Looking back at Zimbabwe's history we know that around the third century A.D., Bantu tribes that lived in northern Africa began migrating south. By the tenth century they had settled in the region establishing a communal structure they brought with them. There is an amazing archeological site located in the south-eastern part of the country. The site called "The Great Zimbabwe" reveals that there was a large and sophisticated culture which ruled that region between 1250 A.D. and 1450 A.D. Late in the 15th century; European explorers were beginning to venture out to uncharted lands, looking for wealth and expanding the rule of their host countries. This expansion was called "Imperialism" and would later be at the root of almost all future conflict on the continent. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to make contact with the indigenous peoples living in the region. From the little history that survives, it seems that the region was fairly stable and the Portuguese had an amicable relationship with all the tribes. It was in the 1830's that the area became a hotbed of conflict with the migration north of the Ndebele tribe. "Ndebele" means "The people of the long shields" which is a reference to the Ndebele warriors' use of the Zulu shield and spear.

King Mzilikazi died in September of 1868 and the mantel of leadership fell to his twenty-three year old son Lobengula. While he was not as militant as his father, he was a great warrior in his own right. In the early days of his reign Europeans were rarely sighted in the region. Unless they were missionaries, Lobengula didn't have any significant interaction with them until Cecil John Rhodes arrived on the scene in 1888. Rhodes, a British mining magnet from South Africa, wanted the rights to excavate for minerals on the Ndebele lands. He sent a negotiating team to meet with Lobengula to see if something could be worked out. Lobengula was suspicious of the Europeans and negotiations dragged on for months. Rhodes finally secured the help of Dr. Leander Starr Jameson who had treated Lobengula in the past for gout, so was one of the few whites he trusted. Jameson negotiated for money and weapons with the understanding that the British would be living and working on Ndebele land.

In 1880, Rhodes founded  the DeBeers Mining Company which we know today as DeBeers Diamonds. He was adept at developing strategic relationships within the British Government under the guise of expanding the British Empire. This allowed his mining investments to be protected by the military and also meant that he had the support of the British authorities to expand the Empire into new territories. In order to expand his interests however he had to use deception. Rhodes believed that just like in Southern Africa, ri ches of gold and diamonds laid untapped further north in Ndebele lands. Rhodes convinced John Moffat, who was the son of renowned missionary Robert Moffat, to help him secure more concessions from Ndebele King Lobengula. Francis Thompson, who was Rhodes agent at the negotiations, promised the King that there would be no more than 10 white men mining on Ndebele lands at any one time. This promise sadly was left off the final document that everyone signed. Later when the King discovered the deceit and that he had conceded to allowing the British to do anything they needed to maintain the mines, he tried to back out of the agreement. Of course the British refused to let him and felt it was now within their rights to use force if necessary to protect their interests. In 1893, warfare broke out between Lobengula's warriors and the men of the British South Africa Company. The BSAC had purchased the recently invented Maxim gun which was the first self-powered machine gun. The Shona and Ndebele tribes stood no chance against this high-powered weapon and it was not long before most of their leaders were either imprisoned or killed. By 1897, the white colonists had subdued the whole region and Matabeleland no longer existed. During the next sixty years, conflicts between the black Africans and whites continued sporadically. More and more Europeans (primarily from England) immigrated into the country and land was needed to support them. With their knowledge of agriculture, they settled the soil rich lands best suited for crop production. Zimbabwe, it turned out, didn't have the rich gold and diamond deposits like South Africa. Most people, even miners, had to turn to agriculture as a way of life. Laws were passed guaranteeing more rights to the whites and stripping them from blacks. Land was redistributed to white farmers which only fed the growing resentment in the black communities. Soon there was a burgeoning economy as the white farmers transformed the land and built an agricultural industry that was unsurpassed in Africa. The blacks were by and large, excluded from this new found prosperity as they didn't have the financial resources to compete. In the end they worked on the white farms for very small wages. This added to the mounting hostility. They saw the white farmers prospering and living in luxury while they toiled under the hot African sun, for minimal wages, living in squalor. To add insult to injury, they saw it happening on what they believed was their land.

The other political party ZAPU was founded by Joshua Nkomo who was born in 1918. He was the son of missionary teachers in Matabeleland and was educated in South Africa, where he had met Nelson Mandela. He was imprisoned in 1964, at the same time as Mugabe, for his "subversive" speeches. Mugabe who was Shona and Nkomo who was Ndebele never got along and in the end the two leaders went their separate ways, each heading up their own party. The two parties both had military wings that in 1972 began sporadic operations against not only the white government, but the local white farm operators. This armed conflict called "The Bush War" lasted for approximately seven years. At that time, Ian Smith, was the Prime Minister of what was called simply "Rhodesia." Back on Nov. 11th 1965, Smith had declared independence from British rule. This set off a long series of condemnations from the international community that ultimately led to economic sanctions against Rhodesia. Over the next few years as the countries surrounding Rhodesia were transitioning to black run governments, the white government in Rhodesia became increasingly isolated. While the government had superior military firepower, they were significantly outnumbered and in the end had to ask for a peace settlement with the two black parties and their military wings.

The first recorded missionary that journeyed into that region of Africa was the Portuguese Jesuit, Father Goncalo da Silveira, who set up his mission in 1560. His time in the area was short lived as he was martyred on March 16th 1561. Next was an influx of Dominican Fathers who established themselves in the northern region of present day Zimbabwe. They remained there  until 1775 but had very little success in converting any of the people. After that, all Catholic Missionary work ceased for over a hundred years until 1879, when Catholic priests once again entered the region. Robert Moffat, the famed Scottish missionary for the London Missionary Society, had ventured up into Matabeleland for sometime from his South African post in the mid 1850's. Moffat's oldest daughter Mary had married the famed medical missionar y David Livingstone, in 1845. Robert Moffat in his short time in Matabeleland had developed a trusted relationship with King Lobengula.  In 1888, Cecil Rhodes convinced Moffat’s son John to help him secure more concessions from  King Lobengula by using his fathers trusted relationship with the King. Whether Moffat was aware of everything that ended up transpiring is unknown but Rhodes men ultimately dealt dishonestly with the King and it forever stained John Moffat's reputation among the Ndebele people.

Over the next sixty years many Shona and Ndebele young men who were raised on mission farms and educated in seminaries took leadership roles in the various denominations. By and large these appointments were only over black congregations as whites had their own churches and leaders. This was an awkward arrangement and by the 1960's there was a deep divide within the various church institutions between the black ministers and white ministers. Instead of being a unifying force and preventing the country from sliding into civil war, the church became part of the problem.

In 2000, veterans of Zimbabwe's war for independence began squatting on land owned by white farmers in an effort to reclaim land taken under British colonization. One-third of Zimbabwe's arable land was owned by 4,000 white farmers. In Aug. of 2002, President Robert Mugabe ordered all white commercial farmers to leave their land without compensation. Once heralded as a champion of the anti-colonial movement, Mugabe is now viewed by much of the international community as an authoritarian ruler responsible for egregious human rights abuses and for running the economy of his country into the ground.

On May 2nd  election officials finally released the results of the vote, with Tsvangirai defeating President Robert Mugabe, 47.9% to 43.2%. A runoff election, scheduled for June 27, 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. In June, Mugabe barred humanitarian groups from providing aid in the country. This was a drastic move that aid organizations estimated would deny about two million people much-needed assistance. On June 22nd Tsvangirai withdrew from the race, saying he could not subject his supporters to violence and intimidation. He then took refuge in the Dutch Embassy. The United Nations issued a statement condemning the violence that had plagued Zimbabwe and said it would be "impossible for a free and fair election to take place." However, the presidential election did take place, but it was neither free nor fair. Nevertheless, Mugabe was elected to a sixth term, taking 85% of the vote. President Bush joined the chorus of world leaders who condemned the election and the government-sponsored crackdown on the opposition. After intense international pressure, Mugabe has finally agreed to meet with Tsvangirai to negotiate a transition government.

Zimbabwe is a country of 12 million inhabitants that are landlocked by the nations of Zambia to the North, Mozambique to the East, South Africa to the south and Botswana to the west. It has the same approximate land mass as the state of Montana. Presently, there are two primary people groups that make up 95% of the country's population. The Shona tribe that settled predominantly in the northern part of the country makes up 77% of the population. The southern part of the country has been settled by the Ndebele tribe who make up 18%. The other 5% are predominately Europeans, most of who have immigrated into the country .

Since 2000, when President Robert Mugabe instituted his disastrous Land Reform policy, Zimbabwe has experienced precipitous hyperinflation and economic ruin. By 2008, inflation has skyrocketed to nearly 100,000%, up from 7,000% in 2007. Unemployment has now reached 80%, and the Zimbabwean dollar is basically worthless.

According to the World Health Organization, Zimbabwe has the world's lowest life expectancy, for women it's 34 years old and for men it 37 years old. While those are the "official" statistics the reality on the ground is more likely 30 and 33 years. One out of four people are infected by HIV. This has created the world's largest per capita orphan crisis which is only going to increase in the foreseeable future.

Zimbabwe has adequate infrastructure with its transportation and electrical power networks. It has paved roads linking the major urban and industrial centers. Its rail lines managed by the National Railways of Zimbabwe tie it into an extensive central African railroad network with all its neighbors. In non-drought years, it has adequate electrical power, mainly generated by the Kariba Dam on the Zambezi River but augmented since 1983 by large thermal plants adjacent to the Wankie coal field. As of 2006, crumbling infrastructure and lack of spare parts for generators and coal mining means that Zimbabwe imports 40% of its power - 100 megawatts from the Democratic Republic of Congo, 200 megawatts from Mozambique, up to 450 megawatts from South Africa, and 300 megawatts from Zambia.