 Following a dispute with the British government regarding terms for the granting of full independence , the predominantly white minority government of the self @-@ governing colony of Rhodesia ( or Southern Rhodesia ) , led by Ian Smith , <unk> declared independence on 11 November 1965 . Britain and the United Nations refused to recognise this and each imposed economic sanctions on Rhodesia . Meanwhile , the country 's two most prominent communist @-@ backed black nationalist groups , the Zimbabwe African National Union and the Zimbabwe African People 's Union , mobilised their respective guerrilla armies , the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army ( ZANLA ) and the Zimbabwe People 's Revolutionary Army ( <unk> ) , for what they called the " Second <unk> " , with the goal of <unk> the government and introducing black majority rule . 
