Does anyone have any thoughts as to why the post-colonial experiences of Zimbabwe and Zambia have been so different? They were both British Colonies, (North Rhodesia and South Rhodesia) that were founded by the same colonist company established by Cecil Rhodes.
Why then have their post-colonial experiences been so different? Zimbabwe has faced civil war and economic collapse whereas Zambia seems to have built a nation that has matured into a peaceful society with a good economy.
Was it the presence of a larger number of white settlers in Zimbabwe which gummed up things in that country by making it difficult to move forward in independence? Perhaps the fact that the white settlers forced the blacks to go to war before giving up power set up corrosive dynamics that founded the nation on a state ripped apart by war with lots of wounds to heal.
I would love to hear what the historians think.
It's impossible to answer this question without looking more recently than permitted by r/AskHistorians 20 years.
Zambia and Zimbabwe have many fundamental differences. Zambia became independent in 1964, while Zimbabwe only became independent in 1980. At the time, and until the late 90s, Zimbabwe was far more developed than Zambia by almost all indicators. Zambia was a one-party state until 1991, and since then power has peacefully been handed over a number of times (as well as the incumbent president dying in office twice). Zimbabwe, while not legally a one-party state, has been ruled by the same party and president since 1980.
Zambia liberalised its economy in the early 1990s, and has benefited from a boom in copper prices and investment. Copper is its primary export, and the country is heavily dependant on this single commodity. Zimbabwe on the other hand, while previously having a much more diverse economy, has instead closed its economy, and much mineral wealth has been siphoned by the ruling elite.
As you say in your question, Zambia's independence was peaceful, while Zimbabwe's was not, with the white-minority government taking arms, and then conflict between the two liberation movements after independence leading to the massacres in Matabeleland.
So it becomes really difficult to speculate about the effect of a single factor (white settlers) when just about everything else has been different as well.