Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland | |||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1953–1963 | |||||||||||||||||
Motto: Magni Esse Mereamur "Let Us Achieve Greatness" | |||||||||||||||||
Anthem: " God Save the Queen" | |||||||||||||||||
Status | |||||||||||||||||
Capital and largest city | Salisbury | ||||||||||||||||
Languages | English, Shona, Tumbuka, Ndebele, Bemba, Chewa | ||||||||||||||||
Government | Federal monarchy | ||||||||||||||||
Monarch | |||||||||||||||||
• 1953-1963 | Elizabeth II | ||||||||||||||||
Governor-General | |||||||||||||||||
• 1953–1957 | The Lord Llewellin | ||||||||||||||||
• 1957–1963 | The Earl of Dalhousie | ||||||||||||||||
• 1963 | Sir Humphrey Gibbs | ||||||||||||||||
The Viscount Malvern | |||||||||||||||||
• 1956–1963 | Sir Roy Welensky | ||||||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||||||
• Federation | 1 August 1953 | ||||||||||||||||
31 December 1963 | |||||||||||||||||
Area | |||||||||||||||||
• Total | 1,261,674 km2 (487,135 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||
Currency | CAF pound | ||||||||||||||||
Time zone | UTC+2 (CAT) | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Today part of | Malawi Zambia Zimbabwe |
The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation (CAF), was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the self-governing British colony of Southern Rhodesia and the British protectorates of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. It existed between 1953 to 1963.
The Federation was established on 1 August 1953,[1][2] with a Governor-General as the Queen's representative at the centre. The constitutional status of the three territories – a self-governing Colony and two Protectorates – was not affected, though certain enactments applied to the Federation as a whole as if it were part of Her Majesty's dominions and a Colony.[3] A novel feature was the African Affairs Board, set up to safeguard the interests of Africans and endowed with statutory powers for that purpose, particularly in regard to discriminatory legislation.[3][4] The economic advantages to the Federation were never seriously called into question, and the causes of the Federation's failure were purely political: the strong and growing opposition of the African inhabitants.[3][4]: 393 The rulers of the new black African states were united in wanting to end colonialism in Africa. With most of the world moving away from colonialism during the late 1950s and early 1960s, the United Kingdom was subjected to pressure to de-colonise from both the United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). These groups supported the aspirations of the black African nationalists and accepted their claims to speak on behalf of the people.
The federation officially ended on 31 December 1963.[5][6] In 1964, shortly after the dissolution, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland became independent under the names Zambia and Malawi, respectively. In November 1965, Southern Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence from the United Kingdom as the state of Rhodesia.
History
Central African Council
In 1929, the
Negotiations
In November 1950, Jim Griffiths, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, informed the House of Commons that the government had decided that there should be another examination of the possibility of a closer union between the Central African territories, and that a conference of the respective governments and the Central African Council was being arranged for March 1951. The conference concluded that there was a need for closer association, pointing to the economic interdependence of the three territories. It was argued that individually the territories were vulnerable and would benefit from becoming a single unit with a more broadly based economy. It was also said that unification of certain public services would promote greater efficiency. It was decided to recommend a federation under which the central government would have certain specific powers, with the residual powers being left with the territorial governments. Another conference was held in September 1951 at Victoria Falls, also attended by Griffiths and Patrick Gordon Walker. Another two conferences would be held in London in 1952 and 1953 respectively, where the federal structure was prepared in detail.[7]: 592
While many points of contention were worked out in the conferences that followed, several proved to be acute, and some, seemingly insurmountable. The negotiations and conferences were arduous. Southern Rhodesia and the Northern Territories had very different traditions for the 'Native Question' (black Africans) and the roles they were designed to play in civil society.[[8]
An agreement would likely not have been reached without
Constitution
The semi-independent federation was finally established, with five branches of government: one Federal, three Territorial, and one British. This often translated into confusion and jurisdictional rivalry among various levels of government. According to Lord Blake, it proved to be "one of the most elaborately governed countries in the world."[13]
The Constitution provided for a federal government with enumerated powers, consisting of an executive government, a unicameral Federal Assembly (which included a standing committee known as the African Affairs Board), and a Supreme Court, among other authorities. Provision was made for the division of powers and duties between the federal and territorial governments. Article 97 of the Constitution empowered the Federal Assembly to amend the Constitution, which included a power to establish a second legislative chamber.[14] The Governor-General would be the representative of the Queen in the Federation. Federal authority extended only to those powers assigned to the federal government and to matters incidental to them. The enumerated federal powers were divided into a "Federal Legislative List" for which the federal legislature could make laws, and a "Concurrent Legislative List" for which both the federal and territorial legislatures could make law.[7]: 593 Federal laws prevailed over territorial laws in all cases where the federal legislature was empowered to legislate, including the concurrent list.
The executive government consisted of the
- Disputes between the federal government and territorial governments, or between territorial governments inter se, if such disputes involved questions (of law or fact) on which the existence or extent of a legal right depended;
- Matters affecting vacancies in the Federal Assembly and election petitions; and
- Matters in which a writ or order of mandamus, or prohibition or an injunction, is sought against an officer or authority of the federal government.[7]: 596
In 1958, the Prime Minister established an Office of Race Affairs which reviewed policies, practices and activities which may have hampered or adversely affected a climate favourable to the federal government's equal "partnership" policy. On 1 April 1959, the Prime Minister appointed the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs, who held the status of a full minister, to assume responsibility for racial affairs.
It was commonly understood that Southern Rhodesia would be the dominant territory in the federation – economically, electorally, and militarily. How much so defined much of the lengthy constitutional negotiations and modifications that followed. African political opposition and nationalist aspirations, for the time, were moot.[15]
Decisive factors in both the creation and dissolution of the Federation were the significant difference between the number of Africans and Europeans in the Federation, and the difference between the number of Europeans in Southern Rhodesia compared to the Northern Protectorates. Compounding this was the significant growth in Southern Rhodesia's European settler population (overwhelmingly British migrants), unlike in the Northern Protectorates. This was to greatly shape future developments in the Federation. In 1939, approximately 60,000 Europeans resided in Southern Rhodesia; shortly before the Federation was established there were 135,000; by the time the Federation was dissolved they had reached 223,000 (though newcomers could only vote after three years of residency). Nyasaland showed the least European and greatest African population growth.[
Rather than a federation, Prime Minister Huggins favoured an amalgamation, creating a unitary state. However, after the
The fate of the Federation was contested within the
It was convenient to have all three territories colonised by
Year | Southern Rhodesia | Northern Rhodesia | Nyasaland | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
White | Black | White | Black | White | Black | White | Black | |
1927 | 38,200 (3.98%) | 922,000 (96.02%) | 4,000 (0.4%) | 1,000,000 (99.6%) | 1,700 (0.13%) | 1,350,000 (99.87%) | 43,900 (1.32%) | 3,272,000 (98.68%) |
1946 | 80,500 (4.79%) | 1,600,000 (95.21%) | 21,919 (1.32%) | 1,634,980 (97.68%) | 2,300 (0.10%) | 2,340,000 (99.90%) | 104,719 (1.84%) | 5,574,980 (98.16%) |
1955 | 125,000 (4.95%) | 2,400,000 (95.05%) | 65,000 (3.02%) | 2,085,000 (96.98%) | 6,300 (0.25%) | 2,550,000 (99.75%) | 196,300 (2.71%) | 7,035,000 (97.28%) |
1960 | 223,000 (7.30%) | 2,830,000 (92.70%) | 76,000 (3.14%) | 2,340,000 (96.85%) | 9,300 (0.33%) | 2,810,000 (99.66%) | 308,300 (3.72%) | 7,980,000 (96.28%) |
Economic growth and political liberalism
Despite its convoluted government structure, the CAF economy was a success. In the first year of the federation, its GDP was £350 million; two years later it was nearly £450 million.[24] Yet the average income of a European remained approximately ten times that of an African employed in the cash economy, representing only one third of local Africans.
In 1955, the creation of the Kariba hydro-electric power station was announced. It was a remarkable feat of engineering creating the largest man-made dam on the planet at the time and costing £78 million. Its location highlighted the rivalry among Southern and Northern Rhodesia, with the former attaining its favoured location for the dam.
The CAF brought a decade of liberalism with respect to African rights. There were African junior ministers in the Southern Rhodesia-dominated CAF, while a decade earlier only 70 Africans qualified to vote in the Southern Rhodesian elections.
The property and income-qualified franchise of the CAF was, therefore, now much looser. While this troubled many whites, they continued to follow Huggins with the CAF's current structure, largely owing to the economic growth. But to Africans, this increasingly proved unsatisfactory and their leaders began to voice demands for majority rule.
Rise of African nationalism
This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2023) |
African dissent in the CAF grew, and at the same time British Government circles expressed objections to its structure and purpose – full Commonwealth membership leading to independence as a dominion.
In June 1956, Northern Rhodesia's
Relations between
The issues of this specific row were in the immediate sense resolved quietly with some constitutional amendments, but it is now known that Welensky was seriously considering contingencies for a
Meanwhile, towards the end of the decade, in the Northern Territories, Africans protested against the white minority rule of the CAF. In July 1958,
The CAF government declared a
The affair drew the whole concept of the federation into question and even
Welensky at least found Lord Home in support of the existence of the CAF. By contrast, Lord Home's rival, and fellow
Dissolution
By the time Macmillan went on his famous 1960 African tour leading to his Wind of Change speech to Parliament in Cape Town, change was well underway. By 1960, French African colonies had already become independent. Belgium more hastily vacated its colony and thousands of European refugees fled the Belgian Congo from the brutalities of the civil war and into Southern Rhodesia.
During the Congolese crisis, Africans increasingly viewed CAF Prime Minister, Sir Roy Welensky, as an arch-reactionary and his support for Katanga separatism added to this. Welensky was disliked by both the right as well as the left, though: a few years later, in his by-election campaign against Ian Smith's Rhodesian Front, RF supporters heckled the comparatively moderate Welensky as a 'bloody Jew', 'Communist', 'traitor' and 'coward'.[25]
The new Commonwealth Secretary,
In 1963, the Victoria Falls Conference was held, partly as a last effort to save the CAF, and partly as a forum to dissolve it. On 5 June 1963, the leaders of Kenya, Tanganyika, and Uganda expressed their intention to unite as the federation of East Africa.[26] By late June 1963, a federation was nearly seen as inevitable.[26] However, within months, the prospect of creating a federation dissipated.[26]
Various explanations have been offered for the failure to establish a federation, including Ugandan concerns about its own weakness within such a federation, ideological objections to plans by Kwame Nkrumah's push for a larger East African federation, the hostility of the Buganda kingdom (within Uganda) to union, tensions over the uneven distribution of benefits from economic integration, lack of clarity on the function or form of federation, a lack of popular engagement with the process, and bad timing."[26] Scholars such as Joseph Nye and Thomas Franck wrote about the failure of the federation, with Franck characterizing it as a tragedy.[26][27]
On 31 December 1963, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was formally dissolved, and its assets distributed among the territorial governments. Southern Rhodesia obtained the vast majority of these including the assets of the Federal army, to which it had overwhelmingly contributed. In July 1964, the
On 11 November 1965, Southern Rhodesia's government, led by Prime Minister Ian Smith, proclaimed a
Military
The Minister of Defence was the President of the Defence Council, which consisted of military and civilian members, and considered all matters related to defense policy.
The Army, in 1960, consisted of three training formations:
- The School of Infantry, based in Gwelo, was responsible for extra-regimental training. It was organized into tactical and regimental wings, with courses ranging from command and weapons training.[7]: 667
- The Regular Army Depot, based in Salisbury, handled all basic training for black recruits.
- The Depot, The Royal Rhodesia Regiment, trained recruits for the Territorial Force battalions.
Corps training was handled by the Rhodesia and Nyasaland Corps of Engineers, Corps of Signals, and the Army Service Corps.
In May 1958, three installations were named after "three of the most famous soldiers in the military history of Central Africa". The RAR camp in Llewellin was named Methuen Camp after
Llewellin Barracks in Bulawayo commemorated the first Governor-General of the Federation. The Battle of Tug Argan was commemorated in the name of Tug Argan Barracks in Ndola.
The Army consisted of four African battalions: the 1st and 2nd Battalion, King's African Rifles; the Northern Rhodesia Regiment; and the Rhodesian African Rifles.[7]: 668 1961, the all-White 1st Battalion of the Rhodesian Light Infantry regiment was added.
The Rhodesia and Nyasaland Women's Military Air Service (known popularly as the "WAMS") was the Federation's women's auxiliary unit. In 1957 a policy change led to the unit being gradually scaled down until its work was taken over by civilian staff.[7]: 671
Legacy
Although the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland only lasted for ten years, it had an important effect on Central Africa.
Its White minority rule, where a couple of hundred thousand Europeans – primarily in Southern Rhodesia – ruled over millions of Black Africans, was largely driven by paternalistic reformism, that collided with rising African self-confidence and nationalism.
The British influenced and affiliated federation and its institutions and racial relations differed from the only other regional power, the
Following Southern Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI), a growing conflict emerged between two of the former CAF territories – Zambia (supporting African nationalists) and Southern Rhodesia (supported by South Africa) – with much heated diplomatic rhetoric, and, at times, outright military hostility.
Postage and revenue stamps
The Federation issued its first postage stamps in 1954, all with a portrait of
Coins and banknotes
The Federation also issued its own bank notes and coinage to replace the Southern Rhodesian pound which had been circulating in all three parts of the federation, Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia, and Nyasaland. In 1955 a full new set of coins were issued with the Mary Gillick obverse of the Queen and various African animals on the reverse. The denominations followed those of sterling, namely halfpennies and pennies, which had a hole in them, threepences (known as tickeys), sixpences, shillings, a two shilling piece and a half crown. There were further full issues of all these coins in 1956 and 1957, but thereafter only pennies and half pennies were produced until some further issues of sixpences in 1962 and 1963, and threepences in 1963 and 1964. The higher denomination coins, though not particularly rare, are very popular with collectors because of their attractive reverse designs. Threepences and halfpennies were struck in 1964 despite the fact the Federation ended on 31 December 1963.
See also
- Governor-General of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
- Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
- Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland election, 1953
- Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland election, 1958
- Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland election, 1962
- Flag of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
- Government of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
- Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence
Notes
- ^ Rhodesia and Nyasaland Federation Act, 1953 of the United Kingdom (1 and 2 EI, 2, c. 30)
- ^ Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (Constitution) Order in Council, 1953 of the United Kingdom, S.I. 1953 No. 1199, p. 1804
- ^ a b c Roberts-Wray, Kenneth (1966). Commonwealth and Colonial Law. London: Stevens. p. 745.
- ^ JSTOR 2611207– via JSTOR.
- ^ Rhodesia and Nyasaland Act, 1964
- ^ Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (Dissolution) Order in Council, 1963, S.I. 1963 No. 2085, p.4477.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Brelsford, ed. (1960). Handbook to the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. London: Cassell and Company, Ltd.
- ^ "Central Africa - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
- ^ "Identity and Decolonisation: the policy of partnership in Southern Rhodesia 1945-62". Retrieved 29 May 2020.
- ^ Blake, 268
- ISBN 978-1349048977.
- ISBN 978-0252081132.
- ^ Blake, 284.
- ^ Advisory Commission on the Review of the Constitution of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, H.M. Stationery Office, 1960, p. 288.
- ^ a b "Struggles for Freedom: Southern Africa". JSTOR. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-9799-7277-2.
- JSTOR 2637621.
- S2CID 159771303.
- ^ Murphy, Philip, British Documents on the End of Empire: Central Africa, Part I, Volume 9, The Stationery Office, 2005, p. xxxii.
- ^ Darwin, John, Britain and Decolonisation: The Retreat from Empire in the Post-War World, Macmillan International Higher Education, 1988, p. 276.
- ^ Murphy, Philip, Party Politics and Decolonization: The Conservative Party and British Colonial Policy in Tropical Africa 1951-1964, Clarendon Press, 1995, p. 199.
- ISBN 978-0-394-48068-8.
- ISBN 0-620-06410-2. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
- ^ Blake, 288.
- ^ The Past Is Another Country: Rhodesia 1890–1979, Martin Meredith, A. Deutsch, 1979, p. 51
- ^ S2CID 158221888.
- ISBN 9780674421387.
References
- Cohen, Andrew. The Politics and Economics of Decolonization in Africa: The Failed Experiment of the Central African Federation (I. B. Tauris, London, 2017).
- Franklin, Henry. Unholy wedlock: the failure of the Central African Federation (G. Allen & Unwin, London, 1963).
- Blake, Robert. A History of Rhodesia (Eyre Methuen, London 1977).
- Hancock, Ian. White Liberals, Moderates, and Radicals in Rhodesia, 1953–1980 (Croom Helm, Sydney, Australia, 1984).
- Mason, Phillip. Year of Decision: Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1960 (Oxford University Press, 1961).
- Phillips, C. E. Lucas. The vision splendid: the future of the Central African Federation (Heinemann, London, 1960).
- Leys, Colin and Pratt Cranford (eds.). A new deal in Central Africa (Heinemann, London, 1960).
- Clegg, Edward Marshall. Race and politics: partnership in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. (Oxford University Press, 1960).
- Gray, Richard. The two nations: aspects of the development of race relations in the Rhodesias and Nyasaland (Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn., 1960).
- Rogaly, Joe. Rhodesia: Britain's deep south. (The Economist, London, 1962).
- Hall, Richard. 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).
- Dorien, Ray. Venturing to the Rhodesias and Nyasaland (Johnson, London, 1962)
- Hanna, Alexander John. The story of the Rhodesias and Nyasaland. (Faber and Faber, 1965).
- Black, Colin. The lands and peoples of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (Macmillan, NY, 1961).
- Sanger, Clyde. Central African emergency (Heinemann, London 1960).
- Gann, Lewis H. Huggins of Rhodesia: the man and his country (Allen & Unwin, London, 1964).
- Gann, Lewis H. Central Africa: the former British states (Englewood Cliffs, N. J., Prentice-Hall, 1971).
- Haw, Richard C. (fwd. by Sir Godfrey Huggins) No other home: Co-existence in Africa (S. Manning, Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia, 1960?).
- Taylor, Don. The Rhodesian: the life of Sir Roy Welensky. (Museum Press, London 1965).
- Wood, J.R.T. The Welensky papers: a history of the federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (Graham Pub., Durban, 1983).
- Welensky, Roy, Sir. Welensky's 4000 days: the life and death of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (Collins, London, 1964).
- Allighan, Garry. The Welensky story (Macdonald, London, 1962).
- Alport, Cuthbert James McCall, Lord. 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).
- Thompson, Cecil Harry. Economic development in Rhodesia and Nyasaland (D. Dobson, Publisher London, 1954)
- Walker, Audrey A. 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).
- Irvine, Alexander George. 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. (U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Foreign Commerce, 1956)
- Standard Bank of South Africa, Ltd. The federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland: general information for business organisations. (London, 1958).
- Sowelem, R. A. 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).
- Shutt, Allison K (2015). Manners Make A Nation: Racial Etiquette in Southern Rhodesia, 1910–1963. Rochester: University of Rochester Press.
External links
- Rhodesia and Nyasaland Army http://www.rhodesia.nl/ceremonialparade.pdf
- Window on Rhodesia, an archive of the history and life of Rhodesia
- King, Anthony (2001). "Identity and Decolonisation: the policy of partnership in Southern Rhodesia 1945-62". unesdoc.unesco.org. St. Antony's College, Oxford. Retrieved 29 May 2020.