Britain and the Rhodesian Mercenary Issue, c.1970–1980

Abstract

ABSTRACT During the 1970s numerous British citizens travelled to Rhodesia, then an unrecognised state in rebellion against the Crown, to serve in the colony's armed forces during the Bush War. This article considers the significance of this issue from the perspective of the British Government, and discusses different approaches used by the British to prevent such activities. In doing this it shows how the government was under pressure from a number of different groups, making this issue more significant than numbers would suggest. It also reconstructs the methods by which attempts were supposedly made to encourage men to serve in Rhodesia. It suggests that, insofar as limited activities may have happened, they were actually rather haphazard, albeit difficult to prevent. It argues that this was an issue of significance, but that the framework of the British political and legal system mitigated against successful government action. It also engages with questions of British relations with newly independent African states, as well as conceptions of British responsibility in post-colonial Africa, and puts this issue into the broader context of mercenary activity in 1970s Africa.