ABSTRACT

This article recovers two resolutions, in 1948 and 1950, respectively, by the all-white parliament in Southern Rhodesia (colonial Zimbabwe) that expressed support for the colony’s independence within the British Commonwealth. The examination of these post-war pushes for sovereignty illuminate how Rhodesia’s political leadership was sensitive to wider changes in the imperial status quo, well before the broader white electorate became similarly seized by colonial withdrawal. The motions highlight the gulf between the metropole and local settler leadership, even when the latter were ostensibly firmly backed by imperial policy and domestic black political opposition was comparatively muted. Additionally, the two parliamentary debates elucidate domestic interparty differences. The article is primarily informed by verbatim transcripts of the pertinent legislative proceedings. The deliberations have largely disappeared from the colony’s historiography – a significant omission given the considerable scholarly interest surrounding Southern Rhodesia’s unilateral declaration of independence from Britain in 1965. This article shows that nearly two decades before that fateful step, changing international factors motivated Rhodesia’s political class to consider major steps that would ensure the maintenance of white dominance.

摘要

本文恢复了南罗得西亚（殖民地津巴布韦）的全白人议会分别于 1948 年和 1950 年通过的两项决议，该决议表示支持该殖民地在英联邦内独立。对这些战后争取主权的努力的考察表明，罗得西亚的政治领导层对帝国现状的更广泛变化是多么敏感，远早于更广泛的白人选民同样被殖民撤退所占据。这些动议凸显了大都会和当地定居者领导层之间的鸿沟，即使后者表面上得到帝国政策的坚定支持，而且国内黑人政治反对派相对平静。此外，两次议会辩论阐明了国内党派间的分歧。这篇文章主要参考了相关立法程序的逐字记录。考虑到南罗得西亚在 1965 年从英国单方面宣布独立引起了相当大的学术兴趣，这些审议在很大程度上从该殖民地的史学中消失了——这是一个重大的遗漏。本文表明，在这一决定性的步骤发生前将近二十年，不断变化的国际因素促使罗得西亚的政治阶层考虑确保维持白人统治地位的主要步骤。