History of Zambia

This article deals with the history of the country now called Zambia from prehistoric times to the present.

Early history

The original inhabitants of modern day Zambia were bushmen (also called San), who were hunters and gatherers who lived a nomadic life, with stone age technology. Mainly they gathered fruits and nuts, but they also hunted antelope.

The bushmen were the only inhabitants of the region until the 4th century, when Bantu or Tonga people started to migrate from the north. They had far more developed technology - they were farmers and had iron and copper tools and weapons, as well as knowledge about pottery Even today Tonga people are Knowledgeable and good farmers in food production and cattle farming. . They were sedentary and lived in small self sufficient villages with a few houses, growing sorghum and beans, as well as keeping cattle and goats.

Since the early farmers practised slash and burn agriculture, they had to constantly move further south when the soil was exhausted. The indigenous bushmen were either assimilated into the new culture or pushed aside into areas not suitable for agriculture.

With the introduction of agriculture the population grew, and more and more land became cultivated. By the 11th and 12th centuries a more advanced society was beginning to emerge. Even though most villages still were self sufficient, long distance trade was developing. Copper mining was intensified, and copper crosses were probably used as a currency. Ivory carvings and cotton textiles were other export commodities. One of the most famous archaeological sites for this period is Ing-ombe Ilede. The increase in trade resulted in larger political units and more complex social structures.

From 1500 to 1900

The period between the 16th and the 19th centuries saw the emergence of organised Iron Age kingdoms as well as widespread immigration. Four kingdoms were established in this period - among the Kazembe-Lunda in the north centered around the lower Luapula River, the Bemba in the north east, the Chewa in the east and the Lozi in the west centered around the upper Zambezi River. The territory of the present Zambia, being far inland, did not have direct contact with non-Africans until relatively recently in its history. Arab and Portuguese traders were visiting by the 18th Century. The first recorded visits by Europeans to Zambia were the Portuguese Manoel Caetano Pereira (a trader of mixed Goanese and Portuguese descent) in 1796 and Dr Francisco Jose Maria de Lacerda (an explorer) in 1798. Both came via Tete in Mozambique to Mwata Kazembe's capital to try and get the chief's agreement to a Portuguese trade route between their territories of Mozambique and Angola. Lacerda died within a few weeks of arriving at Kazembe’s but left a valuable journal which was carried back to Tete by his priest and which was later translated into English by the explorer Sir Richard Burton. [William Govan Robertson: "Kasembe and the Bemba (Awemba) Nation." "Journal of the Royal African Society", Vol. 3, No. 10 (Jan., 1904), pp. 183-193.] "Encyclopaedia Britannica", 1911 edition.]

However, it is believed the Portuguese first settled in Zumbo, Mozambique, in 1720, which is just across the Luangwa River from Zambia, at the confluence with the Zambezi River. Around 1820 they had settled on the Zambian side at Feira (now Luangwa). So it is very likely they were visiting Zambian territory between 1720 and 1820. [ [http://www.nrzam.org.uk/NRJ/V5N1/V5N1.htm "The Northern Rhodesia Journal" online,] Volume V No. 1 (1962) p43. Accessed 21 March 2007.]

The first Briton to set his foot on Zambian soil was David Livingstone. In 1851 he started his famous exploration of the upper Zambezi River, and in 1855 he became the first European to see Mosi-oa-Tunya, the waterfalls on the Zambezi River, which he named after Queen Victoria, and the Zambian town near the falls is named after him. Livingstone later died in Zambia in 1873.

When the first Europeans arrived, the most powerful states in precolonial Zambia were the kingdom of Barotseland in the upper Zambezi, and the kingdom of Mwata Kazembe on the Luapula.

The Lozi people of Barotseland had prevented access to their land by Arab and Portuguese traders. When the kingdom was first established is uncertain, but it was certainly in existence by the 18th century, the Lozi calling themselves Aluya and their country Ngulu. Its ruler was called the Litunga, and had two capitals: in the dry season he stayed at Lealui, while in the rainy season he moved to Limulunga, a move that is still celebrated in the Kuomboka annual festival.

The first certain historical fact concerning Barotseland is in the early 19th century the trek of the Makololo, a clan of the South-african Basotho or Tswana people. Utterly defeated by Shaka's new Zulu kingdom in the 1820s, the Makololo under the guide of Sebetwane were forced to march north until they conquered the Lozi and became the aristocracy of Barotseland, with Sebitwane as new "Litunga".

Sebetwane proved an able leader, and is spoken of with warm respect by David Livingstone, who met him in 1851 shortly before his death. He was succeeded by his daughter Mamochisane, who early stepped down in favour of her half-brother Sekeletu. With him the Makololo empire appears to have started to fall to pieces, especially after his death in 1863: a year later internal dissension in the ruling class brought to a revolt by the Lozi that is said to have exterminated the Makololo aristocracy and forced the survivors to migrate to present-day Malawi.

Colonial Period

In 1888, Cecil Rhodes, spearheading British commercial and political interests in Central Africa, obtained a mineral rights concession from local chiefs. In the same year, Northern and Southern Rhodesia, now Zambia and Zimbabwe, were proclaimed a British sphere of influence. To start with the territory was administered by Rhodes' British South Africa Company, which showed little interest for the province and used it mainly as a supplier of cheap labour.

In 1923 the British government decided not to renew the company's charter; as a result, Southern Rhodesia was annexed formally and granted self-government in 1923. After negotiations the administration of Northern Rhodesia was transferred to the British colonial office in 1924 as a protectorate, with Livingstone as capital. It was later transferred to Lusaka in 1935. A Legislative Council was established, of which five members were elected by the small European minority (only 4,000 people), but none by the African population.

In 1928 important discoveries were made in the region from then on called Copperbelt - enormous copper deposits were found, transforming Northern Rhodesia from a prospective land of colonization for white farmers to a copper exporter. Already in 1938 it produces 13% of world's copper extracted. The sector was immediately monopolized by the Anglo American Corporation (AAC, North-American) and the Rhodesian Selection Trust (RST, South African), who would control the sector till independence.

The bad security conditions and increased taxes helped to trigger a strike of African mineworkers in 1935, known as the Copperbelt strike. The strike was crushed by the authorities that killed 13 miners in the repression.

During the Second World War white miners came out on strike in 1940. Realising the importance of their products for the war, they demanded higher salaries. This strike was followed by another by African mineworkers.

Even before the war, there had been talks about merging the two Rhodesia's, but the process had been halted by the British authorities, and brought to an absolute stop by the war. Finally, in 1953, both Rhodesia's were joined with Nyasaland (now Malawi) to form the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Northern Rhodesia was the center of much of the turmoil and crisis that characterized the federation in its last years. At the core of the controversy were insistent African demands for greater participation in government and European fears of losing political control.

A two-stage election held in October and December 1962 resulted in an African majority in the legislative council and an uneasy coalition between the two African nationalist parties. The council passed resolutions calling for Northern Rhodesia's secession from the federation and demanding full internal self-government under a new constitution and a new national assembly based on a broader, more democratic franchise. On December 31, 1963, the federation was dissolved, and Northern Rhodesia became the Republic of Zambia on October 24, 1964.

Independence and Cold War

At independence, despite its considerable mineral wealth, Zambia faced major challenges. Domestically, there were few trained and educated Zambians capable of running the government, and the economy was largely dependent on foreign expertise. Abroad many of Zambia's neighbouring countries were still colonies or under white minority rule.

United National Independence Party (UNIP) won the first legislative election in Zambia, gaining 55 of the 75 seats. The Zambian African National Congress won 10 seats, and the National Progressive Party won all the 10 seats reserved for whites.cite web
url = http://africanelections.tripod.com/zm.html
title = Elections in Zambia
publisher = African Elections Database
accessdate = 2006-10-11]
Kenneth Kaunda was elected prime minister, and later the same year president, as the country adopted a presidential system.

Kaunda adopted an ideology of African socialism, close to that of Julius Nyerere in Tanzania. Economical policies focused on central planning and nationalisation, and a system of one party rule was put in place.

Towards one party rule

In 1968 Kaunda was re-elected as president, running unopposed. During the following years Zambia adopted a one party system. In 1972 all political parties except UNIP was banned, and this was formalised in a new constitution that was adopted in 1973. The constitution framed a system called "one-party participatory democracy", which in practise meant that UNIP became the sole political factor in the country. It provided for a strong president and a unicameral National Assembly. National policy was formulated by the Central Committee of UNIP. The cabinet executed the central committee's policy. In legislative elections, only candidates running for UNIP was allowed to participate. Even though inter-party competition was out of question, the contest for seats within UNIP was energetic. In the presidential elections, the only candidate allowed to run was the one elected as president of UNIP at the party's general conference. In this way Kaunda was re-elected unopposed with a yes or no vote in 1973, 1978, 1983 and 1988.

The economy and the copper crisis

After independence Zambia adopted a left wing economical policy. The economy was to some extent run by central planning, under five year plans, private companies were nationalised and incorporated into big state owned conglomerates. The governments goal was to be self sufficient, which it sought to achieve through import substitution. At first the plan worked out and the economy grew steadily, but in the mid 70's the economy started to decline drastically. During the period between 1975 and 1990 Zambia's economy dropped by approximately 30%.cite web
url = http://www.bized.co.uk/virtual/dc/back/econ.htm
title = Zambia - Economic History
publisher = [http://www.bized.co.uk Biz/ed]
accessdate = 2006-10-11]

The reason for this was that the Zambian economy was heavily dependent on the copper industry, which had previously been nationalised. During the 70's the price of copper sank drastically, resulting in a large deficit for the state owned enterprise. Another reason for the drop was Zambia's involvement in the neighbouring countries politics, and the transportation problems this resulted-in.

To deal with the crisis Zambia took big loans from the International Monetary Fund and the Worldbank, hoping that copper prices would rise again soon, instead of issuing structural reforms.

Foreign policy

Internationally, Zambia's sympathies lay with forces opposing colonial or white-dominated rule. During the next decade, it actively supported movements such as the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) under the independence war and under the subsequent civil war, the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) in Southern Rhodesia, the African National Congress (ANC) in their struggle against apartheid in South Africa, and the South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) in their struggle for independence for Namibia. Zambia also hosted some of the movements. For instance, the ANC exile head quarters were in Lusaka, and ZAPU had a military base in Zambia. This resulted in security problems, as the South Africa and South Rhodesia raided targets inside Zambia on several occasions.

Conflicts with Rhodesia resulted in the closing of Zambia's borders with that country and severe problems with international transport and power supply. However, the Kariba hydroelectric station on the Zambezi River provided sufficient capacity to satisfy the country's requirements for electricity. TAZARA, a railroad to the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam, built with Chinese assistance, reduced Zambian dependence on railroad lines south to South Africa and west through an increasingly war ravaged Angola.

Civil strife in neighbouring Mozambique and Angola created large amounts of refugees, large numbers of whom fled to Zambia.

Internationally, Zambia was an active member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), and hosted a summit in Lusaka in 1970 and Kenneth Kaunda served as the movements chairman 1970-1973. Among the NAM countries Zambia was especially close to Yugoslavia. Outside the NAM Zambia also had close relations with the Peoples Republic of China.

Multiparty democracy

The end of one party rule

The one party rule and the declining economy created disappointment among the people. Several strikes hit the country in 1981. The government responded by arresting several union leaders, among them Frederick Chiluba. In 1986 and 1987 protests arose again in Lusaka and the Copperbelt. These were followed by riots over rising food prices in 1991, in which at least 30 people were killed. The same year the state owned radio claimed that Kaunda had been removed from office by the army. This was not true, and the coup attempt failed.

These extensive protests made Kaunda realise the need for reform. He promised a referendum on multiparty democracy, and lifted the ban on political parties. This resulted in the quick formation of eleven new parties. Among these Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), led by former union leader Frederick Chiluba, was the most important. After pressure for the new parties the referendum was canceled in favour for direct multiparty election.

Frederick Chiluba and the MMD

After a new constitution had been drafted, elections were held in 1991. They were generally regarded to have been free and fair, and Chiluba won 76% of the presidential vote, and the MMD 125 of the 150 seats in the National Assembly, with the UNIP taking the remaining 25.cite web
url = http://africanelections.tripod.com/zm.html
title = Elections in Zambia
publisher = African Elections Database
accessdate = 2006-10-11]

Economically Chiluba, despite being a former union leader, stood to the right of Kaunda. With support from the IMF and Worldbank, to which Zambia was heavily indebted, he liberalised the economy by restricting government interference, privatising state owned enterprise, such as the important copper mining industry, and removing subsidies on different commodities, most notably on corn meal.

When the one party rule first was abolished in 1991, many expected a more democratic future for Zambia. These expectations were however clouded by the MMD's treatment of the opposition. Questionable amendments of the constitution and detentions of political opponents caused major criticism, and some donor countries, i.e., the United Kingdom and Denmark, withdrew their aid.

Coups and emergencies

In 1993 the government owned newspaper "The Times of Zambia" reported a story about a secret UNIP plan to take control of government by unconstitutional means, called the "Zero Operation Plan". The plan included industrial unrest, promotion of violence and organisations of mass protests. The UNIP did not deny the existence of such a plan, but underlined that it was not a part of their official policy, but the views of extremists within the party. The government responded by declaring a state of emergency and putting 26 people into detention. Of these seven, including Kenneth Kaunda's son Wezi Kaunda were charged with offences against the security of the state. The rest were released.cite web
title = Zambia - Elections and Human Rights in the Third Republic
url = http://hrw.org/reports/1996/Zambia.htm#P165_20378
publisher = Human Rights Watch
accessdate = 2006-10-16]

Prior to the 1996 elections, the UNIP formed an alliance with six other opposition parties. Kenneth Kaunda had earlier retired from politics, but after internal turbulence in the party, due to the "Zero Operation Plan" scandal, he returned, replacing his own successor Kebby Musokotwane. Chiluba's government then amended the constitution, banning people whose parents were not both Zambian citizens from becoming president. This was directly aimed at Kaunda, whose parents were both from Malawi. In protest the UNIP and its allies boycotted the elections, which were then easily won by Chiluba and the MMD.

In 1997 matters escalated. On October 28 a coup d'etat took place, as a group of army commanders took control over the national radio station, broadcasting a message stating that Chiluba was no longer president. The coup was brought to an end by regular forces, after Chiluba had again declared a state of emergency. One person was killed during the operation. After the failed coup the police arrested at least 84 people accused of involvement.cite web
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/32668.stm
title = Zambia holding 84 over coup bid
publisher = BBC
accessdate = 2006-10-16 ] Among these were Kenneth Kaunda and Dean Mungomba, leader of the opposition party the Zambia Democratic Congress. The arrests were condemned and criticised as illegal inside as well as outside Zambia, and accusations of torture were made as well.cite web
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/24963.stm
title = Zambia 'tortured coup suspects'
publisher = BBC
accessdate = 2006-10-16 ] Kaunda was released in June the following year, but 44 of the soldiers who took part in the coup were sentenced to death in 2003.cite web
url = http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR630022003?open&of=ENG-ZMB
title = Zambia: Forty-four soldiers to be executed
publisher = Amnesty
accessdate = 2006-10-16]

2001 elections

Prior to the elections in 2001 Chiluba tried to change the constitution to allow him to run for a third term. He was forced to step back on this point after protest from within the party as well as from the Zambian public.

See also

* Monuments and Historic Sites of Zambia
* Kenneth Kaunda
* Kazembe

References

General

*cite web
url = http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2359.htm
title = Background Note: Zambia
publisher = U.S. Department of State
*cite encyclopedia
title = Zambia
encyclopedia = Nationalencyklopedin
volume = 20
pages = 270
publisher = Bokförlaget Bra Böcker
year = 1996
edition = 1

*cite web
url = http://www.thezambian.com/history/
title = The History of Zambia
publisher = The Zambian
accessdate = 2006-10-10
first = Tim
last = Holmes
* [http://www.historyofnations.net/africa/zambia.html History of Zambia]

Early history

*cite web
url = http://www.localhistories.org/zambia.html
title = A Short History of Zambia
first = Tim
last = Lambert
accessdate = 2006-10-19
*cite web
url = http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-44137/Zambia
title = Zambia > History > Archaelology and early history
publisher = Encyclopædia Britannica Online
accessdate = 2006-10-19

Independence

*cite web
url = http://www.bized.co.uk/virtual/dc/back/econ.htm
title = Zambia - Economic History
publisher = [http://www.bized.co.uk Biz/ed]
accessdate = 2006-10-11

Multiparty democracy

*cite web
title = Zambia - Elections and Human Rights in the Third Republic
url = http://hrw.org/reports/1996/Zambia.htm#P165_20378
publisher = Human Rights Watch
accessdate = 2006-10-16
*cite web
title = Zambia
url = http://www.barnfonden.se/country_show.asp?id=7&type=n_history
publisher = Barnfonden (The Children's Fund)
language = Swedish
accessdate = 2006-10-16
*cite web
title = ZAMBIA: Coup attempt must not lead to arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment
url = http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR630101997?open&of=ENG-ZMB
publisher = Amnesty
accessdate = 2006-10-16