New Rhodesia (Game of Nations)

The Republic of New Rhodesia is one of the most powerful nations of the African continent. The country is also a grand example of white supremacy for centuries. The country started out small, on the Cape of Good Hope and grew into an empire by the 20th century. Racial tension is near non existent after the blacks had been beaten into submission of their white Afrikaner rulers. The nation was a getaway for persecuted Europeans in the 1800s and eventually grew into the racist nation it is today.

Birth
New Rhodesia's story begins in 1801 when Frank Rhodes and hundreds of thousands of people of European descent travel down from Europe to the Dutch Cape Colony to escape European persecution. Europe was in chaos with a mess of wars and millions being killed. Rhodes was their de facto leader and the Europeans quickly set up shop in Cape Town and the surrounding area. For six years the people were tolerated by the Dutch governor but in 1807 after numerous calls to expand deeper into South Africa were silenced and rioting against local police the Dutch declared martial law. This only brought the rioters to the Colonial Administration building where the people threw the governor out of the window, held his wife for ransom and raided the local armory. Rhodes quickly was elected the leader of the Free Cape Army and in a month they drove the Dutch out of the colony. The people were in love with Rhodes and decided to honor him by naming the country they had just formed, Rhodesia on July 7th, 1807. The Dutch slunk away back to Holland. Every July 7th mass celebrations erupt in honor of independence. The Rhodesians quickly expanded east forming the territory of what is now the State of Cape of Good Hope or Cape.

The Great Trek
For 30 years the former Dutch settlers were persecuted and beaten down. The first attempt of Dutch-Rhodesian rights happened in 1815 when leaders of the Afrikaner-Nederland's Organization and the Rhodesian government met. They discussed the rights of the Dutch people. It quickly descended into chaos once someone brought up the revolution against the Dutch. The Dutch quickly threw away their European heritage and called themselves Boers. The Rhodesian government quickly "escorted" all Boers to the frontiers so they would not blow up the cities in 1820. In 1823 attacks on the Boers increased to the point of rebellion in the town of Nek where the Rhodesian army put down a revolt against Rhodesian rule. Chaos with the Boers increased throughout the 1820s and 30s. More revolts, rebellions and riots continued. After enough, in 1835 Rhodes allowed them to leave. William Berg, a Boer farmer convinced the whole Boer population to leave. Tens of thousands of Boers left. The Boers went on their way defending against local tribes and feeding themselves. The Boers set up five new nations in South Africa. The Orange Free State was the first, followed by Basutoland, and Natal, then Transvaal, and finally Swaziland. These nations would remain independent until 1843 when Rhodesia's old enemies returned to reclaim land.

The Dutch Return
In 1843 the Dutch had decided to return to South Africa after their loss of New Holland and New Zeeland. The main reason was that in 1832 Rhodes died and his son, Franklin Rhodes II took power. On February 1st, 1843 Dutch troops landed in Cape Town and after a battle with the Rhodesian army took the city. President Rhodes set up a new capital in Kimberly. Other Dutch troops landed around Durban and Port Elizabeth. After three months of fighting the Boer nations joined the war against Rhodesia. Dutch forces from Cape Town advanced in Kimberly. General Hiram Wortman offered to hold the city to the last man while Rhodes escaped. All were killed in the defense of Kimberly. It was a slaughter, 20,000 people dead is the total count. The Boer nations were swiftly mopped up by the Dutch who pupated the region forming the nation of Zuid Afrika under rule in Cape Town.

Upper Rhodesian Era
By August 1843 Rhodesia was under the control of the Dutch puppet state of Zuid Afrika. Rhodes had fled along with much of the English speaking population in fear of reprisal from the Boers. Rhodes II and his followers set up a new nation north of Transvaal. The city they set up was Salisbury. Originally called the Free State of North Rhodesia the state was tiny concentrated around the city. But by 1848 the nation was expanding across the region. Rhodes in 1850 declared the country of Upper Rhodesia. From their position up north the Upper Rhodesians would raid Zuid Afrika till it collapsed. Zuid Afrika never declared war but it did try to fortify its border. Zuid Afrika lost thousands of soldiers against the Rhodesians. Rhodesian soldiers would sack border outposts and even ammo dumps. By 1884 things were extremely bad for Zuid Afrika. And talks were held in Johannesburg. The Dutch tired of controlling Zuid Afrika fled for the last time.

Reunification
In August 1884 Zuid Afrikan Prime Minister Paul Kruger and Frank Rhodes II met in Cape Town. After the Dutch evacuated Zuid Afrika the nation was left to defend itself. On August 15th, 1884 people across Cape and Upper Rhodesia celebrated on mass as on that day Rhodesia was pronounced reunified. The Boer leaders met and decided to accept this regime as living under Dutch rule was hard due to the guerrillas. Each of the Boer nations were promised autonomy but they were quickly annexed into new states. On September 1st the leaders of Rhodesia and the Boer states decided a new name, New Rhodesia. A new flag was adopted to commemorate the unification under a new banner and the seal of the nation. To commemorate reunification New Rhodesia looked north, to the land known as Zambia.

Zambian Wars 1887-1901
In 1887 Franklin Rhodes II had forbidden expansion into the Bantu lands of Zambia but when he was killed by a Bantu national touring the northern border in Upper Rhodesia, the new leader Cecil Rhodes came to power and started the First Bantu War. Bantu forces were easily defeated within a month of fighting. The New Rhodesians forced a treaty upon them. The region of the tribe Ngoni was annexed as the Territory of Southern Zambia. As more settlers moved into the region black nationals increased attacks on them sparking the Second Bantu was of 1891. New Rhodesian forces fight a brutal war of reprisal against the tribes. More of Western Zambia was annexed into New Rhodesia. Then in 1893 a white village of Randy was destroyed by tribesmen sparking the 3rd Bantu War. New Rhodesian troops pressed deep into Zambia which they overextended their supplies in the vast forests. Peace followed shortly in 1894 with Central Zambia annexed into South Zambia. In 1898 started the last Bantu/Zambian war. It started when the tribes of Zambia and Malawi invaded New Rhodesia in a huge offensive. Armed with rifles and cannons the New Rhodesians barely held them back. The tribes put the South Zambian capital of Livingstone under siege along with the city of New Horatio (OTL Lusaka). The New Rhodesian army gathered under Jan Smuts and Louis Botha in Upper Rhodesia. About 200,000 men of the Zambian Expeditionary Force set out. The first major battle was at Heron City (OTL Hwange) in Upper Rhodesia. The New Rhodesian troops easily won after luring the tribal warriors into a "fish trap" and then encircled them. Smuts and Botha split into two armies both were given authorization by Cecil Rhodes to use any means necessary. Smuts and Botha split into two armies. Botha would liberation Livingstone, Smuts would retake New Horatio. Both sides took huge casualties. The New Rhodesians to close quarters combat, the tribes to machine guns and ranged weapons. By 1900 both cities had been retaken. For another year New Rhodesia conquered the rest of Zambia and Malawi. South Zambia and the rest of the territory would become the Territory of Zambia and Malawi would be renamed the Territory of Nyasa. It is estimated one million people died in all a huge price to pay. And in 1902 Cecil Rhodes died and a new hard man was to take power for nearly half a century.

Smuts Regime Beginnings
On July 18th, 1902 Cecil Rhodes, the last of the Rhodes and President of New Rhodesia died of a sudden heart attack in the capital Cape Town. The nation mourned greatly. Many thought it was the end of the nation, that several weak men would bring the country down. However, some thought it was a good time to seize power. Jan Smuts, a hero of the Third Bantu War started making fiery speeches such as

"We can't just think that this nation would end because of one man's death. This nation has survived after many men's deaths. We can't just sit here and cry all day due to a fat man who only took charge because of some of these savages killed his father. We need a strongman, a man who would make Rhodesia stronger than the world, someone who can teach the blacks that they are beings - not simple savages - for that their only use is to kill each other. I want to take Rhodesia to the stars because I will sacrifice myself for my people and country."-Jan Smuts, September 1902

In the General Election in October 1902 Smuts won by a landslide against the Communist William Andrews. Smuts promised to make New Rhodesia as strong as ever. Smuts set his partner Louis Botha as Supreme Marshall of the New Rhodesian army. He began a building project which would construct a new capital named after the latter president, Cecilsville. Smuts also began a rapid modernization of the armed forces. Large guns, a new improved navy with the NRS Franklin Rhodes as its flagship being New Rhodesia's only battleship, new rifles based on an English designer who called the rifle after his last name, Enfield. Smuts also authorized the admition of the Territory of Mozambique into the new state of New Drakensburg in the south and territory of East Nyasa to the north and the Portuguese minority was given control of both parts of their former territory. Also he got the Roman ambassador to relinquish control of Madagascar to New Rhodesia's control in exchange for a trade deal. Smuts in 1912 formed the New Rhodesian Air Force after some planes coming from Europe interested him and the military. But relations in other parts of the world would drag Smuts into making a decision which will shape New Rhodesian history for the bloodiest.

The Great War
Though the wars beginnings are traced to South America with the Nevesian Empire backing the tiny North Plate Republic against the Empire of Brazil. The war quickly fanned out across the world. Smuts was keen to keep New Rhodesia neutral he could hold back from the tempting grab of German Southwest Africa. Once the war had spread to Europe in mid-late 1914 New Rhodesia fell in line with its English roots, aligning on the side of Nevesia and the Roman Empire. Rhodesian forces quickly swarmed into the German colony. Fighting was Brutal against the German forces who inflicted a large number of dead on the advancing Rhodesians. Grand Marshall Botha did break the German line in his advance from Cape Town. Fighting would continue into 1915 where the war dragged on with about 15,000 Rhodesians killed. Botha and Henry Lukin then got the idea to use black soldiers as cannon fodder. By February 1915 such progress was made that the colonies capital of Windhoek was captured. The German Governor-General quickly surrendered to New Rhodesian troops hours later. Since the German soldiers were mostly raised from the white colonization of the land German Southwest Africa was divided into the state of Bechuana were most of the whites came from, and the Territory of Namaland. Fighting would also become particularly bloody in East Africa as the German forces attempted to keep the New Rhodesian Corps from coming to the Western Front or the Patagonian Front.

Leaders
Franklin Rhodes 1807-1832

Franklin Rhodes II 1832-1887

Cecil Rhodes 1887-1902

Jan Smuts 1902-1950

Ian Smith 1950-2007

Eugene Terre'Blanche 2007-Present

Cape
Cape of Good Hope or simply Cape is the first Rhodesian state and the birth place of the nation. The state was originally concentrated on the cape itself but during Rhodesia's early years it expanded into Southern Africa. Different counties and Bantustans divide up the state like Krueger County to the north on the border with Namaland and Bechuana and several Bantustans in the Namibian Desert. Cape also holds a huge amount of the white population and the largest city of Cape Town. It also has Durban and East London along its coast.

Orange
The State of Orange comprises the whole of a former Boer Republic of the Orange Free State, set up along the Orange River. With its capital in Bloemfontein, Orange prospered mainly due to its diamond production. Orange was eventually annexed into Zuid Afrika after the Dutch regained control of southern Africa. The Orange Free State was made into a new state after Cecil Rhodes regained control of former Rhodesia from his position up north. Orange was one of the centers of white people in former Rhodesia, now its mainly full of Dutch decedents and more Bantustans.

Natal
Natal is the Second Boer Republic formed during the Great Trek. Natal was the hardest fought as the Boers fight against both the Zulus and Xhosas. About 3000 Boers - men, women and children - died to take that land. The fighting was brutal with genocide committed by the whites. The Republic of Natal was declared by the Boers. By 1840 the nation had been populated by Rhodesia. The nation - like the other Boer Republics - was annexed into Zuid Afrika after the Dutch regained control of Southern Africa. Natal was turned into a state of New Rhodesia after Reunification. About 75% of the state is a massive Bantustan called the "Natal State Black Homeland". The white population is like that of range, remnants of the Dutch.

Basuto
Basuto was once a big African kingdom before the Great Trek. Once the Great Trek happened the Boers set up communities and counties in the nation. The king of Lesotho allowed this to go on for two years until the Boers traveled too deep into Lesotho did the Lesotho army attack. The Boers easily defeated them with guns. By 1842 Lesotho was battered and the de facto nation of Basutoland existed. Basutoland was absorbed into Zuid Afrika after the Dutch took and eventually by reunification Basutoland was declared the state of Basuto. Basuto has some whites but it is almost the entire Bantustan.

Transvaal
Transvaal was the Fourth Boer republic. The name was derived from the river of Transvaal near which the country was founded. The nation was the largest Boer nation with Johannesburg as its capital. It still is the 2nd largest city in New Rhodesia today.