عنوان

The impact of the Second World War on Southern Rhodesia :

Number

TLets544003

Title Proper

The impact of the Second World War on Southern Rhodesia :

General Material Designation

[Thesis]

First Statement of Responsibility

Johnson, David

Title Proper by Another Author

with reference to African labour, 1939-1948

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London)

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

1989

Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree

Ph.D.

Body granting the degree

School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London)

Text preceding or following the note

1989

Text of Note

This thesis examines the second world war as a watershed in thesocio-economic development of Southern Rhodesia. It begins withan analysis of the specific contributions of the settler colony tothe imperial war effort - e. g., the Empire Air Training Scheme andthe Rhodesian African Rifles, which are discussed in chapters oneand two. The next chapter focuses on changes in the majorsectors of the economy - mining, agriculture and manufacturing.It examines settler responses to the increased internal andexternal demand for agricultural produce; the growth of amanufacturing sector induced by wartime import restrictions andthe expansion of the internal market; and the role of the state inthese developments.The last four chapters concentrate on the experience of Africansin the rural areas and the expanding. urban centres. It is arguedthat, under the guise of support for the war effort,undercapitalized settler producers - who were unable to attractan adequate supply of labour through a dependence on marketforces - used their political influence to pressure the governmentinto coercing Africans into wage employment. Wartime coercionhelped to resolve some of the historic problems of 'labourshortages' by accelerating the process of "proletarianization" ofthe African peasantry in Southern Rhodesia. Some of those whofled the compulsory labour gang recruiters found voluntaryemployment in the cities or the Union of South Africa, wherewages were much higher. The influx of workers into the cities -centres of increased economic activity during the war - caused astrain on urban resources such as housing. This, combined withwartime inflation and undemocratic labour legislation, helped toproduce deteriorating conditions of work and life for the majorityof urban labourers. Africans were not passive in face of theseevents and, like workers elsewhere on the continent, they soughtto redress their grievances through spontaneous and organizedaction in the immediate post-war years, the most notableepisodes being the 1945 rail strike and the 1948 general strike

Johnson, David

School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London)

Electronic name

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y