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{{Use South African English|date=May 2023}}
{{Politics of Rhodesia}}▼
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox multichoice referendum
| country = Rhodesia
| date = 20 June 1969
| barwidth = 180px
| part1_subject = Adoption of a republican form of government
A '''double referendum''' was held in [[Rhodesia]] on 20 June 1969, in which voters were asked whether they were in favour of or against a) the adoption of a [[republic]]an form of government and b) the proposals for a new Constitution, as set out in a [[White paper]] and published in a ''Gazette'' Extraordinary on 21 May 1969.<ref name="Jubilee" /> Both proposals were approved.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081214134004/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900929,00.html Final Break], ''[[TIME]]'', June 27, 1969</ref> The country was subsequently declared a republic on 2 March 1970.<ref name="BBC" />▼
| part1_choice1 = For
| part1_percentage1 = 81.01
| part1_choice2 = Against
| part1_percentage2 = 18.99
| part2_subject = Adoption of a new constitution
| part2_choice1 = For
| part2_percentage1 = 72.48
| part2_choice2 = Against
| part2_percentage2 = 27.52
▲}}{{Politics of Rhodesia}}
▲A
==Background==
===Position of monarchy after UDI===
On 11 November 1965, the self-governing [[British colony]] of [[Southern Rhodesia]] made a [[Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence
However, the [[Rhodesian Front]] [[Cabinet of Rhodesia|government]] of [[Prime Minister of Rhodesia|Prime Minister]] [[Ian Smith]] ceased to recognise the authority of her ''de jure'' representative, the [[Governor of Southern Rhodesia|Governor]] [[Humphrey Gibbs|Sir Humphrey Gibbs]].<ref name="Gibbs">[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vzNIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qgANAAAAIBAJ&pg=782%2C2383897 Ian Smith Strips Gibbs Of All Official Privilege], Associated Press, ''[[The Morning Record]]'', November 18, 1965</ref> Instead, on 17 November, it appointed former [[Deputy Prime Minister of Rhodesia|Deputy Prime Minister]] [[Clifford Dupont]] to the post of "[[Officer Administering the Government#Rhodesia|Acting Officer Administering the Government]]".<ref name="EAR65">[https://books.google.
On 2 December, Smith wrote a personal letter to the Queen, asking her to accept Dupont as the new [[Governor-General]].<ref>[https://books.google.
Under the 1965 draft Constitution, if the Queen did not appoint a Governor-General within fourteen days of advice being tendered by the Prime Minister, a [[Regent]] was to be appointed.<ref>[https://books.google.
In deference to the
Consequently, legislation passed after UDI was "enacted by His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government, as the representative of the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Rhodesia".<ref name="ASAL1969">[https://books.google.
Similarly, Dupont would deliver the [[
While Gibbs continued to occupy Government House, Dupont and his wife held official receptions at Governor's Lodge in the [[Harare|Salisbury]] suburb of Highlands.<ref name="EAR65" /> In 1967, on the second anniversary of UDI, Gibbs declared that his visitors' book would be open to all those who wished to show their loyalty to the Queen, while Dupont, in response, announced that the visitors' book at his office, on the same street, would be open to all those who wished to show their support for UDI.<ref>[https://books.google.
Neither the Queen nor the [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]] recognised Dupont as her representative, and while she issued reprieves for two African men sentenced to be hanged in 1968, the Smith government did not accede to her clemency order.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yOMpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=udYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=756%2C1162062 Rhodesian Government Hangs Two More Despite Protests], [[Associated Press]], ''[[Gadsden Times]]'', March 11, 1968</ref>
===Calls for republic===
Calls for Rhodesia to declare itself a republic began as early as July 1966, when a joint committee of the Rhodesian Front caucus and local party chairmen put forward proposals to sever links with the
As a result of the increasing ambiguity of the Queen's constitutional position, the Rhodesian government believed that only by becoming a republic would Rhodesia be able to improve trade and gain international recognition.<ref name="BBC">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/2/newsid_2514000/2514683.stm BBC ON THIS DAY | 2 | 1970: Ian Smith declares Rhodesia a republic], [[BBC News Online|BBC News]]</ref> Following the unsuccessful talks with [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British
Later that year, a Constitutional Commission was appointed, in which one witness argued that "the Queen in her capacity as Queen of Rhodesia is the political prisoner of the British Government".<ref>[https://books.google.
Writing in his memoir, Smith described republic status as "one of the more controversial proposals", and "no easy decision for many of us who from birth had been ingrained with the [[British Empire]]", but it had "become increasingly difficult for us to separate monarch and Empire from the deviousness of the [British] politicians."<ref>[https://books.google.
===New Constitution===
In addition, the Smith government sought to strengthen the position of [[
Under the new constitution, white voters would elect 50 members to the [[House of Assembly]], the [[lower house]] of [[Parliament of Rhodesia|Parliament]], while African voters would only elect 8, with an additional 8 seats being indirectly elected to represent chiefs and tribal interests.<ref>[https://books.google.
==Results==
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==Adoption of new constitution==
===Declaration of republic===
A Bill to implement the new constitutional proposals was passed by the Legislative Assembly on 17 November, and was signed into law by Dupont on 27 November.<ref>[https://books.google.
Following the declaration of the republic, Smith commented that "when we asked the Queen to accept us as an independent state, British politicians told her to answer "no" and we became a ''de facto'' republic... all that has happened now is that we have become a ''de jure'' republic".<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GCEmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Bv4FAAAAIBAJ&pg=713%2C1548807 Rhodesia Challenges African Dignity, Says Cameroon Leader], ''[[The Afro American]]'', March 14, 1970</ref> Dupont was sworn in as the first [[President of Rhodesia|President]] under the new republican constitution, following its adoption in April 1970.<ref name="WashPost">[https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1978/06/29/clifford-dupont-first-president-of-rhodesia-dies/d29adb45-89f9-4a1b-ba66-918373973bbe/ Clifford Dupont, First President of Rhodesia, Dies], ''[[The Washington Post]]'', June 29, 1978</ref>
When asked by an American journalist whether 2 March would be Rhodesia's "[[Independence Day (United States)|Fourth of July]]", he replied: "No... today isn't such a tremendous day. We made our decision to become republic quite a long time
===Legal and heraldic changes===
In the legal system, references to "
Despite not wishing to give legitimacy to the declaration of republican status, the Queen, on the advice of the British government, approved the suspension of the [[Royal charter|grant]] of the title "Royal" to the
Similarly, the [[St Edward's Crown]] was removed from the badge of the BSAP, although the force's name remained unchanged until July 1980, following the country's independence as [[Zimbabwe]].<ref>[https://books.google.
However, the House of Assembly continued to use the [[ceremonial mace]] surmounted with the Crown, previously used by the [[
Although ''[[God Save
==International response==
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===British and other governments===
[[United Kingdom|Britain]] denounced the move, declaring that "the purported assumption of a republican status by the regime in Southern Rhodesia is, like the 1965 declaration of independence itself, illegal".<ref>[https://books.google.
Other countries which had maintained consulates in Rhodesia after UDI, on the grounds that they were accredited to the Queen and not to the Rhodesian government, moved to close them.<ref>[https://books.google.
Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1990, page 620</ref> The [[United States]] also closed its consulate, despite the [[White House]] favouring it remaining open.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=wMPBk25aptwC
University of Chicago Press, 1990, page 55</ref>
Although [[South Africa]] and [[Estado Novo (Portugal)|Portugal]] did not close their missions in Rhodesia following the declaration of a republic, neither country extended diplomatic recognition.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=mb7dE6K6gJoC
===International Olympic Committee===
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==External links==
* [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2613334?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents The Rhodesian Referendum: The Significance of June 20, 1969], W. P. Kirkman, ''International Affairs'' ([[Royal Institute of International Affairs]] 1944-) Vol. 45, No. 4 (Oct., 1969), pp. 648–657
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__KssPOb_zQ REPORT FROM RHODESIA ON RECENT REFERENDUM], [[Associated Press Archive]], 22 May 1969
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hiO4N9nBIQ EVENTS FOLLOWING RHODESIAN PRIME MINISTER'S PROPOSALS FOR A NEW CONSTITUTION], [[Associated Press Archive]], 19 June 1969
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi3VAkYq5Aw Elections Aka Rhodesia Votes For No Majority Rule (1969)], [[British Pathé]]
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