I am publishing on the Internet my books on Zimbabwe - the country with the former name of Rhodesia and before that Southern Rhodesia:
Even though they are written years ago, they are still of current interest if you want to understand the background for the present conflicts in Zimbabwe. However, they are only published in the original language, i.e. Danish. If still considered relevant, I will consider a translation into English when I retire ...
Zimbabwe has been a frequent topic in the press in recent years. Most often when white Zimbabwean farmers have been attacked by black "war veterans" from the liberation struggle in the 1970s. Most recently in 2001 and 2002 leading to the reelection of Robert Mugabe as president after an election campaign which did not receive fine marks from foreign observers - even by those who were allowed to observe.
In the short press notices on Zimbabwe there are seldom room for subleties and in-depth explanations. However, many do know that the land question plays a key role in the conflicts finding their way to the newspaper columns. More than 20 years after independence in 1980 a few white farmers still own the bigger parts of the most fertile farming land in Zimbabwe. Even though the same white farmers have contributed a large part of Zimbabwe's food supplies and foreign exchange earnings, the unequal distribution of land is a provocation in the eyes of poor black Zimbabwean peasants who have to sort out a living from tiny plots in rural areas with poor soil. Today - as well as during the liberation struggle.
Even though the land problem was the key reason behind the popular support for the liberation struggle in the 1960s and 1970s, not much has changed in the 20 years after independence. But how did this situation emerge? What is the background for the land problem and the continued conflicts in today's Zimbabwe? Here you have to go back to the colonisation and the colonial period, which for Zimbabwe lasted for 90 years from 1890 to 1980. It was during this time that the present injusticies were founded - often as a result of a very deliberate and brutal policy from the colonial regime and the growing white population, the white settlers lead by the white farmers. This is the topic of my thesis The political power relations in Rhodesia from colonisation to UDI - in Danish: De politiske magtforhold i Rhodesia fra koloniseringen til UDI - published here for the first time.