Britain and the Rhodesian Mercenary Issue, c.1970–1980
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11943592 |
|---|---|
| Authors | H Pattenden (0000-0002-6379-9919, Independent Scholar, Colchester, UK, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 49 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 777-804 |
| Publication date | 2021-03-17 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Imperial & Commonwealth History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0308-6534 • E-ISSN: 1743-9329 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/03086534.2021.1896647 |
| OpenAlex | W3137201933 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 18 |
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
British Empire · Colonialism · Context (archaeology · Decolonization · Government (linguistics · Imperial unit system · Perspective (graphical · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science · African history and culture studies · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · History · Law
Counter-Insurgency in Rhodesia (RLE
‘Rhodesians Never Die’
Revolutionaries for the Right
The Whores of War
The Impact of Anti-communism on White Rhodesian Political Culture, ca.1920s–1980
Wilson and Rhodesia
Killing Kith and Kin
Soldiers of Misfortune
The Collapse of Rhodesia. Population Demographics and the Politics of Race
The Recruitment and use of Mercenaries in Armed Conflicts
Fireforce - One Man's War in the Rhodesian Light Infantry
Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence
Civic Virtue, Young Men, and the Family
The rivers of Zimbabwe will run red with blood
From the Barrel of a Gun
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |