Zimbabwean Imperialism

Zimbabwe, formerly Southern Rhodesia has a unique colonial history. Phase one of it colonialism was conducted by a British charter company, and then British rule was consolidated by a settler economy regime, with an extremely racially marginalising rule. Southern Rhodesia experienced both regimes of mineral exploitation, and of direct rule under settler economies, without the direct involvement of the British government. This essay will outline its colonial progression till the 1940s, and analyse the administrative and institutional mechanisms used by the European settlers to dominate the indigenous population.

Privatized imperialism dominated Zimbabwe 's early days of colonialism, via rule of companies interested in exploiting the natural
In the early steps of the phase of conquest- from 1890s to eve of World War - Rhodes was able to defeat the Ndebele in 1893 to move carefully chosen, influential white people into the area. In 1895 the land was renamed Rhodesia. Despite strong Ndebele and Shona uprisings against the occupation in 1896-97, the BSAC successfully occupied Rhodesia . Although an agent for colonization, the BSAC was not really a government, as Herbst points out: occupation does not equal administration . The formation of this colony was seen as a continuation of the British Empire 's plan to bring the whole of the "uncivilized worlds under British rule", based on the notion of white supremacy and a paternalist attitude towards responsibility towards the inferior
In 1897, Southern Rhodesia Native Regulations Act was promulgated, establishing the structure for administering the African population . Under these regulations the policy of direct rule was implemented throughout the African areas by the Native Affairs Department. The Native Affairs Department also administered the pass laws which required certain members of local population to get passes to enter and move about within urban centers. A 1902 act required all adult males to register with native commissioner upon reaching the age of 14 and to carry a registration certificate at all times. The Native Registration Act of 1936 augmented methods of urban control and required that in addition to the registration certificate, also called the situpa, Africans in towns needed to carry at least one pass . The settlers dominated the locals by monitoring and restricting their movements in the urban