“They were all trying to unload whatever they could just to get enough hard currency to bail.”
The lucky ones left with something; those remaining will be lucky to escape with their lives. When East Africa gained its independence (Kenya/Uganda), they let British whites leave with their property to maintain relations with Britain afterwards. They were less merciful with the Indians (settled there at the behest of the British), who were forced out with the clothes on their backs.
The lesson here (as in Northern Ireland) is that when the crown encourages you to settle in an area, don’t believe you will have their support forever; they’ll trade your rights away in a heartbeat. Rhodesia fought for Britain in their darkest hours, and was repaid with abandonment. At least Portugal and France fought for their settlers...
I don’t disagree with what you said about the Crown. Question though — where did Portugal fight for its settlers?
No-one ‘abandoned’ Rhodesia: they chose to become independant. More power to them.
But look what happened. The Rhodesians had Mugabe foisted onto them by America. Right in the middle of the cold war Rhodesia was forcibly converted into a murderous kleptomarxist state which even today starves and kills its own people. Not one of America’s greatest foreign policy coups.
But don’t let actual history interfere with your blinkered anti-British bigotry.
Israel too.
I’m a reading a book written about a round-the-world motorcycle journey in the early 1970s (”Jupiter’s Travels). He describes meeting up with many Indians who were traveling “on business”. When he discussed it more with one of them over dinner, basically he was born and raised in Kenya, the crown abandoned them and he was a man without a country (the British Consulate took his passport).
He also explained the differences between Zambia and Rhodesia (N & S Rhodesia) in stark contrast. He had to go over to Botswana in order to get from Zambia to Rhodesia. This was in 1973.
I honestly didn’t know much about this history.
I don’t know what history book you are reading, but i suggest getting a better one.
Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence from Britain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unilateral_Declaration_of_Independence
Its a bit like you think that if you walk about on your parents you can claim to be abandoned by them....i think you have a certain axe to grind.....