Southern Rhodesia Communist Party
The Southern Rhodesia Communist Party was an illegal, underground communist party established in Southern Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe) which was formed in large part due to the minority settler rule, which had an immensely repressive structure. It emerged in 1941 from a split in the Rhodesia Labour Party. The party consisted of a small, and predominantly white, membership. During the parties existence it had links to other communist parties such as the Communist Party of South Africa and the Communist Party of Great Britain. The party disappeared in the late 1940s, with the exact date of its dissolution not being known. Nobel Laureate Doris Lessing author of various works including “The Grass is Singing,” is the most well known member of the Southern Rhodesian Communist Party. Overview Southern Rhodesia was a British colony established under minority settler rule; this repressive structure continued to expand throughout the colonies existence. In the 20th century, much of Rhodesia's GDP was made up of extractive methods such as agriculture and mining. However, these sectors were developed on an uneven, unequal, and racist platform. These themes of inequality and racism only continued to grow over the 20th century. In the early 1900s, this led to significant