British Online Archives

This collection contains annual reports by successive colonial administrations in Rhodesia. It ranges from the period of corporate colonisation in the late 19^th century right through to the creation of an independent Zimbabwean republic in 1980. The documents provide an overview of the evolution of colonial rule from the perspective of colonial administrators. They highlight their response to early anti-colonial resistance such as the Shona and Ndeble Risings of 1896-1897. The records also highlight the difficulties caused by the Smith government’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965 and ensiuing decades of white minority rule.

The outbreak of rinderpest early in 1896 destroyed the means of transport, and this, followed almost immediately by an extensive native rising, practically confined operations (save those of maintenance) to the line of railway

Mr G. H. Evans, the Postmaster-General, 1896, Postmaster General, 1896-1938

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Insights

Annual Departmental Reports differ from Blue Books of Statistics because they include explanations of why the statistics are at the levels recorded.

These reports are arranged by the departments which they cover within Zimbabwe. Comparing the data in them shows how each area of government has developed over the years.

These papers cover the Second Matabele War in Mashonaland, now known as the First Chimurenga, and describe its aftermath.

The coverage of these items includes the Boer War, where the police had to fight, World War One and World War Two. Social services in the colony also feature.