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• Ian Smith was the Prime Minister of Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1979. In 1965, he declared Rhodesia's independence from British control. The remainder of his term was marked by political conflict, both domestically and in the international community. Smith died in 2007 in South Africa.

• Fast Facts

  1. Full name: Ian Douglas Smith
  2. Born: April 8, 1919 in Selukwe, Zimbabwe
  3. First Prime Minister of Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe)
  4. Declared independence (UDI) from the United Kingdom on November 11, 1965
  5. Awarded Rhodesian Legion of Merit and Independence Decoration
  6. Died: November 20, 2007 in Cape Town, South Africa

• Rhodesian Independence

  When Smith became Prime Minister, the region was still under British control. In 1965, Smith declared unilateral independence and renamed the state from Southern Rhodesia to Rhodesia, but maintained entirely white rule.

• Establishment of Biracial Rule

  Black nationalists were upset by continued white-only rule of the newly-independent state. In 1971, the Rhodesian Bush War began. Fighting ceased in 1979 when the Lancaster House Agreement was signed. The agreement formally ended white-only rule.

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Zimbabwe | United Kingdom | Robert Mugabe

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