Eleven African demonstrators are shot dead by Rhodesian police in Salisbury

On 1 June 1975, eleven African demonstrators were shot dead while 15 were left wounded when Rhodesian police opened fire on a rioting crowd on the outskirts of Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe). In 1965 whites in Southern Rhodesia, led by Ian Smith, defied the British government’s instructions to hand over power to a popularly-elected government. Realising that this would mean an end to white rule, Smith opted for a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI). British influence in Southern Rhodesia ended, and Smith entered into strategic alliances with South Africa and the last two colonial governments on the sub continent, Angola and Mozambique. Five years later Southern Rhodesia gained its independence, with Robert Mugabe as President. Shortly after he took over, Mugabe changed the name of the country to Zimbabwe, as it is known by now.  References: Boddy-Evans A. ‘This Day In African History’, from About African History, 01 June, [online], available at www.africanhistory.about.com(Accessed: 24 May 2012) Newspaper Archive(1975), ‘The Text Content on Page 1 of Star News, June 2, 1975’, 02 June, [online], available athttp://newspaperarchive.com(Accessed: 24 May 2012)