1. Zimbabwe

2. White Independence
The white minority government of Rhodesia declared its independence from UK in This was the 1st time a colony had done this without consent of the crown since 1776
Prime Minister Ian Smith would lead the new nation
The country resisted the demands of black Africans, British pressure, economic sanctions, and guerrilla attacks in his effort to uphold white supremacy

3. Smith’s reign in decline
On March 1, 1970, Rhodesia formally proclaimed itself a republic, but it was only recognized by South Africa
Heightened guerrilla war (Robert Mugabe of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and a withdrawal of South African military aid in 1976 marked the beginning of the collapse of Smith's 11 years of resistance

4. Not a smooth transition
In 1978, African leaders signed an agreement to transfer power to the black majority by Dec. 31, 1978.
The agreement left control of the country's police, security forces, civil service and judiciary in white hands.
It assured whites of about one-third of the seats in parliament.
Western governments did not grant recognition to the new regime of Zimbabwe Rhodesia

5. Zimbabwe and their leader
The white minority finally consented to hold multiracial elections in 1980 as part of the Lancaster House Agreement, and Robert Mugabe won a landslide victory in the new nation of Zimbabwe.

6. The horror begins
Mugabe eventually established a one-party socialist state and began oppressing resistance.
It has been estimated that at least 20,000 members of an opposition tribe were murdered and tens of thousands of others were tortured

7. Crackdown on opposition
By 1990 Mugabe had instituted corrupt multiparty elections
Mugabe began a crackdown on universities students and unions who frequently protested him
In 1991, Mugabe deleted all references to Marxism-Leninism and scientific socialism from the constitution and took control of the universities.

8. Zimbabwe begins to crumble
In 1996, Mugabe won another six-year term as president despite civil servants, nurses, and doctors going on strike over salary issues and 25% of the population of Zimbabwe becoming infected by HIV

9. Mugabe attacks the whites
In 2000, veterans of Zimbabwe's war for independence began squatting on land owned by white farmers
70% of Zimbabwe's arable land was owned by 4,000 whites.
In Aug. 2002, Mugabe ordered all white commercial farmers to leave their land without compensation

10. Sanctions
Mugabe's support for the squatters and his repressive rule has led to US and EU sanctions against Zimbabwe

11. Reelection and inflation
In 2002, Mugabe was reelected president for another six years in a blatantly rigged election whose results were enforced by the president's militia.
A sharp decline in agricultural exports, which was traditionally the country's leading export producing sector led to a severe shortage of hard currency coming in the nation.
By 2003, inflation hit 300%

12. Economy continues to collapse
In 2004, the IMF estimated that the country had grown one-third poorer in the last five years.

13. Attack on the poor
In mid-2005, Zimbabwe demolished its urban slums and shantytowns, leaving 700,000 people homeless in an operation called “Drive Out Trash”.
In 2006, the government launched “Operation Roundup,” which drove 10,000 homeless people out of the capital.

14. The worst crisis in the world
Zimbabwe has experienced precipitous hyperinflation and economic ruin.
By the end of 2008, inflation skyrocketed to a 516 quintillion%
Unemployment reached 80%
Zimbabwe has the world's lowest life expectancy. (42)

17. 2008 election
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change won a majority of the seats in Parliament
Four days after the vote, Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of Movement for Democratic Change, declared himself the winner by a slim margin in the presidential election
Mugabe refused to concede until the vote count was complete.
More than a month after the election, however, the vote was not yet complete.
Many observers speculated that Mugabe ordered the delay to either intimidate election officials or to rig the results in his favor.
Police raided the offices of the opposition and election monitors and detained dozens of people for questioning.
After the election, supporters of Mugabe began a brutal campaign of violence against the opposition that left more than 30 people dead and hundreds wounded. Tsvangirai fled the country, fearing assassination attempts.

18. Mugabe continue to fight
Tsvangirai returned to Zimbabwe in late May of 2008
On May 2, election officials finally released the results of the vote, with Tsvangirai defeating President Robert Mugabe, 47.9% to 43.2% but a runoff election was necessary because neither candidate won more than 50%.
In the lead-up to the runoff election, police intensified their crackdown on Tsvangirai and members of his party. Indeed, at least 85 supporters of his party were killed in government-backed violence.
Officials banned rallies and repeatedly detained Tsvangirai for attempting to do so
Mugabe barred humanitarian groups from providing aid in the country—a drastic move that aid organizations estimated would deny about two million people much-needed assistance

19. Mugabe wins
The runoff election did take place in late June, but it was neither free nor fair.
Nevertheless, Mugabe was elected to a sixth term, taking 85% of the vote.
World leaders condemned the election and the government-sponsored crackdown on the opposition.
China and Russia, however, blocked the U.S.-led effort in the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe. U.S. responded in July by expanding existing sanctions

21. Agreement?
President Mugabe and Tsvangirai agreed to a power-sharing deal in September that called on the leaders to share executive authority. Under the deal, Tsvangirai will serve as prime minister and the opposition will control 13 ministries. The governing party will control 15
Mugabe will continue as president.
residents facing hunger
empty store shelves
a nonexistent health system
rampant unemployment
inflation (Since curbed by going to the US dollar)
obvious political instability
a cholera epidemic broke out in August 2008
BUT the nation has seen economic growth in

23. 2013 Elections
Mugabe took 61% of the vote in presidential elections in July 2013, soundly defeating Tsvangirai.
Mugabe's Zanu-PF party also won 158 out of 210 seats in parliament. Tsvangirai alleged the vote was rigged, but decided against challenging the results, saying he would not get a fair hearing.

24. Tsvangirai fall out of favor
Tsvangirai was suspended from his party, the Movement for Democratic Change, in May His detractors in the party denounced him for failing to defeat Mugabe in 2013's election and accused him of being an undemocratic and incompetent leader.

25. Consolidation of Power
In 2014, The state-run newspaper published accusations that Vice President Joice Mujuru had conspired to have Mugabe assassinated, and Mugabe's wife, Grace, accused Mujuru of also trying to have her killed.
Mujuru, a former guerrilla fighter in the country's war against white rule, was widely considered the successor to Mugabe. She dismissed the allegations as "ridiculous," and she professed her loyalty to Mugabe.
Nevertheless, she was ousted from a seat on the governing party's central committee in early December. At the same time, Grace Mugabe was given a leadership position in the party, Zanu-PF.
Then, Mugabe fired Mujuru and seven members of his cabinet. He replaced Mujuru with Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, an ally of Grace Mugabe. Observers speculated that Mugabe wants to ensure his loyalists remain in power after he dies.

26. People First
In Sept. 2015, former Vice President Joice Mujuru released a political manifesto to position herself as a rival to President Mugabe in the 2018 elections. Part of her manifesto asked for a review of the legislation that has blocked foreign investment for the last ten years. "All persons who call Zimbabwe home shall be entitled to access land and participate in its sustainable utilization," the manifesto said.
A former protege of Mugabe, Mujuru planned to launch her own party, People First, to take on his Zanu-PF.
The following month, the commander of Zimbabwe's Presidential Guard, Brigadier-General Anselem Sanyatwe, threatened to use violence to stop Mujuru from forming her new party. Already, the Joint Operations Command was closely monitoring Mujuru and her allies as they built structures and gathered volunteers to launch People First by the end of 2015.

27. Consolidation of opposition
Joice Mujuru and Tsvangirai decided after many negotiations to consolidate their parties in an attempt to defeat Mugabe in the 2018 election.
They have organized multiple protests which were harshly put down by the government.

28. Banning Social Media
The increase in protests being fueled by social media has caused the government to put added monitoring and prohibitons on the use of social media in the nation.

29. Shortage on Money
The deepening of the economic crisis in Zimbabwe has forced many people to horde their cash as the availability of the American dollar has become severely limited.
Debit cards and the barter system has replaced cash as the primary means of conducting transactions in the country.
The government is considering issuing new bank notes to remedy this issue.

30. Who’s Next
Gucci Grace?

32. CNN interview with Mugabe
Mugabe 1976:
Mugabe at the UN on homosexuality
Mugabe falls