November 2007 11
Rhodes died in 1902. He never realized his dream of British settlers attracted to the fertile highlands of
a Cape to Cairo railroad although thousands of Brit- British East Africa—now Kenya and Tanganyika—
ish settlers did come to farm the rich highlands of never achieved numbers comparable to those in South
east Africa from Kenya south to Rhodesia. Interest- Africa. There are today an estimated 30,000 Europe-
ingly, as we examine the map of railroads in Africa ans—mostly British—still living in Kenya with much
(map 16) today, there is still no way to travel from smaller numbers of British and Germans in
Cairo south to Cape Town by rail. Given the poverty, Tanganyika.
corruption and political fragmentation that has plagued
modern Africa, it seems very unlikely we will see such
Southern Rhodesia conducted a census in 1921 and
a railroad anytime soon.
reported that of the colony’s total population of
899,187 there were 33,620 Europeans.
1
The growth
of European settlers was restricted by economic de-
pression in the 1930s and World War II, but there were
an estimated 75 thousand living in the colony in 1945.
Post-war emigration accelerated greatly and by 1960
there were about 270,000 Europeans living in South-
ern Rhodesia.
The wave of African nationalism that swept across
the continent beginning with the transformation of
Gold Coast Colony into the Republic of Ghana in 1960
reached Southern Rhodesia with severe repercussions.
In 1965 Ian Smith’s white government declared inde-
pendence from Britain and established the Republic
of Rhodesia. Britain led the United Nations to declare
economic sanctions against the Smith government and
guerrilla fighting conducted by various African na-
tionalists—including Robert Mugabe—broke out
across the country.
The combination of international sanctions and guer-
Map 16
rilla warfare went on for over a decade before Smith
A modern railroad map of Africa displays a
continent where international rail links are few and far finally signed an accord with three black leaders that
between. Only in South Africa does anything more than a
offered safeguards for white civilians in exchange for
rudimentary network exist. Most of the other railroads
African political representation in a democratically
have a very simple objective—extract resources and
elected government. In the free elections of February
move them to the seaports
1980, Mugabe and his ZANU won a landslide vic-
It is nearly impossible to learn just how many British
tory. Mugabe has won re-election ever since. The re-
settlers were actually living in the African colonies
maining white population of Zimbabwe was estimated
during the 19
th
and 20
th
centuries. Population censuses
at 30,000 in 2006.
were only sporadically conducted and scholars today
The situation in Southern Rhodesia, although more
have deep reservations about their accuracy. Discov-
violent and destructive than most, was not unique.
eries of gold and diamonds in South Africa attracted
Although the subject has received little and quite un-
thousands of Europeans to the region in the late 19
th
even attention in the mainstream news media of North
century. These newcomers, when combined with the
America and Europe, the decolonization of Africa over
Dutch and British farmers already living in the colo-
the past half century created immense hardships for
nies of South Africa, created a nucleus of European
people of all races. Discussing consequences of the
population that eventually became the largest in Af-
precipitous withdrawal of European colonial govern-
rica. It remains so to this day with approximately 4.4
ments after 1960, Wikipedia reports:
million white South Africans making up about a tenth
of the modern nation’s total population.
In keeping with the general trend toward non-Euro-
pean rule evident throughout most of the globe dur-
ing the Cold War and the abandonment of colonial
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