War in Rhodesia (1965-1979): fight against terrorists or civil conflict?

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the war between the Rhodesian government and the black rebels from 1965 to 1979. The relevance of the work is due to the lack of fundamental research on these events in modern Russian historiography. The object of the study is the armed conflict in the territory of the Rhodesia, which took place in 1965-1979. The subject of the study is the activities of the rebel organizations that opposed the white government of the country. The author studied in detail the main events of the war in Rhodesia. Also, the work defines the role of external influence on the parties to the conflict under consideration, special attention is paid to the study of terrorist acts that were committed by members of rebel organizations. Based on the study, it can be concluded that the war in Rhodesia (1965-1979) was a civil conflict, while also being a local conflict within the global confrontation between capitalist and socialist countries. At the same time, the actions of the rebel organizations were by no means just a struggle for independence, but were accompanied by bloody terrorist acts against the civilian population.The scientific novelty of the article lies in the study of the main events of the military conflict, as well as in the study of the methods of fighting the rebels against the government of Rhodesia. The author's special contribution to the study of the topic is a detailed description of the terrorist acts in Rhodesia that were committed by members of the rebel organizations.