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| 1958 | Mugabe, Robert Gabriel |  |
| Mugabe and some of his Zimbabwe African National Union party cadres receive instruction at the Kwame Nkrumah Ideological Institute, then at Winneba in southern Ghana
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| 1960 | Mugabe, Robert Gabriel | |
| Mugabe returns to Southern Rhodesia and joins the National Democratic Party
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| 1961 | Mugabe, Robert Gabriel | |
| Helps found the Zimbabwe African People's Union
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| 1963 | Mugabe, Robert Gabriel | |
| Mugabe leaves ZAPU to join the rival Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) which had been formed in 1963 by the Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole, Edgar Tekere, Edson Zvobgo, Enos Nkala and lawyer Herbert Chitepo
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| Aug The Zimbabwe African National Union party is founded by Ndabaningi Sithole, Herbert Chitepo, Edgar Tekere, Leopold Takawira and Robert Mugabe at the house of former Defence minister Enos Nkala in Highfield
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| 1963 | Sithole, Ndabaningi | |
| Aug The Zimbabwe African National Union party is founded by Ndabaningi Sithole, Herbert Chitepo, Edgar Tekere, Leopold Takawira and Robert Mugabe at the house of former Defence minister Enos Nkala in Highfield
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| 1963 | Takawira, Leopold | |
| Aug The Zimbabwe African National Union party is founded by Ndabaningi Sithole, Herbert Chitepo, Edgar Tekere, Leopold Takawira and Robert Mugabe at the house of former Defence minister Enos Nkala in Highfield
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| 1963 | Tekere, Edgar | |
| Aug The Zimbabwe African National Union party is founded by Ndabaningi Sithole, Herbert Chitepo, Edgar Tekere, Leopold Takawira and Robert Mugabe at the house of former Defence minister Enos Nkala in Highfield
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| 1964 | Mugabe, Robert Gabriel | |
| Appointed leader of ZANU while in prison
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| Arrested for "subversive speech" and spends the next 10 years in Salisbury prison, hatred of European hegemony in Africa grows, earns three degrees, including a law degree from London
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| 1972 | Smith, Ian Douglas | |
| Guerrilla war against white rule intensifies, with rivals Zanu and Zapu operating out of Zambia and Mozambique
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| 1975 | Chitepo, Herbert | |
| 18th Mar Robert Mugabe unilaterally assumes control of ZANU after the assassination of Herbert Chitepo
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| 1975 | Mugabe, Robert Gabriel | |
| A factional split along tribal lines causes the Ndebele to follow Sithole into the moderate ZANU (Ndonga) party, who renounce violent struggle, the Shona follow Mugabe with a more militant agenda
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| Released from prison
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| 18th Mar Robert Mugabe unilaterally assumes control of ZANU after the assassination of Herbert Chitepo
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| 1975 | Sithole, Ndabaningi | |
| The minority Ndau follow Sithole into the moderate Zanu (Ndonga) party (known later as ZANU Mwenje), who renounce violent struggle, while the majority Shona follow Mugabe's ZANU with a more militant agenda
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| 1976 | Mugabe, Robert Gabriel | |
| The objective of the Patriotic Front was to overthrow the white minority regime of Ian Smith by means of political pressure and military force
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| The Patriotic Front (PF) is originally formed in 1976 as a political and military alliance between ZAPU and ZANU during the war against white minority rule in Zimbabwe (then called Rhodesia)
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| ZAPU's military wing is known as Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) and ZANU's guerrillas were known as Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA)
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| 1979 | Mugabe, Robert Gabriel | |
| A ceasefire is negotiated for the talks, which are attended by Smith, Mugabe, Nkomo & Edson Zvobgo
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| During the Lancaster House negotiations allows 20 seats to be reserved for whites in the new Parliament and agrees to a ten year moratorium on constitutional amendments
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| The parties to the Lancaster House talks agree on a new constitution for a new Republic of Zimbabwe with elections in February 1980
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| Dec Returns to Zimbabwe following the completion of the Lancaster House Agreement, is greeted with enormous supportive crowds
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| 1980 | Mugabe, Robert Gabriel | |
| The election is won by Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF, with Joshua Nkomo and his PF-ZAPU retaining a stronghold in the province of Matabeleland
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| Veteran pro-independence leader Robert Mugabe and his Zanu party win British-supervised independence elections, Mugabe is named Prime Minister and includes Zapu leader Joshua Nkomo in his cabinet
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| ZANU allies itself with the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) in the Patriotic Front (PF), the two parties adopting the names ZANU-PF and PF-ZAPU respectively, but they split after achieving majority rule
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| 4th Mar After a campaign marked by intimidation from all sides, mistrust from security forces and reports of full ballot boxes found on the road, the Shona majority is decisive in electing Mugabe to head the first government as Prime Minister
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| 4th Mar ZANU allies itself with the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) in the Patriotic Front (PF), the two parties adopting the names ZANU-PF and PF-ZAPU respectively, but they split after achieving majority rule
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| 4th Mar ZANU win 57 out of 80 Common Roll seats in the new parliament, with the 20 white seats all going to the Rhodesian Front
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| 1987 | Mugabe, Robert Gabriel | |
| A Unity Accord is signed between the two parties; PF-ZAPU is merged into ZANU-PF, effectively establishing a one-party state dominated Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF, Joshua Nkomo becomes one of two vice-presidents
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| 1988 | Mugabe, Robert Gabriel | |
| After 8 years of "low-level" civil war termed Gukurahundi, the opposition Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), led by Joshua Nkomo, merges with ZANU to form ZANU-PF with the added moniker of Patriotic Front
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| A step towards a one party state
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