The Lancaster House Conference and the Independence of Zimbabwe, 1979: Documents on British Policy Overseas: Series III, Volume XIV

The Lancaster House Agreement was signed on 21 December 1979, ending the illegal white-dominated regime, led by Ian Smith, that had ruled Rhodesia since the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965 and ushering in the newly independent state of Zimbabwe. The Agreement also ended a bitter civil war between the Smith-Muzorewa government and the Patriotic Front, led by rival leaders Joshua Nkomo and Robert Mugabe. It marked an early diplomatic success for the new Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher and a personal triumph for Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington. However, it was an outcome achieved only after three months of gruelling negotiations which frequently came close to breakdown. This volume documents the bold but high-risk negotiating strategy that brought the rival factions face-to-face at Lancaster House and kept them talking through the many crises where one side or the other threatened to leave. It also reveals the intense diplomatic activity aimed at building support for Britain's approach on the part of interested parties, including the United States, South Africa, the Commonwealth and the United Nations.