Title:
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The impact of the Second World War on Southern Rhodesia : with reference to African labour, 1939-1948
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This thesis examines the second world war as a watershed in the
socio-economic development of Southern Rhodesia. It begins with
an analysis of the specific contributions of the settler colony to
the imperial war effort - e. g., the Empire Air Training Scheme and
the Rhodesian African Rifles, which are discussed in chapters one
and two. The next chapter focuses on changes in the major
sectors of the economy - mining, agriculture and manufacturing.
It examines settler responses to the increased internal and
external demand for agricultural produce; the growth of a
manufacturing sector induced by wartime import restrictions and
the expansion of the internal market; and the role of the state in
these developments.
The last four chapters concentrate on the experience of Africans
in the rural areas and the expanding. urban centres. It is argued
that, under the guise of support for the war effort,
undercapitalized settler producers - who were unable to attract
an adequate supply of labour through a dependence on market
forces - used their political influence to pressure the government
into coercing Africans into wage employment. Wartime coercion
helped to resolve some of the historic problems of 'labour
shortages' by accelerating the process of "proletarianization" of
the African peasantry in Southern Rhodesia. Some of those who
fled the compulsory labour gang recruiters found voluntary
employment in the cities or the Union of South Africa, where
wages were much higher. The influx of workers into the cities -
centres of increased economic activity during the war - caused a
strain on urban resources such as housing. This, combined with
wartime inflation and undemocratic labour legislation, helped to
produce deteriorating conditions of work and life for the majority
of urban labourers. Africans were not passive in face of these
events and, like workers elsewhere on the continent, they sought
to redress their grievances through spontaneous and organized
action in the immediate post-war years, the most notable
episodes being the 1945 rail strike and the 1948 general strike
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