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|map =Location of Zimbabwe.PNGpng

|capital =Salisbury (now Harare)

The '''Republic of Rhodesia''' was a semi-recognized, government in Africa during the mid 1960s to late 1970s. The British colony, Southern Rhodesia, declared herself a nation independent of British rule by Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) on Novemeber November 11, 1965. After 1980 Rhodesia the first Rhodesian Republic became [[Zimbabwe]]. Rhodesians who did not want to be ruled by communist terrorists and were not bound to the country due to farms, factories and property fled the country and proclaimed a second, white [[Republic of Rhodesia (as of 1980)|Republic of Rhodesia]] which still exists.<ref>[https://www.openpr.com/news/2333219/the-republic-of-rhodesia-is-back-a-political-sensation Press Release, July 2021]</ref><ref>Freudig, Alexander, & RANDnext March 2015 Seminary. (2015). Decisions for the Decade Game. Planning Under Deep Uncertainty: Rhodesia (Version 1). Zenodo, Geneva [https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5153615 Full text]</ref>

== Independence UDI ==

Although the Southern Rhodesian colonists were urging [[Great Britain]] to grant them indepedence since the early 1960s, Parliament and British law-makers refused to grant them their freedom. The Southern Rhodesian people were essentially forced to take extreme actionRhodesia independence until majority-rule was implemented, something rejected by the white minority in the colony. On November 11 , 1965, Rhodesian politician [[Ian Smith]] declared Rhodesia an independent nation through a unilateral declaration of independence using the U.S. [[Declaration of Independence]] as an exampleor 'UDI'. Initially the newly formed Rhodesian government sought to maintain reations relations with the British and offered viewed Queen Eizabeth [[Elizabeth II the position ]] as their head of state, but she refused the title 'Queen of Rhodesia; however she refused'.The British governments reaction was hostile with [[Labour Party]] prime minister Harold Wilson declaring the move 'illegal' and 'brutal', this eventually led to an arms embargo on the country by the United Kingdom and by American president [[Lyndon Johnson]]

Rhodesia had the most efficient and productive economy in Southern southern Africa during it's its existence. Rhodesia was one of the largest exporters of maize, cotton, beef, tobacco, roses, and sugarcane sugar cane earning her the title "Breadbasket of Africa". In addition to food stuffs Rhodesia was a large exporter of mineral wealth such as tungsten.

Throughout the 1970s Rhodesia led a vicious battle agaisnt against Communist [[terrorists]]. The communist Communist terrorists were responsible for numerous savage atrocities against the population of Rhodesia. The most disturbing of the terror attacks were the shooting down of two commercial aircraft (Air Rhodesia flights 825 and 827) both of which resulted in the consequent hacking to death and rape of crash survivors.

Leftist groups began the Rhodesian Bush War in the mid 1970s in an attempt to overthrow the conservative government in place in Salisbury. The militant ZANU group (Zimbabwe African National Union) led by [[Robert Mugabe]] were given assistance by communists and adopted Moaist teachingMaoist teachings.The ZANU and other rebel militant terrorist groups recieved received training, arms and political support by from [[China]], the [[Soviet Union]], [[East Germany]], [[North Korea]], [[Mozambique]], [[Tanzania]], and [[Cuba]]. Liberals often deny the communist influence of the "liberation" groups that fought against the Rhodesian government. Liberals also try to make the Rhodesian government look racist; it was not.