Zimbabwe African People's Union

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The Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU, African People's Union of Zimbabwe) is a political party in Zimbabwe .

history

It was founded by Joshua Nkomo in Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe ) in 1961 and banned by the incumbent British colonial government in 1962 . This was not uncommon at this time of the general decolonization process in sub-Saharan Africa, nor was the ZAPU's acts of sabotage, which it carried out with dynamite stolen from mines and homemade gasoline bombs. The imprisonment of the leaders of black independence movements and their banning as a political party was part of the normal repertoire of colonial administrations everywhere, and sabotage was part of that of the natives.

The political dynamics of the ZAPU changed at the moment of the declaration of independence of the white minority government by Ian Smith in 1965. This was already apparent in 1964 and this was also the year of the first attacks by an organized guerrilla movement of the ZAPU, which called itself the Crocodile Commando . She shot a policeman and a white farmer, but was quickly blown up by the security forces.

As early as March to October 1964, ZAPU guerrillas received military training in the USSR , China and North Korea . It reorganized itself as the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA), which from 1966 sent armed and uniformed fighters from Zambia to Rhodesia and was commanded by Joshua Nkomo in Zambia. These groups reached strength of 100 men by 1969, who had better and more sophisticated armament. In addition, Angola and Mozambique became independent, so weapons could be delivered directly through open ports.

Although the ZAPU did not win this guerrilla war, it forced the white minority government to commit all of its resources to the fight. In the mid-1970s it was evident that Rhodesia would not be able to hold, although the 1976 Rhodesia Conference failed. The political position of the white minority was eroded. Even the appointment of the moderate Bishop Abel Muzorewa as Prime Minister did not lead to a new political situation, so that in the Lancaster House Agreement of 1979 the transfer of power to ZAPU and ZANU , which at that time jointly formed the Patriotic Front, was regulated 1980 following elections, however, competed against each other.

From the beginning, the ZAPU saw itself as a national party. However, she could not prevent the boundaries between her and ZANU from becoming stronger and stronger between the Ndebele and Shona ethnic groups . The victory of the ZANU in the 1980 elections corresponded to the majority of the Shona population and de facto ousted Joshua Nkomo. From then on, the ZAPU only played a role as an opposition in Zimbabwe and in the ZANU's Gukurahundi terror in the 1980s that of a tragic victim in a bitter power struggle between two parties that had completely outlived their structures and goals.