Rhodesia: The Constitutional Conflict

The Rhodesian rebellion was announced by no whiff of grapeshot but by Mr Ian Smith declaiming that he and his colleagues, ‘in humble submission to Almighty God’, were giving Rhodesia a new constitution, ‘so that the dignity and freedom of all men may be assured’. Subsequently the rebellion has continued to centre around a constitutional dispute. Although there have been armed clashes between the Rhodesian security forces and some guerrilla fighters who have infiltrated from Zambia, there has been no conflict between the forces of the legal authority, the British Government, and those which obey the rebel régime.