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biography
| name: |
Smith, Ian (Douglas)
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1919– )
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| biography:
| Rhodesian politician and prime minister (1964–79), born in Selukwe, C Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia). He studied in Rhodesia and South Africa, fought in World War 2, and became an MP in 1948. In 1961 he was a founder of the Rhodesian Front, dedicated to immediate independence without African majority rule. As premier, he unilaterally declared independence (UDI, 1965), which resulted in the imposition of increasingly severe economic sanctions by the UN at Britain's request. After an intensive guerrilla war, he created an ‘internal settlement’, and Muzorewa's caretaker government made him a member of the Transitional Executive Council of 1978–9 to prepare for the transfer of power. The internal settlement was overturned by the Lancaster House Agreement, and he was elected an MP under Mugabe's government, where he continued to be a vigorous opponent of the one-party state. |
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