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Zimbabwe became independent on 18 April 1980, after 90 years of colonial rule that began when Cecil Rhodes’s British South Africa Company occupied the country in 1890, and after a liberation war that ended with the Lancaster House Agreement in December 1979. Zimbabweans call their two armed struggles against colonial rule the First and Second Chimurenga (Shona: uprising or struggle). The Ndebele word is Umvukela. This guide covers the colonial period, the road to independence, and the places where travellers can see this history today. Written by Bryan Fawcett.
Last reviewed: 25 October 2026 against Encyclopaedia Britannica, the BBC’s Zimbabwe timeline, South African History Online and Terence Ranger’s Revolt in Southern Rhodesia 1896–7 (1967). Casualty figures for the liberation war and the cross-border raids are disputed, so we give them only where sources agree.

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Key dates

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The British South Africa Company (1889–1923)

Cecil Rhodes used the Rudd Concession of 1888 to win a royal charter for his British South Africa Company (BSAC) in October 1889. The charter gave the Company political as well as commercial powers. In 1890 the Pioneer Column, made up of white settlers, African workers and Company police, travelled north from Bechuanaland (now Botswana). It reached the site of present-day Harare on 12 September 1890 and founded Fort Salisbury, named after the British prime minister. In 1893 the Company conquered the Ndebele kingdom (see The Ndebele kingdom). In 1895 its territories, previously known loosely as Zambesia, were formally named Rhodesia. The area south of the Zambezi became Southern Rhodesia.

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The First Chimurenga (1896–97)

In March 1896 the Ndebele rose against Company rule, and the Shona of Mashonaland joined a few months later. In Zimbabwe this is the First Chimurenga, or Umvukela in isiNdebele. Britannica lists the main grievances as forced labour, heavy taxes, and the seizure of land and cattle by the Company. The risings had early successes, but Shona and Ndebele fighters were eventually defeated after they ran out of supplies. In Matabeleland, Cecil Rhodes negotiated an end to the fighting with Ndebele leaders at peace talks (indabas) in the Matobo Hills in 1896. In Mashonaland, fighting went on into 1897.

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Mbuya Nehanda and Sekuru Kaguvi

Spirit mediums played a leading role in the Shona rising. The two best known are:
  • Mbuya Nehanda (Charwe Nyakasikana), a medium of the Nehanda spirit.
  • Sekuru Kaguvi (Gumboreshumba), a medium of the Kaguvi spirit.
Both were captured and tried in Salisbury in 1898, and both were hanged in April 1898. The court records of their trials are held by the National Archives of Zimbabwe. Nehanda became a symbol of resistance for the nationalists of the 1960s and 1970s. A statue of her was unveiled in 2021 at the corner of Julius Nyerere Way and Samora Machel Avenue in central Harare; public access to the statue itself has been restricted. Historians disagree on how far the risings were coordinated. Terence Ranger’s Revolt in Southern Rhodesia 1896–7 (1967), the first full account, argued that spirit mediums provided a unifying religious leadership. David Beach, in a 1979 article in the Journal of African History, argued that the Shona rising was neither pre-planned nor simultaneous, and that the mediums’ influence was more local.

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Southern Rhodesia (1923–1953)

Company rule ended in 1923. In a 1922 referendum, white settlers chose self-government rather than joining South Africa, and in 1923 Southern Rhodesia became a self-governing British colony. Britain kept control of foreign affairs and a final veto over laws directly affecting Africans. The Land Apportionment Act of 1930 divided the country’s land by race and restricted Black Africans’ access to land, forcing many into wage labour. Land would remain one of the central issues of Zimbabwe’s history.

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The Federation (1953–1963)

In 1953 Britain joined Southern Rhodesia with Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and Nyasaland (now Malawi) in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also called the Central African Federation. Many Africans, especially in the two northern territories, opposed it, fearing it would extend Southern Rhodesia’s racial laws. The Federation was dissolved on 31 December 1963, and Malawi and Zambia became independent the following year.

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Nationalism and UDI (1960–1965)

African nationalist parties grew in the early 1960s. When one was banned, another took its place:
  • National Democratic Party (NDP), founded in 1960 under Joshua Nkomo and banned soon after.
  • Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU), formed by Nkomo in the early 1960s (sources give 1961 or 1962).
  • Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), formed in 1963 by a group led by Ndabaningi Sithole that broke away from ZAPU, with Robert Mugabe among its leaders. Mugabe later replaced Sithole as leader.
In 1962 the Rhodesian Front, which campaigned for independence under white minority rule, won the election, and Ian Smith became prime minister in April 1964. Britain would not grant independence under white minority rule. On 11 November 1965, Smith’s government issued the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI). Britain declared it illegal but did not use force. The UN Security Council imposed economic sanctions in 1966 and widened them in 1968, but support from South Africa and Portugal weakened their effect.

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The Second Chimurenga (liberation war, 1966–1979)

The liberation war, also called the Rhodesian Bush War, was fought between the Rhodesian government and the armed wings of the two nationalist parties: On 28 April 1966, Rhodesian forces surrounded and killed a group of seven ZANLA fighters near Sinoia (now Chinhoyi). This clash is often cited as the first battle of the war. Zimbabwe marks 28 April as Chimurenga Day, and the “Chinhoyi Seven” were declared national heroes in 2017. The war intensified from 1972, and ZANLA operated increasingly from Mozambique after that country became independent in 1975. Rhodesian forces also raided guerrilla and refugee camps across the border. Two raids are especially remembered in Zimbabwe:
  • Nyadzonia (Nyadzonya), 9 August 1976: an attack on a camp in Mozambique that held thousands of Zimbabweans who had crossed the border.
  • Chimoio, 23–25 November 1977: a combined air and ground attack on camps at Chimoio and Tembue in Mozambique.
The two sides still dispute how many of those killed were combatants and how many were refugees, and casualty figures vary widely.

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The road to Lancaster House

Under growing military and international pressure, Smith reached an “internal settlement” in 1978 with nationalist leaders who were not fighting the war, including Bishop Abel Muzorewa of the United African National Council. After elections in April 1979, which ZANU and ZAPU boycotted, the country was renamed Zimbabwe Rhodesia, with Muzorewa as prime minister. It was not internationally recognised, and the war continued. From September to December 1979, the British government hosted talks at Lancaster House in London between the Muzorewa government and the Patriotic Front of Nkomo’s ZAPU and Mugabe’s ZANU. The Lancaster House Agreement, signed on 21 December 1979, provided for a ceasefire, a new constitution with guarantees for the white minority, and new elections. Britain briefly resumed direct control of the colony.

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Independence (1980)

British-supervised elections were held in February 1980. Of the 80 seats not reserved for white voters, ZANU-PF won 57, PF-ZAPU won 20 and Muzorewa’s UANC won 3. Robert Mugabe became prime minister. Zimbabwe became independent on 18 April 1980, and 18 April is Independence Day, a public holiday. For what happened next, see the post-1980 section of the history timeline.

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Places travellers can visit

National Heroes' Acre, Harare

The national monument and burial ground for those declared national heroes, on a ridge about 7 km west of central Harare. Work began in September 1981 with the help of North Korean designers. It includes the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, with a bronze statue of three guerrilla fighters (two men and a woman), an eternal flame, murals of Zimbabwe’s history and a museum. Dress and behave respectfully, and check visiting arrangements with National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ).

National Archives of Zimbabwe, Harare

On Borrowdale Road in Gunhill, Harare. Set up under a 1935 Act, it holds the country’s official records and photographs, including documents from the trials of Nehanda and Kaguvi. Its public gallery has displays on Great Zimbabwe, the Mutapa state and the First Chimurenga. The Archives’ website was down for maintenance when we checked, so confirm opening hours locally.

Chimoio and Nyadzonia memorials (Mozambique)

These memorial sites are in Mozambique, not Zimbabwe. Chimoio is the capital of Mozambique’s Manica province, east of the Mutare border crossing. Mass graves and shrines at the former camps commemorate those killed in the raids, and NMMZ acts as custodian of the Chimoio shrine. Check Mozambique’s entry requirements and current conditions before you cross, and go with a guide who knows the sites.

Old Bulawayo (kwaBulawayo)

King Lobengula’s royal town of 1870–1881, south of Bulawayo, rebuilt as a heritage site and being restored by NMMZ after a fire in 2010. It has an interpretive centre. Check that it is open before you go.
Other sites linked to this period include World’s View in the Matobo Hills, where Cecil Rhodes is buried, and the colonial buildings of Harare and Bulawayo; see Historic sites and colonial buildings.

Zimbabwe history timeline

The Ndebele kingdom

About Zimbabwe

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Sources

Last modified on October 25, 2026