Updated and Extended Timeline
· December 18, 1974: Ian Smith, Prime Minister of Rhodesia, is assassinated by Robert Mugabe’s ZANLA Forces. This event, the climax in a line of disagreements between ZANLA and China, results in the severing of ties between the two.
· June 18, 1974: A reeling Mugabe, desperate for support after the loss of his Chinese funding and disappointed by his inability to break the Rhodesian military, launches a raid against a Rhodesian ‘Rest and Relaxation’ Camp. In the firefight, several US Intelligence officers are killed whilst undercover. The USSR secretly begins to supply Mugabe’s forces as well as their own Robert Mugabe.
· December 24, 1975: Despite initial hesitation in supporting the Rhodesian state, the PRC and USA both begin to support the Rhodesian Government, now led (unofficially) by Smith’s Lieutenant, PK van der Byl. This agreement to stop Soviet power in the region is known as the Christmas Accord. Mao is initially hesitant, but agrees after further talks.
· February 20, 1976: After continued pressure from both the US and PRC, the Rhodesian government holds an emergency election for the post of Prime Minister. The Chinese and Americans force a ‘one person, one vote’ policy for both black and white Rhodesians in order to weaken their opponents’ position. Merely four days before the election, Van der Byl announces publicly the foundation of a new political party, dubbed the Rhodesian Eterna Party, composed of the former Rhodesian Front and UANC in the name of national solidarity. Mr. Van der Byl is chosen as Eterna’s candidate for Prime Minister.
· February 24, 1976: After a landslide victory, PK Van der Byl is sworn in as Rhodesia’s Prime Minister. The Chinese and Americans continue to increase funding to the Rhodesians, whilst Joshua Nkomo and Robert Mugabe receive funding from the USSR.
· September 13, 1976: After much negotiating and convincing, NATO begins to trade with Rhodesia, with the exception of Great Britain. Arms from both NATO and China flow into Rhodesia’s armories.
· September 14, 1976-January 1, 1977: The Rhodesian Bush War continues for several more months, causing massive death tolls and destruction in the country. Prime Minister Van der Byl calls and wins three more elections for Prime Minister. The USSR, however pulls out its support from the failing rebellion in the country, and focuses instead on supporting its failing puppet state in Afghanistan. The USA follows suit to counter the Soviet threat. Only the PRC remains in Rhodesia.
· January 27, 1977: The forces of ZANU and ZAPU finally succumb to Sino-Rhodesian forces after a raid kills both Mugabe and Nkomo.
· February 23, 1977: After the conclusion of the Bush War, peace is declared, and the country begins an arduous reform and reconstruction process with Chinese support.
· July 4, 1977: PM Van der Byl launches a Chinese-sanctioned invasion of Zambia , citing the Zambian government’s support of terrorist organizations during the Bush War and former cultural and political ties between the two countries.
· October 12, 1978: Rhodesian forces are successful in their conquest of Zambia, and after an Annexation period fifteen months in length, Rhodesia and Zambia are once again united under one government. The country is renamed the Central African Federation of Rhodesia and the capitol of Salisbury is renamed Karanga. Tensions between Rhodesia and its neighbors continue to increase.
· December 1, 1978: The British South African Police are re-christened the ‘Federal Rhodesian Police Force, and begin extensive operations in Zambia after an anti-government insurgency erupts there.
· December 15, 1978: Agents of the FRPF Special Branch discover a rebel weapons cache in central Zambia consisting of weapons of US and South African Origin. When questioned regarding the find, neither government admits to wrongdoing, claiming that their arms shipments had been raided by pirates. Rhodesian relations with the RSA and US begin to sour.
· July 2, 1978: A minor border dispute results in a skirmish between Rhodesia and South Africa, fueled by South Africa’s mediocre support of Rhodesia during the Bush War.
· October 18, 1979: The conflict between Apartheid South Africa and Rhodesia ends in an ambiguous peace. Neither side gains much from the conflict.
· November 3, 1979: Prime Minister Van der Byl steps down from office, and an election is held for Prime Minister. The Rhodesian government, concerned over its lack of manpower and the tenuous position of demography in the country (in Zambia in particular) begins an international campaign to lure immigrants, promising citizenship and a government pension for a foreign man and family in exchange for ten years of government service. This results in a heightened trickle of immigrants to Rhodesia, primarily consisting of people from American, Asian, and western European States.
· December 1, 1979: Enoch Dumbutshena, having significantly marginalized his political views, is elected President of Rhodesia by a slim margin, and takes (largely ceremonial) power successfully as Rhodesia’s first black President. Peter Walls is elected Prime Minister by a wide margin (Rhodesia Eterna Party).
· December 10, 1979: Zaire, under President Joseph Mobutu, launches a surprise attack against Rhodesia in an attempt to seize the nation’s vast resources. China and France condemn the invasion, but no other countries respond.
· December 11, 1979: Rhodesia officially declares war, beginning the war which will eventually be known as the Hondo Satani (literally: War of the Devils).
· February 4, 1980: After a final sweeping offensive by the Rhodesians, Zaire is forced into a surrender. Winning the war leads to a stronger sense of unity in Rhodesia, while the defeat results in the collapse of Mobutu’s government. Relations between the US and Rhodesia sour farther.
· April 2, 1980: President Mobutu is assassinated along with several of his lieutenants, and Zaire erupts in civil war. Two major factions emerge: The People’s Revolutionary Party under Laurente- Désiré Kabila and a joint UNITA-ABAKO conservative movement.
· April 7, 1980: Agents of the Rhodesian CIO (Central Intelligence Organization) infiltrated undercover in the Republic of South Africa witness a South African nuclear bomb test. A furious Rhodesia petitions the PRC to help them develop a domestic nuclear weapons program.
· July 5, 1980: South African Intelligence agents discover several nuclear weapons in Rhodesia, and clamor to strengthen their stockpiles and developing a nuclear missile with US and Israeli aid.
· July 30, 1980: A low ranking MP from Rhodesia by the name of Robert Shona is assassinated by South African agents. Rhodesia responds with an SAS raid in which Nelson Mandela and several other leaders of the anti-government rebellion in South Africa are released from the prison at Robben Island.
· September 10, 1980: A South African Canberra B-12 Bomber equipped with two American B83 Nuclear Bombs is shot down over southwestern Rhodesia after attempting to deliver its payload upon the Rhodesian Capitol. The plane, however, crash landed in the vital city of Bulawayo and the surrounding area, resulting in the death of nearly 4,000,000 Rhodesian citizens. Bulawayo is a vital industrial and transportation hub, and its loss is devastating.
· September 11, 1980: The Rhodesian Federal Security Forces launch a coordinated invasion of the RSA using an evolved variant of the anti-insurgent Fireforce tactics. The Rhodesian strategy revolves on the rapid utilization of heavy armored car units, Rhodesian Air Force paratroops, bombing runs, and rapid seizure of cities. In the meantime a raid by 1 Rhodesian SAS Operators resulted in the destruction of all 22 remaining South African nuclear bombs.
· November 18, 1980: In the early morning, South Africa’s sole ICBM fails to launch due to design issues. As Rhodesian forces approach Pretoria, UN forces attempt to negotiate a ceasefire, but fail to resolve the situation. The First Battle of Pretoria begins, and rapidly deteriorates into a fruitless siege of the city and several rapid skirmishes in the suburbs and bush.
· November 28, 1980: South African forces successfully repel their Rhodesian opponents, and win the first battle of Pretoria. The South African counterattack is itself countered by the Rhodesians, and the RSF remain entrenched in the eastern regions of South Africa. Concurrently, the SADF faces a growing insurgency led primarily by Nelson Mandela.
· February 12, 1981: The war continues to drag on, and US threats to intervene are met with severe resistance from the USSR and PRC, who threaten to intervene in response.
· March 1, 1981: South African Prime Minister PW Botha is assassinated by the Rhodesian CIO. A separate raid by the RSAS successfully neutralizes South Africa’s only ICBM.
· March 2, 1981-March 2, 1984: For four years, the war rages without bearing fruit for either side.
· March 8, 1984: A South African assault drives the RSF back across the Rhodesian border, but the RSA is facing a swelling insurgency at home, with anti-apartheid and anti-war forces coagulating into a united force against the government.
· March 14, 1984: Just as the South Africans seize the Rhodesian city of Gwelo, their forces come under assault from the Rhodesian Air Force. The massive air battle which takes place there is dubbed the Battle of Gwelo, and will last for months.
· July 8, 1984: Rhodesian forces successfully launch a clandestine invasion into South Africa by way of Botswana, but the attack is repulsed, and Botswana becomes occupied by both parties, the Rhodesians in the north, and RSA in the south.
· July 20, 1984: The Battle of Gwelo ends in a Rhodesian victory with a massively depleted RSA air presence in the region. South African ground forces are repulsed south and east, and entrench themselves in the city of Fort Victoria. The Rhodesians besiege the area, and the Battle for Fort Victoria begins.
· September 3, 1984: To the surprise of the world, Nelson Mandela, assisted by the RSAS and CIO, successfully captures Pretoria, and officially claims control of the RSA. The brief South African Civil War begins. Malawi, having suffered an anti-war revolution, abandons its South African allies and supports Rhodesia.
· September 4, 1984-March 12, 1985: The South African Civil War/South African Revolution rages on alongside the conflict between Rhodesia and the RSA (dubbed by later scholars as the Great African Emergency). After four years of blood, the Apartheid government falls to Nelson Mandela, who makes a hasty ceasefire with the Rhodesians.
· May 31, 1985: Peace accords between Rhodesia, Malawi, Botswana, and South Africa are held at New Sarum Air Force Base in Rhodesia. The New Sarum Treaty is chaired by the PRC, USSR, and NATO on behalf of the UN. The results of the accords are as follows:
o Rhodesia shall annex Malawi as a fully privileged member state of the Central African Federation, restoring the previous union between Zimbabwe, Nyasaland, and Zambia.
o The Republic of South Africa shall re-organize along equal ethnic lines, and destroy the rules of Apartheid.
o The Republic of South Africa shall enter into a non-aggression pact with Rhodesia, to immediate effect and expiring in the year 2005.
o Botswana shall be paid collateral reparations by both South Africa and Rhodesia, in apology for any damages inflicted upon the neutral state during the course of the war.
· July 1, 1985: Nelson Mandela is elected President of South Africa by a landslide.
· July 5, 1985: The Rhodesian Security Forces purchase 20,000 of the controversial East German Stg.940 Series of weapons (consisting of an Assault Rifle, Carbine, Squad Support Weapon, and Marksman Rifle), and begins testing the weapons in field exercises.
· October 12, 1985: Alec Smith, son of Ian Smith and leader of the new Rhodesian Reform Party (RRP), is elected Prime Minister of Rhodesia.
· October 14, 1985-January 6, 1986: Prime Minister Smith slowly begins the process of increasing black African power in the Federation, and does so in progressive and moderate steps whilst facing opposition from conservative diehards. (on January 6, the Rhodesian Arms Manufacturing Wing purchases rights to produce the Stg.940 Series. After minor adjustments are made (including increasing the caliber of the SSW and Marksman Rifle to a 7.62mm round) and the weapons are adopted as the M940 Series (With the weapons’ roles being designated by Patterns. IE: Pattern 1= Assault Rifle, Pattern 2=Carbine, etc.). This transaction will not save the DDR, but will help it survive for the time being.