The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland , also Called Central African Federation , political entity created in 1953 and ending 31 December 1963, comprising the British settler-dominated colony of Southern Rhodesia ( Zimbabwe ) and the territories of Northern Rhodesia ( Zambia ) and Nyasaland ( Malaŵi ) which were under the control of the British Colonial Office.
Britannica Quiz Exploring Africa:Fact or Fiction? Though this continent is teeming with natural resources and diverse wildlife, how much do you really know about Africa? Sort these facts from Cairo to Khartoum in this African odyssey. From the 1920s white European settlers in the Rhodesias had sought some form of amalgamation to counter the overwhelming numerical superiority of black Africans, but this had been blocked by a British Colonial Office that was sensitive to profound African opposition. After World War II the growth of secondary industries and greatly increased white immigration in Southern Rhodesia, compounded by the copper boom in Northern Rhodesia, led white political leaders and industrialists to urge even more strongly the advantages of an amalgamated territory that would provide larger markets and be able to draw more freely on black labour, especially in Nyasaland.
The imperial government was convinced the federation by the economic arguments, the nationalist victory in South Africa in 1948 and the hope of creating a "partnership" based multicultural state to combat South Africa's racial policies (apartheid ) to support. The blacks of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland were consistently opposed to the Federation, which they feared would be dominated by Southern Rhodesia. During the 1950's, Federation politics was largely viewed in favor of the white population of the South.
Black discontent came to a head in 1959 when the growing nationalist movement in Nyasaland led to widespread civil unrest. A state of emergency was declared and many nationalists were arrested without trial. These events convinced the British that power had to be transferred to the black majority. The attainment of independence by Malaŵi (July 6, 1964) and Zambia (October 24, 1964) marked the effective end of the federation. In Southern Rhodesia, the breakup of the federation in November 1965 led to the illegal Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) of the White Community as the Republic of Rhodesia. Black majority rule was introduced there in 1980 with the founding of independent Zimbabwe.