Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
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The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was a semi-independent state in southern Africa that existed from 1953 to late 1963. It comprised the previous British colony of Southern Rhodesia and the protectorates of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland with a total of 1,262,986 km².
The unofficial name Central African Federation for the area actually located in southern Africa goes back to plans from the 1880s for a British Central Africa which, in addition to the two Rhodesia and Nyasaland, should have also included parts of the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo .
Emergence
In 1927 the ratio of whites and blacks was 38,200 to 922,000 in southern Rhodesia, 4,000 to 1,000,000 in northern Rhodesia, and 1,700 to 1,350,000 in Nyasaland. In 1946, Southern Rhodesia had 80,500 whites to 1,640,000 blacks, Northern Rhodesia 20,000 to 1,600,000 and Nyasaland 2,300 to 2,340,000.
On November 8, 1950, the first negotiations for a federal state for Rhodesia and Nyasaland began. While many points of contention were resolved in the negotiations that followed, some turned out to be almost insurmountable. Without the constant commitment of the Colonial Office's Deputy Undersecretary, Sir Andrew Cohen , an agreement would hardly have been reached.
Cohen, who was of Jewish faith, was still under the influence of the Holocaust , was an anti-racist and an advocate for African rights. He feared that Southern Rhodesia might get caught up in racist South Africa, and therefore worked towards the Federation to reduce this danger. Southern Rhodesia and the northern regions had very different traditions, which made negotiations even more difficult.
founding
The federation was formed on August 1, 1953. The aim of the British government was to forge a state that struck a middle ground between those ruled by blacks and those that remained under white governments. The federation eventually failed because the black nationalists demanded more influence than the whites wanted to admit. The heads of government of the state were Prime Ministers Sir Godfrey Martin Huggins from 1953 to 1956 and Sir Roy Welensky from 1956 until the dissolution of the Federation. The parliament consisted of a "Federal Assembly" called chamber, which was composed of partly elected and partly appointed members.
The Federation
The Federation had five branches of government: that of the Federation, three territorial and one British. Huggins resigned as Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia to become Prime Minister of the Federation. Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia was now Sir Garfield Todd .
Despite the confused government structure, the federation grew economically. After the first year the gross domestic product was £ 350 million. After two years this had grown to £ 450 million. Against the advice of economists was the establishment of the 1955 Kariba Dam announced a project that had a circumference of 78 million pounds and the emergence of the world's largest man-made lake at the time of the Kariba meant. Proposals to instead build a much cheaper and economically more profitable dam in the Shire in Nyassaland were dropped, presumably because the black population in particular would have benefited from this project.
Nyassaland did not have any significant mineral deposits. In contrast, there were rich copper deposits in Northern Rhodesia.
During the Congo crisis , Prime Minister Roy Welensky supported separatism in the Congolese province of Katanga .
Dissolution of the Federation
In 1962 both the British and the Federation's parliament approved the separation of Nyassaland, but the Prime Minister of South Rhodes, Edgar Whitehead, asked the British to maintain secrecy until after the 1962 elections. A year later the same status was given to Northern Rhodesia, which sealed the end of the federation in the immediate future.
This happened despite the fact that shortly before the new Commonwealth Secretary Duncan Sandys had negotiated a document which, as the new constitution of the Federation, provided for largely reduced rights for Great Britain in terms of decision-making in the Federation.
On July 5, 1963, the Victoria Falls Conference - a final attempt to save the Federation but ultimately the forum for its dissolution - had come to an end; their result was that the federation had practically perished. Only the distribution of the remaining assets remained the last formality.
On December 31, 1963, the federation was formally dissolved and its possessions were divided among the individual governments, with Southern Rhodesia receiving the majority, especially the army holdings. Northern Rhodesia gained independence from Great Britain shortly afterwards as Zambia and Nyasaland as Malawi . The remaining area of Southern Rhodesia, which today forms Zimbabwe , was then called Rhodesia . It declared itself unilaterally independent in 1965 under the leadership of Ian Smith and his Rhodesian Front .
Federation Historical Heritage
The decade-long federation may remain a footnote in twentieth century history, but its impact on central Africa was not insignificant.
The British-influenced and British-linked federation stood in contrast to the only other regional power, the clearly racist Republic of South Africa. The dissolution of the federation resulted in the independent, African-led states of Malawi and Zambia, while Southern Rhodesia remained under the rule of the white minority until 1980 after a unilateral declaration of independence. This period was marked by civil war and a deepening conflict between Zambia, which supported the African nationalists, and South Rhodesia, which was supported by South Africa, with some heated rhetoric and occasional open military hostilities.
Federation postage stamps
The Federation issued its first postage stamps in 1954, all of which showed portraits of Queen Elizabeth II in three different versions and bore the words "RHODESIA & NYASALAND". The first to appear on February 15 was a 2 ½ pence stamp, followed by a series of 15 values from half a penny to a pound on July 1. A pair of special stamps in 1955 for the 100th anniversary of the discovery of Victoria Falls by David Livingstone released. A series of 15 definitive stamps depicting the local landscape and industry was issued in 1959.
Six other special editions came out in the following years, the last of which appeared on September 11, 1963 for the World Council of the Young Men's Service Clubs, held at the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
literature
- Henry Franklin: Unholy Wedlock: the failure of the Central African Federation. (G. Allen & Unwin, London, 1963)
- Robert Blake: A History of Rhodesia. (Eyre Methuen, London 1977)
- Ian Hancock: White Liberals, Moderates, and Radicals in Rhodesia, 1953-1980. (Croom Helm, Sydney, Australia, 1984)
- Phillip Mason: Year of Decision: Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1960. (Oxford University Press, 1961)
- CE Lucas Phillips: The vision splendid: the future of the Central African Federation. (Heinemann, London, 1960)
- Colin Leys and Pratt Cranford: A new deal in Central Africa. (Heinemann, London, 1960)
- Edward Marshall Clegg: Race and politics: partnership in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. (Oxford University Press, 1960)
- Richard Gray: The two nations: aspects of the development of race relations in the Rhodesias and Nyasaland. (Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn., 1960)
- Joe Rogaly: Rhodesia: Britain's deep south. (The Economist, London, 1962)
- Richard Hall: The High Price of Principles: Kaunda and the White South. (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1969)
- Guy Clutton-Brock: Dawn in Nyasaland. (Hodder and Stoughton, London 1959)
- Ray Dorien: Venturing to the Rhodesias and Nyasaland. (Johnson, London, 1962)
- Alexander John Hanna: The story of the Rhodesias and Nyasaland. (Faber and Faber, 1965)
- Colin Black: The lands and peoples of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. (Macmillan, NY, 1961)
- Clyde Sanger: Central African emergency. (Heinemann, London 1960)
- Lewis H. Gann: Huggins of Rhodesia: the man and his country. (Allen & Unwin, London, 1964)
- Lewis H. Gann: Central Africa: the former British states. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice-Hall, 1971)
- Richard C. Haw: No other home: Co-existence in Africa. (S. Manning, Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia, 1960?)
- Don Taylor: The Rhodesian: the life of Sir Roy Welensky. (Museum Press, London 1965)
- JRT Wood: The Welensky papers: a history of the federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. (Graham Pub., Durban, 1983)
- Sir Roy Welensky: Welensky's 4000 days: the life and death of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. (Collins, London, 1964)
- Garry Allighan: The Welensky story. (Macdonald, London, 1962)
- Lord Cuthbert James McCall Alport: The sudden assignment: being a record of service in central Africa during the last controversial years of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, 1961-1963. (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1965)
- Cecil Harry Thompson: Economic development in Rhodesia and Nyasaland. (D. Dobson, Publisher London, 1954)
- Audrey A. Walker: The Rhodesias and Nyasaland: a guide to official publications. (General Reference and Bibliography Division, Reference Dept., Library of Congress: for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, US Govt. Print. Off., 1965)
- Alexander George Irvine: The balance of payments of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, 1945–1954. (Oxford University Press, 1959)
- United States Bureau of Foreign Commerce, Near Eastern and African Division. Investment in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland: basic information for United States businessmen. (US Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Foreign Commerce, 1956)
- Standard Bank of South Africa, Ltd. The federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland: general information for business organizations. (London, 1958)
- RA Sowelem: Toward financial independence in a developing economy: an analysis of the monetary experience of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, 1952–63. (Allen & Unwin, London, 1967)
- Thomas Richmond Mandell Creighton: The Anatomy of Partnership. Southern Rhodesia and the Central African Federation . Praeger, New York 1960.
- Patrick Keatley: The Politics of Partnership: The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth 1963.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Patrick Keatley: The Politics of Partnership. The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (= Penguin African Library. Volume 5). Penguin Books, Harmondsworth 1963, 142.
- ^ Patrick Keatley: The Politics of Partnership. The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (= Penguin African Library. Volume 5). Penguin Books, Harmondsworth 1963, pp. 142f.
- ^ Patrick Keatley: The Politics of Partnership. The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (= Penguin African Library. Volume 5). Penguin Books, Harmondsworth 1963, pp. 136f.