref>		===== Colonial regimes =====
			[[File:Map of military activity in Zimbabwe circa 1974-1979.png\|alt=A map of Zimbabwe which shows ZANU/ZANLA bases in neighboring Mozambique and ZAPU/ZIPRA bases in neighboring Zambia as well as "infiltration routes" from those countries into Zimbabwe.\|thumb\|292x292px\|A map published by United States Army showing "insurgent staging and operational areas" in Zimbabwe (labelled "Rhodesia") from 1974-1979, including ZANU/ZANLA bases in Mozambique and ZAPU/ZIPRA bases in Zambia.]]
			At the start of the Second Chimurenga, colonial regimes of southern Africa included South Africa, Zimbabwe (then "Rhodesia"), and [[Republic of Namibia\|Namibia]] ("South West Africa")—with Namibia having come under the control of South Africa following World War I—as well as [[Republic of Angola\|Angola]] and [[Republic of Mozambique\|Mozambique]] (the latter two becoming independent from [[Portuguese Republic\|Portuguese]] colonial rule in 1975).<ref name=":23" /><ref name=":24" />

			In South Africa and Namibia, the theory of supposed "separate development" was enforced under the racial segregation of apartheid, while apartheid was enforced in Rhodesia in all but name, as the settler regime there claimed some supposed theoretical distinctions from South African apartheid.<ref name=":23">{{Citation\|author=Aquino de Bragança and Immanuel Wallerstein\|year=1982\|title=The African Liberation Reader, Volume 1\|title-url=https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Library:The_African_Liberation_Reader,_Volume_1:_The_Anatomy_of_Colonialism\|chapter=The Rule of White Settlers\|quote=As a direct consequence, a particularly sharp and explicit form of racial discrimination developed, known in South Africa as apartheid. It was in theory a system of 'separate development', and one which applied to both South Africa and Namibia. While the government in power in Rhodesia made some theoretical distinctions between its own laws and those of South Africa, the position of the national liberation movements was that these distinctions were paper ones, the reality being substantially the same.}}</ref> The South African liberation organization ANC's armed wing and Zimbabwe's liberation organization ZAPU's armed wing collaborated with one another, notably in clandestinely moving cadres from South Africa through "Rhodesia" on their way to Tanzania, as well as in joint armed engagements with the reactionary Rhodesian settler forces.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=South African History Online\|title=uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) in exile\|date=2019-12-04\|url=https://sahistory.org.za/article/umkhonto-wesizwe-mk-exile\|quote=ZIPRA helped MK cadres to cross into Northern Rhodesia, from where they found their way into Tanzania. The same process was repeated in reverse when trained cadres were returning to South Africa. [...] The ANC was ideologically closer to ZAPU as both political formations were aligned to the Soviet Union’s brand of communism. In fact members MK and ZIPRA, the military wings of the ANC and ZAPU respectively, trained in the Soviet Union and German Democratic Republic (GDR). Furthermore, they had bases and safe-houses in similar countries, such as Angola and Zambia. [...] The cooperation between the two movements culminated in the launch of the Wankie and Sipolilo Campaigns in 1967-68.}}</ref>

			Angola and Mozambique were under colonial rule by Portugal, a situation which saw a significant shift after April 1974, when a [[Coup d'état\|coup d'etat]] occurred in Portugal. The ongoing national liberation movements and Portugal's domestic coup d'etat caused Portugal to lose grip on its colonial rule by 1975.<ref name=":24">{{Web citation\|author=Vijay Prashad\|newspaper=Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research\|title=How Africa’s National Liberation Struggles Brought Democracy to Europe: The Seventeenth Newsletter (2024)\|date=2024-04-25\|url=https://thetricontinental.org/newsletterissue/carnation-revolution/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250923184527/https://thetricontinental.org/newsletterissue/carnation-revolution/\|quote=The soldiers were fed up with the colonial wars, which – despite the great brutality of the Estado Novo – had failed to quell the ambitions of the people of Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe. The advances made by the African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC), Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO), and People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) were considerable, with Portugal’s army losing more soldiers than at any time since the eighteenth century. [...] Portugal’s social revolution of 1974–1975 swept large majorities of people into a new sensibility, but the state refused to capitulate. It inaugurated the Third Republic, whose presidents all came from the ranks of the military and the National Salvation Junta: António de Spínola (April–September 1974), Francisco da Costa Gomes (September 1974–July 1976), and António Ramalho Eanes (July 1976–March 1986). These were not men from the ranks, but the old generals. Nonetheless, they were eventually forced to surrender the old structures of Estado Novo colonialism and withdraw from their colonies in Africa.}}</ref><ref name=":25">{{Citation\|author=Aquino de Bragança and Immanuel Wallerstein\|year=1982\|title=The African Liberation Reader, Volume 1: The Anatomy of Colonialism\|title-url=https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Library:The_African_Liberation_Reader,_Volume_1:_The_Anatomy_of_Colonialism\|chapter=Preface\|quote=[W]e believe that the Portuguese Revolution and the Independence, particularly of Angola and Mozambique, constituted an historical turning-point for the national liberation movements of Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa as well.}}</ref> This led to a change in the dynamic of the region in general,<ref name=":25" /> but also in Zimbabwe's liberation struggle in particular, as neighboring Mozambique was a major area in which ZANLA guerrillas were operating from. Chimoio camp was ZANLA's headquarters in Mozambique.<ref>{{Web citation\|author=Chakamwe Chakamwe\|newspaper=The Patriot\|title=The Chimoio attack and ZANLA’s revenge: Part 1\|date=2025-12-11\|url=https://www.thepatriot.co.zw/analysis/the-chimoio-attack-and-zanlas-revenge-part-1/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260109025235/https://www.thepatriot.co.zw/analysis/the-chimoio-attack-and-zanlas-revenge-part-1/\|archive-date=2026-01-09}}</ref>

			===== Independent African countries =====

			===== Socialist countries =====

			===== Imperialist countries =====

			===== Foreign mercenaries =====

	==== Beginning ====		==== Beginning ====

Verda.Majo: /* Second Chimurenga */ started an "international context" section, intending to expand more soon

2026-03-03T11:34:07Z

Second Chimurenga: started an "international context" section, intending to expand more soon

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:34, 3 March 2026
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	Analyses of the Second Chimurenga sometimes break the war into two or three phases based on the tactics, activity level, and international relations of the liberation forces in a given period. The 1960s typically mark the first phase wherein the guerrillas engaged somewhat sporadically and lacked experience, while the early 1970s marks the second phase in which there was a change of tactics.<ref>{{Citation\|author=David Martin and Phyllis Johnson\|year=1981\|title=Struggle for Zimbabwe\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/STRUGGLEFORZIMBABWE1stEdition/\|page=xvi-xvii\|quote=This book concentrates on the decisive phase of the struggle, from 21 December 1972, when a squad of nine ZANLA guerrillas attacked a settler farm in north-eastern Rhodesia. This attack marked the change from the sporadic, and militarily ineffectual, actions of the Sixties, to protracted armed struggle.}}</ref> Analyses also note a period of attempted negotiations and detente from 1974-5<ref>{{Citation\|author=Robert Gabriel Mugabe\|title=Our War of Liberation\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/robert-mugabe-our-war-of-liberation/\|chapter=The Role of ZANU in the Struggle: Address to the Guild of Mozambican Journalists in Maputo: October 28, 1978\|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/robert-mugabe-our-war-of-liberation/page/n45/\|quote=The detente exercise of 1974—75 was clearly aimed at destroying our struggle with its emphasis as it was, on the ceasefire. We are glad that the Frontline Presidents now admit that they were wrong in insisting on a ceasefire as this gave an advantage to Smith. But ZANU suffered setbacks through the loss of its Chairman, Comrade Chitepo, and subsequent arrests which neutralised our fighters.}}</ref> (which also resulted in notable prisoner releases of nationalist leaders including Joshua Nkomo, Robert Mugabe, and Ndabaningi Sithole),<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Pindula\|title=Second Chimurenga\|url=https://www.pindula.co.zw/Second_Chimurenga/#The_Detente_Period\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250304083502/https://www.pindula.co.zw/Second_Chimurenga/#The_Detente_Period\|archive-date=2025-03-04\|quote=It was a period between 1974-1975 when the liberation struggle had gone on abeyance. It was during this period when Kenneth Kaunda the then president of Zambia which was part of the Frontline States and John Voster the then president of South Africa were making efforts to bring the liberation struggle to a halt to pave way for independence through political negotiations.}}</ref> and some mark the mid-to-late 1970s as a third phase.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Pamusoroi!\|title=The Second Chimurenga (ca. 1964)\|url=https://pamusoroi.com/today-in-history/the-second-chimurenga-ca-1964\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250304082820/https://pamusoroi.com/today-in-history/the-second-chimurenga-ca-1964\|archive-date=2025-03-04\|quote=The first phase of the Bush war, which lasted from 1966 to 1970, was a turning point of the liberation struggle and focused on disrupting law and order ... The second phase of Chimurenga II (1971-1973) prioritized clandestine countryside infiltration; raising peasant awareness; self-reliance in recruitment, training, and logistics; establishing the process of seizing power; constitutional development; and preparing for a protracted hit-and-run war to exhaust and liquidate the Rhodesian regime ... The third phase of Chimurenga II (1974-1979) entailed a protracted intensification of military action, with Mozambique’s 1975 independence improving the ZANLA’s geopolitical situation and ability to expand the war, institutionalize ethos of purposeful transformation in its liberated zones, and access the midlands where the ZIPRA was already operating. An upsurge of peasants to front line states overwhelmed refugee camps, pressuring the ZANLA and the ZIPRA to shorten guerrilla-training periods.}}</ref>		Analyses of the Second Chimurenga sometimes break the war into two or three phases based on the tactics, activity level, and international relations of the liberation forces in a given period. The 1960s typically mark the first phase wherein the guerrillas engaged somewhat sporadically and lacked experience, while the early 1970s marks the second phase in which there was a change of tactics.<ref>{{Citation\|author=David Martin and Phyllis Johnson\|year=1981\|title=Struggle for Zimbabwe\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/STRUGGLEFORZIMBABWE1stEdition/\|page=xvi-xvii\|quote=This book concentrates on the decisive phase of the struggle, from 21 December 1972, when a squad of nine ZANLA guerrillas attacked a settler farm in north-eastern Rhodesia. This attack marked the change from the sporadic, and militarily ineffectual, actions of the Sixties, to protracted armed struggle.}}</ref> Analyses also note a period of attempted negotiations and detente from 1974-5<ref>{{Citation\|author=Robert Gabriel Mugabe\|title=Our War of Liberation\|title-url=https://archive.org/details/robert-mugabe-our-war-of-liberation/\|chapter=The Role of ZANU in the Struggle: Address to the Guild of Mozambican Journalists in Maputo: October 28, 1978\|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/robert-mugabe-our-war-of-liberation/page/n45/\|quote=The detente exercise of 1974—75 was clearly aimed at destroying our struggle with its emphasis as it was, on the ceasefire. We are glad that the Frontline Presidents now admit that they were wrong in insisting on a ceasefire as this gave an advantage to Smith. But ZANU suffered setbacks through the loss of its Chairman, Comrade Chitepo, and subsequent arrests which neutralised our fighters.}}</ref> (which also resulted in notable prisoner releases of nationalist leaders including Joshua Nkomo, Robert Mugabe, and Ndabaningi Sithole),<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Pindula\|title=Second Chimurenga\|url=https://www.pindula.co.zw/Second_Chimurenga/#The_Detente_Period\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250304083502/https://www.pindula.co.zw/Second_Chimurenga/#The_Detente_Period\|archive-date=2025-03-04\|quote=It was a period between 1974-1975 when the liberation struggle had gone on abeyance. It was during this period when Kenneth Kaunda the then president of Zambia which was part of the Frontline States and John Voster the then president of South Africa were making efforts to bring the liberation struggle to a halt to pave way for independence through political negotiations.}}</ref> and some mark the mid-to-late 1970s as a third phase.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=Pamusoroi!\|title=The Second Chimurenga (ca. 1964)\|url=https://pamusoroi.com/today-in-history/the-second-chimurenga-ca-1964\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250304082820/https://pamusoroi.com/today-in-history/the-second-chimurenga-ca-1964\|archive-date=2025-03-04\|quote=The first phase of the Bush war, which lasted from 1966 to 1970, was a turning point of the liberation struggle and focused on disrupting law and order ... The second phase of Chimurenga II (1971-1973) prioritized clandestine countryside infiltration; raising peasant awareness; self-reliance in recruitment, training, and logistics; establishing the process of seizing power; constitutional development; and preparing for a protracted hit-and-run war to exhaust and liquidate the Rhodesian regime ... The third phase of Chimurenga II (1974-1979) entailed a protracted intensification of military action, with Mozambique’s 1975 independence improving the ZANLA’s geopolitical situation and ability to expand the war, institutionalize ethos of purposeful transformation in its liberated zones, and access the midlands where the ZIPRA was already operating. An upsurge of peasants to front line states overwhelmed refugee camps, pressuring the ZANLA and the ZIPRA to shorten guerrilla-training periods.}}</ref>

			==== International context ====
			Throughout the time period which the Second Chimurenga spanned, Zimbabwe's neighboring countries in southern Africa were also undergoing revolutionary struggles, with various interactions between the movements of the respective countries as well as between their governments at the time. The status of the various national liberation movements, independent African states, and reactionary colonizer regimes of the region and the shifting situations within each of these countries over time impacted each other's revolutions in a variety of ways.<ref>{{Web citation\|author=Ngwabi M Bhebe\|newspaper=Herald Online Sunday News\|title=Frontline States and African liberation\|date=2015-05-17\|url=https://www.heraldonline.co.zw/frontline-states-and-african-liberation/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260215161745/https://www.heraldonline.co.zw/frontline-states-and-african-liberation/\|archive-date=2026-02-15}}</ref> Beyond the region itself, the machinations and internal affairs of imperial core countries and the impacts of the [[Sino-Soviet split]] would also come to have an effect on the liberation movements in southern Africa.<ref>{{Citation\|author=Alexandr Voevodskiy\|title=Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and Africa\|title-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370096258_7_The_Sino-Soviet_Split_and_Soviet_Policy_towards_Southern_African_Liberation_Movements_in_the_early_1960s\|chapter=The Sino-Soviet Split and Soviet Policy towards Southern African Liberation Movements in the early 1960s\|page=179-198\|quote=The Soviet-Chinese split had a significant impact on the activities of the Southern African liberation movements. [...] The ideological disputes [...] placed the Africans in the position of having to choose one of the conflicting parties. This situation was extremely inconvenient, since in their struggle against the colonial and racist regimes in Southern Africa, the liberation movements counted on the support of both the USSR and China. [...] The USSR, for one reason or another, refused to give assistance to such organizations as ZANU, PAC, SWANU, Coremo, etc. Initially, these organizations did not reject the possibility of cooperation with the Soviet Union. At the Afro-Asian forums and meetings with Soviet representatives, they asked for various kinds of assistance and for their students to be accepted for training in Soviet educational institutions. However, each time they ran into a blank wall. The USSR, relying on the ANC, ZAPU, SWAPO, FRELIMO, and MPLA, could not cooperate with competing groups. Their orientation towards Beijing closed the possibility of cooperation with the USSR and its closest allies.}}</ref>

			The settler-colonial regimes of southern Africa included South Africa, Zimbabwe (then "Rhodesia"), and [[Republic of Namibia\|Namibia]] ("South West Africa")—with Namibia having come under the control of South Africa following World War I. In South Africa and Namibia, the theory of supposed "separate development" was enforced under the racial segregation of apartheid, while a de facto form of apartheid was enforced in Rhodesia, though the settler regime claimed supposed theoretical distinctions from South African apartheid.<ref>{{Citation\|author=Aquino de Bragança and Immanuel Wallerstein\|year=1982\|title=The African Liberation Reader, Volume 1\|title-url=https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Library:The_African_Liberation_Reader,_Volume_1:_The_Anatomy_of_Colonialism\|chapter=The Rule of White Settlers\|quote=As a direct consequence, a particularly sharp and explicit form of racial discrimination developed, known in South Africa as apartheid. It was in theory a system of 'separate development', and one which applied to both South Africa and Namibia. While the government in power in Rhodesia made some theoretical distinctions between its own laws and those of South Africa, the position of the national liberation movements was that these distinctions were paper ones, the reality being substantially the same.}}</ref> Other neighboring countries were under colonial rule by Portugal, a situation which saw a significant shift after April 1974, when a coup d'etat occurred in Portugal.<ref>{{Web citation\|author=Vijay Prashad\|newspaper=Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research\|title=How Africa’s National Liberation Struggles Brought Democracy to Europe: The Seventeenth Newsletter (2024)\|date=2024-04-25\|url=https://thetricontinental.org/newsletterissue/carnation-revolution/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250923184527/https://thetricontinental.org/newsletterissue/carnation-revolution/\|quote=The soldiers were fed up with the colonial wars, which – despite the great brutality of the Estado Novo – had failed to quell the ambitions of the people of Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe. The advances made by the African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC), Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO), and People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) were considerable, with Portugal’s army losing more soldiers than at any time since the eighteenth century. [...] Portugal’s social revolution of 1974–1975 swept large majorities of people into a new sensibility, but the state refused to capitulate. It inaugurated the Third Republic, whose presidents all came from the ranks of the military and the National Salvation Junta: António de Spínola (April–September 1974), Francisco da Costa Gomes (September 1974–July 1976), and António Ramalho Eanes (July 1976–March 1986). These were not men from the ranks, but the old generals. Nonetheless, they were eventually forced to surrender the old structures of Estado Novo colonialism and withdraw from their colonies in Africa.}}</ref>

			==== Beginning ====
	On April 28, 1966, in what is known as the battle of Chinhoyi,<ref>{{Web citation\|author=Tichaona Zindoga\|newspaper=The Herald\|title=Chinhoyi Battle: The last man standing\|date=2015-04-29\|url=https://www.herald.co.zw/chinhoyi-battle-the-last-man-standing/}}</ref> a squad of seven guerrillas of the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA), the military wing of ZANU, engaged in a twelve-hour battle with Rhodesian security forces which were backed by helicopter gunships, with the guerrillas eventually losing their lives in the battle. Although previous acts of resistance had occurred, the Chinhoyi battle is considered to be the first act of the armed struggle in Zimbabwe's liberation war.<ref name=":9" />		On April 28, 1966, in what is known as the battle of Chinhoyi,<ref>{{Web citation\|author=Tichaona Zindoga\|newspaper=The Herald\|title=Chinhoyi Battle: The last man standing\|date=2015-04-29\|url=https://www.herald.co.zw/chinhoyi-battle-the-last-man-standing/}}</ref> a squad of seven guerrillas of the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA), the military wing of ZANU, engaged in a twelve-hour battle with Rhodesian security forces which were backed by helicopter gunships, with the guerrillas eventually losing their lives in the battle. Although previous acts of resistance had occurred, the Chinhoyi battle is considered to be the first act of the armed struggle in Zimbabwe's liberation war.<ref name=":9" />

Verda.Majo: /* Rhodesian Front */ added a quote from Struggles Within the Struggle analyzing the context of RF's victory and the author's analysis of differences among the nationalist movement at the time contributing to the later split of ZAPU

2026-02-18T02:20:50Z

Rhodesian Front: added a quote from Struggles Within the Struggle analyzing the context of RF's victory and the author's analysis of differences among the nationalist movement at the time contributing to the later split of ZAPU

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:20, 18 February 2026
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	==== Rhodesian Front ====		==== Rhodesian Front ====
	By March of 1962, the Rhodesian Front (RF) party was formed. ZAPU was banned in September of 1962, with RF later winning the December 1962 elections.<ref name=":9" />		By March of 1962, the Rhodesian Front (RF) party was formed. ZAPU was banned in September of 1962, with RF later winning the December 1962 elections.<ref name=":9" /> Author Masipula Sithole contextualized RF's 1962 victory within the shifting sentiments of the white settler population over time as reflected in their successive regimes, writing that "the 'liberal' regime of [[Garfield Todd]] had been replaced by the 'not-so liberal' regime of [[Edgar Whitehead]], which, in turn, had been swept away in a rising tide of white right wing [[Reactionary\|reaction]] resulting in the Rhodesia Front victory in the 1962 elections. White attitudes were hardening and the election was won on a [[white supremacy]] platform."<ref name=":22">{{Citation\|author=Masipula Sithole\|year=2015\|title=Zimbabwe: Struggles-within-the-Struggle\|title-url=https://z-lib.sk/book/ozl8G3P0zv/zimbabwe-struggleswithinthestruggle-19571980.html\|city=Harare\|publisher=Rujeko Publishers\|isbn=0-7974-1935-7}}</ref>

			In Sithole's view, the split in ZAPU which would occur in the following year must be seen with this rising tide of right wing reaction in the settler population and government as its context. Sithole writes:<blockquote>Politics of petitions and constitution-demanding could have flourished generally during liberal or quasi-liberal regimes. But the Rhodesia of 1962 and beyond demanded different responses. Some among the nationalists saw this phenomenon, but others did not. Some saw it but were afraid, while others were not. Some accepted the challenge, but others could not. Some thought the situation called for cautious manipulation of the international environment, while others felt that direct action of a radical sort was the only option realistically left for resolving the problem.<ref name=":22" /></blockquote>In Sithole's view, although there was a rising consciousness about the need for radical approaches to decolonization and desettlerization among the African nationalists, including among ZAPU leaders, in his evaluation, it is necessary to draw a distinction between those who could "see 'what needs to be done'" versus those who would "do what needs to be done" when seeking to understand the rifts that would develop in the nationalist movement.<ref name=":22" />

	==== Zimbabwe African National Union ====		==== Zimbabwe African National Union ====

Verda.Majo: slight expansion of Second Chimurenga section; moved "sanctions" section under "economy"; added a "further reading" section

2026-02-08T10:50:46Z

slight expansion of Second Chimurenga section; moved "sanctions" section under "economy"; added a "further reading" section

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:50, 8 February 2026
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	=== Second Chimurenga ===		=== Second Chimurenga ===
	[[File:An artistic depiction of a pungwe meeting in Zimbabwe.png\|alt=An ink and watercolor depiction of an outdoor meeting. Villagers are seated around a freedom fighter who appears to be speaking to them. One villager is carrying a baby. Other freedom fighters stand guard around the edges of the meeting, looking outward and holding their guns. The sky is painted dark with small light spots, seemingly suggesting night time.\|thumb\|201x201px\|An artistic depiction of a pungwe, a night meeting between the people and freedom fighters which also functioned as a community court.<ref>Chirenje, J. Mutero. [https://archive.org/details/historyofzimbabw0000chir/page/73/mode/1up "A history of Zimbabwe for primary schools"]. 1982. pp. 72-4. (Image on p. 73).</ref>]]Zimbabwe's liberation war is known as the Second Chimurenga, the First Chimurenga being the uprisings waged against the colonizing forces in the 1890s.<ref name=":9" /> The Shona word ''chimurenga'' carries various meanings such as uprising or revolution.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=VaShona Project\|date=2019-10-31\|url=https://vashona.com/en/dictionary/sn/chimurenga\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250222113548/https://vashona.com/en/dictionary/sn/chimurenga\|archive-date=2025-02-22\|quote=chimurenga		[[File:An artistic depiction of a pungwe meeting in Zimbabwe.png\|alt=An ink and watercolor depiction of an outdoor meeting. Villagers are seated around a freedom fighter who appears to be speaking to them. One villager is carrying a baby. Other freedom fighters stand guard around the edges of the meeting, looking outward and holding their guns. The sky is painted dark with small light spots, seemingly suggesting night time.\|thumb\|201x201px\|An artistic depiction of a ''pungwe'', a night meeting between the people and freedom fighters which also functioned as a community court.<ref>Chirenje, J. Mutero. [https://archive.org/details/historyofzimbabw0000chir/page/73/mode/1up "A history of Zimbabwe for primary schools"]. 1982. pp. 72-4. (Image on p. 73).</ref>]]Zimbabwe's liberation war is known as the Second Chimurenga, the First Chimurenga being the uprisings waged against the colonizing forces in the 1890s.<ref name=":9" /> The Shona word ''chimurenga'' carries various meanings such as uprising or revolution.<ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=VaShona Project\|date=2019-10-31\|url=https://vashona.com/en/dictionary/sn/chimurenga\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250222113548/https://vashona.com/en/dictionary/sn/chimurenga\|archive-date=2025-02-22\|quote=chimurenga
	/t͡ʃimuréŋa/		/t͡ʃimuréŋa/
	noun , class(7) synonyms: bongozozo dialects/origins: Zezuru		noun , class(7) synonyms: bongozozo dialects/origins: Zezuru
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	Another early series of engagements occurred in 1967, known as the Wankie Campaign, or "Operation Nickel" by the Rhodesian forces, in which an alliance of forces from ZAPU's Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) and the [[Umkhonto we Sizwe]] (MK) of South Africa's [[African National Congress\|ANC]] were attempting to move undetected from Zambia to South Africa by traveling the outskirts of Hwange Game Reserve, but they were eventually detected by Rhodesian forces and fought in a number of armed clashes.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=South African History Online\|title=MK’s Luthuli Detachment and ZAPU in a joint operation\|date=2011-03-16\|url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/mks-luthuli-detachment-and-zapu-joint-operation\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250304075845/https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/mks-luthuli-detachment-and-zapu-joint-operation\|archive-date=2025-03-04}}</ref>		Another early series of engagements occurred in 1967, known as the Wankie Campaign, or "Operation Nickel" by the Rhodesian forces, in which an alliance of forces from ZAPU's Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) and the [[Umkhonto we Sizwe]] (MK) of South Africa's [[African National Congress\|ANC]] were attempting to move undetected from Zambia to South Africa by traveling the outskirts of Hwange Game Reserve, but they were eventually detected by Rhodesian forces and fought in a number of armed clashes.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Web citation\|newspaper=South African History Online\|title=MK’s Luthuli Detachment and ZAPU in a joint operation\|date=2011-03-16\|url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/mks-luthuli-detachment-and-zapu-joint-operation\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250304075845/https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/mks-luthuli-detachment-and-zapu-joint-operation\|archive-date=2025-03-04}}</ref>

	=~~=Sanctions==~~		On December 4, 1971, two ZANLA guerrillas, Justin Chauke and Amon Zindoga, crossed into northeastern Zimbabwe near Mukumbura, coming over from Mozambique's Tete Province, with the mission to begin laying the groundwork for protracted guerrilla warfare.<ref name=":9" /><sup>:2</sup> A little over a year later, on December 21, 1972, a squad of nine ZANLA guerrillas attacked a settler-owned tobacco farm called Altena Farm, located in Mount Darwin in northeastern Zimbabwe.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":21">{{Web citation\|author=Ireen Mahamba\|newspaper=The Patriot\|title=Battle of the north-eastern frontier…when ZANLA came home\|date=2019-06-27\|url=https://www.thepatriot.co.zw/old_posts/battle-of-the-north-eastern-frontier-when-zanla-came-home/}}</ref> This was the first settler farm to be attacked since 1966. At the time the farm was in the hands of a settler named Marc de Borchgrave who was a leading tobacco farmer, known for his poor labor relations. De Borchgrave and one of his children were lightly wounded in the attack. One white Rhodesian soldier was killed by a landmine, while five others were injured.<ref name=":9" /><sup>:2</sup> An article in the news outlet The Patriot emphasizes that "A LOT of work had been going on behind the scenes before the opening of the north-eastern frontier of our war of liberation" and states that "by the time the first shots rang out at Altena Farm [...] everything was in place for ZANLA to operate from the north-eastern frontier" and analyzes this attack as "the precursor to other frontiers which would ultimately dismantle Rhodesian forces."<ref name=":21" /> The authors of ''The Struggle for Zimbabwe'' evaluate that "this attack marked the change from the sporadic, and the militarily ineffectual, actions of the Sixties, to protracted armed struggle."<ref name=":9" /><sup>xvii</sup>
	<~~blockquote~~>~~''See also~~: ~~[[Economic sanctions#Zimbabwe]]''~~</~~blockquote~~>~~[[File:Members~~ of ~~the Broad Alliance Against Sanctions~~ in Zimbabwe.~~jpg~~\|~~thumb~~\|~~Members~~ of the ~~Broad Alliance Against Sanctions hold anti~~-~~sanctions placards in front of the U~~.~~S. embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe, on July 4, 2022~~.~~]]According to Chidiebere C~~. ~~Ogbonna in~~ the ~~African Research Review, from~~ 1966 ~~until~~ the ~~present, "Zimbabwe at one~~ time ~~or another has been under sanctions either by~~ the ~~United Nations~~ the ~~United States~~, ~~the European Union or all the aforementioned~~. ~~In total, Zimbabwe has been sanctioned in seven sanction-episodes: 1966, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008~~ and ~~2009, making it~~ one of ~~the most sanctioned countries~~ in the ~~world~~.~~" Ogbonna states that in~~ a ~~simple analysis~~, ~~Zimbabwe has become a regular candidate of the~~ "~~sanctions industry.~~"<~~ref~~>~~Chidiebere C Ogbonna [https~~:/~~/www.researchgate.net/publication/319870565_Targeted_or_Restrictive_Impact_of_US_and_EU_Sanctions_on_Education_and_Healthcare_of_Zimbabweans~~ "~~Targeted or Restrictive: Impact~~ of ~~U.S. and EU Sanctions~~ on ~~Education~~ and ~~Healthcare of Zimbabweans.~~"~~] September 2017, African Research Review 11(3):31 DOI:10~~.~~4314/afrrev~~.~~v11i3~~.~~4</ref>~~

	~~According to a 2022 article by [[Xinhua\|Xinhua News~~]~~], the U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwe have accumulated since 2001, following a government decision~~ to ~~repossess land~~ from ~~minority white farmers for redistribution to landless indigenous Zimbabweans. The Xinhua article notes that though~~ the ~~Zimbabwean government said the land reform would promote democracy~~ and ~~the economy,~~ "~~Western countries launched repeated sanctions with little regard for~~ the ~~average person's suffering~~." ~~Linda Masarira, president~~ of ~~the Labour Economists and Afrikan Democrats (LEAD) political party, said sanctions have been used as a tool of economic warfare against~~ Zimbabwe~~, and~~ that ~~sanctioning Zimbabwe~~ "~~was an action that~~ the ~~United States of America decided to do on Zimbabwe to ensure that they make our economy scream~~, ~~they make things hard for Zimbabweans~~ and ~~imply that black Zimbabweans~~, ~~native Zimbabweans cannot do their own farming~~, ~~or run their own economy~~."<ref~~>Tichaona Chifamba, Zhang Yuliang, Cao Kai. [https~~:~~//english.news.cn/20220711/5ed659ab8a7e40c5a2baa116589bcede/c.html "Two-decade-old U.S. sanctions leave Zimbabweans suffering, triggering protests~~"~~.] Xinhua. 2022-07-11. [https:~~/~~/web.archive.org/web/20220909064843/https://english.news.cn/20220711/5ed659ab8a7e40c5a2baa116589bcede/c.html Archived] 2022-09-09.~~</~~ref~~>

	== Economy ==		== Economy ==
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	Zimbabwe's [[Commercial Farmers' Union (Zimbabwe)\|Commercial Farmers' Union]] (CFU), known as the Rhodesian National Farmers' Union (RNFU) before 1980, was formed to represent the interests of commercial farmers, drawing its membership primarily from large scale and intensive commercial agricultural producers. It has its roots in the colonial period's Rhodesian Farmers' and Landowners' Association (RFLA) formed in 1892 by settler farmers looking to advance their interests.<ref>[https://cfuzim.org/our-history/ "Our History."] Commercial Farmers' Union of Zimbabwe, 2012-09-11. [https://web.archive.org/web/20250228083911/https://cfuzim.org/our-history/ Archived] 2025-02-28.</ref><ref>[https://cfuzim.org/who-are-we/ "Who are we?"] Commercial Farmers' Union of Zimbabwe, 2012-09-11. [https://web.archive.org/web/20250228085805/https://cfuzim.org/who-are-we/ Archived] 2025-02-28.</ref> A 2019 article published in ''The Patriot'' news outlet described CFU as a "historically-powerful white lobbying group"<ref name=":12">{{Web citation\|author=Michelina Andreucci\|newspaper=The Patriot\|title=ESAP and the West’s double standards.\|date=2019-04-17\|url=https://www.thepatriot.co.zw/old_posts/esap-and-the-wests-double-standards/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228090117/https://www.thepatriot.co.zw/old_posts/esap-and-the-wests-double-standards/\|archive-date=2025-02-28\|quote=Urban unemployment created a rush for the rural areas while the land redistribution had not yet been successfully addressed as it faced opposition from the historically-powerful white lobbying group, the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), one of the strongest advocates for ESAP. [...] The CFU steadfastly opposed land reforms, believing changing from large-scale agribusiness to small-scale peasant agricultural farming with communal tenure would result in a devastated economy.}}</ref> which was one of the strongest advocates of Western-backed, [[The World Bank\|World Bank]] and [[International Monetary Fund\|IMF]]-financed structural adjustment in the form of the 1990 Economic Structural Adjustment Policy (ESAP),<ref>{{Citation\|author=Lloyd M. Sachikonye\|year=1997\|title=Social Movements in Development\|title-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-25448-4_9\|chapter=Structural Adjustment and Democratization in Zimbabwe\|quote=In 1990, Zimbabwe launched a five-year Economic Structural Adjustment Policy (ESAP) substantially financed by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Western donor countries.\|doi=10.1007/978-1-349-25448-4_9}}</ref> as well as being strongly opposed to Zimbabwe's land reforms.<ref name=":12" />		Zimbabwe's [[Commercial Farmers' Union (Zimbabwe)\|Commercial Farmers' Union]] (CFU), known as the Rhodesian National Farmers' Union (RNFU) before 1980, was formed to represent the interests of commercial farmers, drawing its membership primarily from large scale and intensive commercial agricultural producers. It has its roots in the colonial period's Rhodesian Farmers' and Landowners' Association (RFLA) formed in 1892 by settler farmers looking to advance their interests.<ref>[https://cfuzim.org/our-history/ "Our History."] Commercial Farmers' Union of Zimbabwe, 2012-09-11. [https://web.archive.org/web/20250228083911/https://cfuzim.org/our-history/ Archived] 2025-02-28.</ref><ref>[https://cfuzim.org/who-are-we/ "Who are we?"] Commercial Farmers' Union of Zimbabwe, 2012-09-11. [https://web.archive.org/web/20250228085805/https://cfuzim.org/who-are-we/ Archived] 2025-02-28.</ref> A 2019 article published in ''The Patriot'' news outlet described CFU as a "historically-powerful white lobbying group"<ref name=":12">{{Web citation\|author=Michelina Andreucci\|newspaper=The Patriot\|title=ESAP and the West’s double standards.\|date=2019-04-17\|url=https://www.thepatriot.co.zw/old_posts/esap-and-the-wests-double-standards/\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228090117/https://www.thepatriot.co.zw/old_posts/esap-and-the-wests-double-standards/\|archive-date=2025-02-28\|quote=Urban unemployment created a rush for the rural areas while the land redistribution had not yet been successfully addressed as it faced opposition from the historically-powerful white lobbying group, the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), one of the strongest advocates for ESAP. [...] The CFU steadfastly opposed land reforms, believing changing from large-scale agribusiness to small-scale peasant agricultural farming with communal tenure would result in a devastated economy.}}</ref> which was one of the strongest advocates of Western-backed, [[The World Bank\|World Bank]] and [[International Monetary Fund\|IMF]]-financed structural adjustment in the form of the 1990 Economic Structural Adjustment Policy (ESAP),<ref>{{Citation\|author=Lloyd M. Sachikonye\|year=1997\|title=Social Movements in Development\|title-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-25448-4_9\|chapter=Structural Adjustment and Democratization in Zimbabwe\|quote=In 1990, Zimbabwe launched a five-year Economic Structural Adjustment Policy (ESAP) substantially financed by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Western donor countries.\|doi=10.1007/978-1-349-25448-4_9}}</ref> as well as being strongly opposed to Zimbabwe's land reforms.<ref name=":12" />

			=== Sanctions ===
			[[File:Members of the Broad Alliance Against Sanctions in Zimbabwe.jpg\|thumb\|Members of the Broad Alliance Against Sanctions hold anti-sanctions placards in front of the U.S. embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe, on July 4, 2022.\|280x280px]]''See also: [[Economic sanctions#Zimbabwe]]''

			According to Chidiebere C. Ogbonna in the African Research Review, from 1966 until the present, "Zimbabwe at one time or another has been under sanctions either by the United Nations the United States, the European Union or all the aforementioned. In total, Zimbabwe has been sanctioned in seven sanction-episodes: 1966, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2009, making it one of the most sanctioned countries in the world." Ogbonna states that in a simple analysis, Zimbabwe has become a regular candidate of the "sanctions industry."<ref>Chidiebere C Ogbonna [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319870565_Targeted_or_Restrictive_Impact_of_US_and_EU_Sanctions_on_Education_and_Healthcare_of_Zimbabweans "Targeted or Restrictive: Impact of U.S. and EU Sanctions on Education and Healthcare of Zimbabweans."] September 2017, African Research Review 11(3):31 DOI:10.4314/afrrev.v11i3.4</ref>

			According to a 2022 article by [[Xinhua\|Xinhua News]], the U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwe have accumulated since 2001, following a government decision to repossess land from minority white farmers for redistribution to landless indigenous Zimbabweans. The Xinhua article notes that though the Zimbabwean government said the land reform would promote democracy and the economy, "Western countries launched repeated sanctions with little regard for the average person's suffering." Linda Masarira, president of the Labour Economists and Afrikan Democrats (LEAD) political party, said sanctions have been used as a tool of economic warfare against Zimbabwe, and that sanctioning Zimbabwe "was an action that the United States of America decided to do on Zimbabwe to ensure that they make our economy scream, they make things hard for Zimbabweans and imply that black Zimbabweans, native Zimbabweans cannot do their own farming, or run their own economy."<ref>Tichaona Chifamba, Zhang Yuliang, Cao Kai. [https://english.news.cn/20220711/5ed659ab8a7e40c5a2baa116589bcede/c.html "Two-decade-old U.S. sanctions leave Zimbabweans suffering, triggering protests".] Xinhua. 2022-07-11. [https://web.archive.org/web/20220909064843/https://english.news.cn/20220711/5ed659ab8a7e40c5a2baa116589bcede/c.html Archived] 2022-09-09.</ref>

			== Further reading ==

			* [[:Category:Library works about Zimbabwe\|ProleWiki library works about Zimbabwe]]

	==References==		==References==