Sir Roland "Roy" Welensky (né Raphael Welensky; 20 January 1907 – 5 December 1991) was a Northern Rhodesian politician and the second and last Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
Born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe) to an Afrikaner mother and a Lithuanian Jewish father, he moved to Northern Rhodesia, became involved with the trade unions, and entered the colonial legislative council in 1938. There, he campaigned for the amalgamation of Northern and Southern Rhodesia (the latter under white self-government, the former under the colonial office). Although unsuccessful, he succeeded in the formation of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, a state within the British Empire that sought to retain predominant power for the white minority while moving in a progressive political direction, in contrast to South Africa under the apartheid system.
Becoming Prime Minister of the Federation in 1956, Welensky opposed British moves towards black majority rule, and he used force to suppress politically motivated violence in the territories. After the advent of black majority rule in two of the Federation's three territories (Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, now Zambia and Malawi, respectively), the Federation collapsed in 1963. Welensky retired to Salisbury, where he re-entered politics and attempted to stop Rhodesia (formerly Southern Rhodesia) from unilaterally declaring itself independent. Following the end of white minority rule in 1979, and the recognised independence of Rhodesia as the Republic of Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe in 1980, Welensky emigrated to the United Kingdom, where he died in England in 1991. A fervent admirer of Britain and its Empire, Welensky described himself as "half Jewish, half Afrikaner [and] 100% British".
Youth
Welensky was born in Pioneer Street, Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. His father, Michael Welensky (b. c. 1843), was of Lithuanian Jewish origin, hailing from a village near Wilno (today Vilnius); a trader in Russia and horse-smuggler during the Franco-Prussian War, he settled in Southern Rhodesia after first emigrating to the United States, where he was a saloon-keeper, and then South Africa.Lowry, Donal, "Welensky, Sir Roland (1907–1991)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, May 2006. Retrieved 2 March 2016 (subscription or UK public library membership required). His mother, Leah (born Aletta Ferreira; c. 1865–1918), was a ninth-generation Afrikaner of Dutch and Portuguese ancestry."Sir Roy Welensky", Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998. His parents, for whom Raphael or "Roy" was the thirteenth child, kept a "poor white" boarding house.Cross, Colin The Fall of the British Empire London Book Club Associates 1968 p.95 Welensky's mother died when he was eleven years old, being treated by Godfrey Huggins, a doctor who went on to become the prime minister of Southern Rhodesia. Although not of British ancestry, Welensky was intensely pro-British, a distinctive sentiment among Rhodesians. John Connell, in his foreword to Welensky's book 4000 Days, wrote: "Welensky, who had not a drop of British blood in his veins, shared this pride and loyalty [towards Britain] to the full."
After leaving school at the age of fourteen, Welensky found employment with Rhodesia Railways as a fireman, while putting his physical strength to work as a boxer. He rose through the ranks of Rhodesia Railways to become a locomotive engine driverNyarota, Geoff. Serious politics, educated elite and related matters, Zimbabwe Situation. Accessed 7 March 2007. and became involved in the trade union movement, joining the Rhodesian Railway Workers' Union. After participating in the unsuccessful 1929 Rhodesian Railways strike, Welensky was moved by management to Broken Hill, the main base of the railways in Northern Rhodesia. In 1933, he became Chairman of the Broken Hill branch of the union, and was appointed to the National Council.
While working on the railways, he became the professional heavyweight boxing champion of Southern Rhodesia at 19 years old and held the position until he was 21. During this time, Welensky met his first wife, Elizabeth Henderson, who was working at a café in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia at the time. They married after a two-year courtship.Royboy (27 April 1962), Time Magazine. Accessed 21 May 2007.
Colonial politics
Welensky was elected to the Northern Rhodesian Legislative Council in the 1938 general elections. The Governor of Northern Rhodesia prevented Welensky from enlisting in the armed forces during World War II and appointed him Director of Manpower. In 1941, he formed his own party, the Northern Rhodesian Labour Party, seeking to amalgamate the colony with Southern Rhodesia under a new constitution. The party won all five seats it contested in the 1941 elections. After the leader of the unofficial members in the Legislative Council, Stewart Gore-Browne, resigned in 1945 and stated that black Africans had lost confidence in the whites (due to the wish for amalgamation), Welensky was elected leader. Although a member of the Legislative Council, this was not a full-time job, and he continued working as a train driver for Rhodesia Railways, and also as a Trade Union leader.
Amalgamation and federation
From the beginning, Welensky was involved in the creation of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. He had earlier wanted an amalgamation of Northern and Southern Rhodesia with a constitution similar to that of Southern Rhodesia (that had effectively granted responsible government to the white Rhodesians by specifying franchise qualifications that few blacks had so far achieved - though they were not prevented from acquiring them). After the British Government rejected this idea, he set about the creation of a federation, and, against his judgement, the small colony of Nyasaland was included. His main wish for amalgamation, and later federation, was primarily so the complementary economic strengths of the Rhodesias could be put to best use. He felt that the colonies were missing out on the post-war economic boom.
To this end, Welensky organised a conference in February 1949 to investigate the idea of a federation. Held at the Victoria Falls Hotel (a common venue for Rhodesian political conferences), representatives from the Northern and Southern Rhodesian Governments were present, but native Africans and the British Government were not. It was agreed that continued pushes for amalgamation would fail, since both the British and native Africans were opposed. Welensky suggested that the Constitution of Australia be used as a basis for the proposed federal constitution, and pushed the idea of 'partnership' between blacks and whites. However, he insisted that "for as long as I can see, in that partnership [the whites] will be senior partners".
Apart from organising the federation, Welensky won a significant political battle in Northern Rhodesia against the British South Africa Company (BSAC), which controlled mineral rights and the associated royalties throughout the territory. The company, and not the British Crown, had signed the treaties with African kings that surrendered mining rights, but the BSAC had stopped administering Northern Rhodesia in 1924. Welensky argued that the territory had a right to the royalties, and he petitioned the Governor to take action. After many talks, the BSAC relented and agreed to surrender mineral rights in 1986, and to pay 20% of its profits from these rights to the government until then.
In March 1952, the colonial and the British governments met in London to discuss federation. There, the idea for a federation was finalised and settled, although the colonial governments had, again, insisted on amalgamation. They were rebuffed by the left-leaning public servant (later Sir) Andrew Cohen, who, after much deliberation, brought the parties to an agreement. It was acknowledged by those at the meeting that, all too often, the racial policies of the Rhodesias were confused with the emerging apartheid of South Africa, and Welensky himself claimed to refute these ideas when being interviewed by a South African newspaper. He was paternalistic towards native Africans, but believed in the dictum of "equal rights for all civilised men" and gradual advancement.
Behind the scenes, Welensky and the Rhodesians had been courting the Conservatives, while the native Africans had been doing the same with Labour. A British general election was held in 1951 and the Conservatives gained power. Labour, mindful of the overwhelming opposition of Africans from both Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland and of the Colonial Office mandate to oversee native interests, had been lukewarm at best to the idea of federation, and had been wholly opposed to amalgamation. After the election, the bipartisan approach to federation broke down and the British laws for its creation passed only with the support of the Conservatives, against opposition from both the Liberal and Labour Parties.
Federation established
Welensky stood for the federal legislature in 1953 for the United Federal Party (UFP), created by himself and Southern Rhodesian prime minister Sir Godfrey Huggins. The party was successful in its first election, with twice the votes of the opposition Confederate Party. Welensky himself gained more than 80% of the vote in the federal constituency of Broken Hill and was immediately promoted to Minister for Transport.
The first few years of the federation were characterised by a relatively peaceful political atmosphere and a booming economy. The government's coffers were kept full through revenue from Northern Rhodesia's copper mines, and overseas investment saw the rapid expansion of the cities of Salisbury, Bulawayo and Lusaka. High-standard tar roads replaced dirt tracks, and the railway system was expanded. Welensky credited the high rate of development to the astute management of the federal Minister of Finance, Donald MacIntyre.
The Southern Rhodesian Government, under the leadership of Garfield Todd, began removing restrictions imposed on native Africans. The civil service opened more positions to blacks, the title for male Africans was changed from 'AM' (African male) to "Mr", and diners and restaurants were allowed to be multiracial; Welensky, as Transport Minister, allowed for railway dining cars to be multiracial. However, when it came to liberalising alcohol restrictions on blacks, Welensky argued against doing so, stating that such an action would cause the UFP to lose the next election. After repeated failed attempts to secure Dominion status for the federation, the prime minister Godfrey Huggins opted not to stand again for his party's leadership at their September 1956 conference. Huggins resigned in October, and Welensky, the second-most senior figure in the federal arena, was chosen to replace him. Welensky took office on 1 November.
Prime minister
On taking office, Welensky was forced to take sides in the Suez Crisis. The government of the United Kingdom received heavy international criticism for its actions, but Welensky's government, with those of Australia and New Zealand, nonetheless stood behind Britain. It was Welensky's first experience in international politics. In the aftermath of the Suez debacle, British colonial policy changed significantly, which would have adverse effects for the Federation. It marked the decline of a gradual approach to decolonisation, and a rapid speeding-up of the process. Politically, only three years after its founding, the federation began to decline.