1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
Middle EastUS election Ukraine

1965 - White–only rule

January 23, 2013
https://p.dw.com/p/19D5N
Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Ian Smith
Image: Getty Images

Prime Minister Ian Smith of the Rhodesian Front (RF) declared independence of Rhodesia and subsequently withdrew the country from the British Commonwealth.

His governance heralded 15 years of white-only rule in Rhodesia. He also ordered the arrests of Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo. They would both spend 10 years in jail.