-
1200
Great Zimbabwe
The Great Zimbabwe was founded in the 11th century, and abandoned in the 15th century. Great Zimbabwe was the capital of a great kingdom; the specific kingdom is not certain. However, we do know that the kingdom was the heart of a thriving, prominent trading empire. It also had large circular walls! In the end, the Great Zimbabwe was, sadly, abandoned. This is because of the drought and overgrazing, which had caused the soil that was located on the Zimbabwe Plateau to become exhausted. -
1485
First European to set foot in Namibia
In 1485, the first european set foot in the country of Namibia. Diogo Cao, a portuguese man, traveled to the skeleton coast, and placed a limestone cross. The cross is now known as the cape cross; and historically represents the home to a colony of over 210,000 cape fur seals. Cape Cross is one of Namibia's most visited sanctuaries. “Guano”, which stands for bird droppings, is a special asset to many people still today because it could be used as fertilizer once dried. -
1506
Mozambique was colonized by the Portuguese
Mozambique was Portuguese territory and became its colony for over 400 years. The voyage of Vasco Da Gama in 1498 brought the Portuguese to Mozambique. The Portuguese wanted to control the gold trade in this region. Mozambicans were sold as slaves in Portuguese and Brazilian south Atlantic trade. Mozambique trade was mostly made up with slaves, Ivory, Gold, and rubber, so there wasn’t much diversity in the items. In June 25, 1975, Mozambique became an independent state. -
Rozvi Empire
The Rozvi Empire was created in 1684, yet came to an end in 1889. This was an empire established on the Zimbabwe Plateau. During the 17th century and the early 19th century, it was the greatest state. In fact, they were so strong, they were able to drive the Portuguese out from their marketplaces in the Zambezi River valley. The creator of this empire’s name is Chagamire Dombo. He was a super powerful man. He named this the Rozvi empire, because it refers to the warrior nation legacy. -
Portugal outlaws slave trade from Mozambique
Portuguese came under pressure to abolish slavery and in 1869 it abolished slavery in Portugues and India. Most of the Mozambique slaves were sent to Portugues and Brazil. Out of 12.5 Millions Slaves traded from Africa to the west, 5,695,00 slaves came from the West Central African region where Mozambique is located. Most of these slaves went to Brazil. The development of the slave trade lead to 50% less men verses women in West Central African region. -
The Zulu war
The Zulu war was a war in 1879 that lasted 6 months between the British and South Africa. The British won this war over the Zulus. The British were invested in this land for many reasons, including that the land had diamond fields. The battle all started when Zulu king Cetswayo refused to give the British power over his land. Cetswayo formed an army of about 40,000-60,000 men. In January 1879 the British invaded Zululand. This war led to a major increase of migration to Botswana. -
Botswana open for British expansion
The Bechuanaland Protectorate was established between Britain and Botswana. The british started coming to Botswana to mine for gold in the late 1860’s. After there was German colonization in South West Africa; the British started to colonize in Botswana in.The British colonial expansion was privatised in the form of the British south Africa Company. The Tswana became allies with the British. Roads through Botswana opened British expansion up to Zimbabwe and the Zambezi. -
Zimbabwe's World War 1 Involvement
The involvement of Zimbabwe in World War 1 lasted from 1914-1918. The Zimbabwe people had heavy losses from this. Around 800 Southern Rhodesians lost their lives due to this. That was only the number of deaths, meaning, that did not include the countless number of people that suffered brutal injuries. Because they had many casualties, it was not a very good experience. However, today’s Zimbabweans' cultural memory have pretty much mostly forgotten this horrifying past they call WW1. -
Botswana's independence
Botswana got their independence in June of 1964. Botswana’s official independence day is September 30, 1966. They gained freedom from the British. This happened under the leadership of Seretse Khama. In 1965 their constitution led to the first general election in Botswana. Khama was elected president in 1966 and served for two terms. Botswana continues to stay a free country to this day. Botswana has achieved one of the highest income rates in Africa. -
Namibia’s fight for independence
Between the time period of 1966 and 1990, Namibia struggled to gain independence from its control of South Africa. Namibia was put under the control of the South African Administration by the league of nations after the end of World War I. After a while of fighting for its independence, the South African government finally agreed to give up control of Namibia. Namibia finally earned its well deserved independence on March 21 during the year of 1990.
