Southern Rhodesia became a British colony when the British government took it over from the British South Africa Company due to a 1922 referendum. Prior to that time, it had been informally been known as Zambesia, based on the Zambezi River. It would form a government on October 1 and would retain its status, sort of, as a British colony until 1964.
Southern Rhodesia, massively British in terms of its colonial character, saw itself in that fashion, and its white residents had been highly supportive of World War One. They would be again of World War Two.
Flag of Northern Rhodesia.
In 1953, it was confederated by the British with Northern Rhodesia, which had a larger landmass. In the 1950s, it began to fall apart with the rise of African nationalism. Northern Rhodesia became independent and changed its name to Zambia in 1964, interestingly changing its name during the course of the Olympics, and therefore entering the games with one name and exiting it with another.
When Northern Rhodesia became independent, with the cooperation of the British government, it struck fear into Southern Rhodesian whites, and the country, which was controlled by them, issued its Unilateral Declaration of Independence as Rhodesia in 1965. The winds of change already well set in, Rhodesia, while it had cooperation from various countries, was unrecognized by any. It fought an increasingly losing battle against African nationalist forces in the 60s and 70s, and returned to British colonial status brief in 1979, before becoming the current state of Zimbabwe.
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