Rhodesia at the Crossroads

Rhodesia is ready and capable of ruling itself, says the author. But will Britain and World Opinion let it? Mr. Molnar is gently optimistic

Before 1960 there was not much talk of politics in Salisbury. The United Federal Party looked after the interests of the 220,000 whites, kept the black men in line, and helped work out profitable deals for the export of tobacco. Then came Harold Macmillan’s speech about “the winds of change”; disorders in the Congo and Angola; the UN spotlight on apartheid. Rhodesia awoke to a threat, the sudden rise of black nationalism at home and the bitter knowledge that it could expect little support from Whitehall. Had not the Colonial Secretary, Sir Duncan Sandys, confided to Sir Roy Welensky: “We want to get rid of the blacks as soon and as completely as possible.”

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Thomas Molnar

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Rhodesia is ready and capable of ruling itself, says the author. But will Britain and World Opinion let it? Mr. Molnar is gently optimistic

Before 1960 there was not much talk of politics in Salisbury. The United Federal Party looked after the interests of the 220,000 whites, kept the black men in line, and helped work out profitable deals for the export of tobacco. Then came Harold Macmillan’s speech about “the winds of change”; disorders in the Congo and Angola; the UN spotlight on apartheid. Rhodesia awoke to a threat, the sudden rise of black nationalism at home and the bitter knowledge that it could expect little support from Whitehall. Had not the Colonial Secretary, Sir Duncan Sandys, confided to Sir Roy Welensky: “We want to get rid of the blacks as soon and as completely as possible.”