In July 1994 the combined Zimbabwe Defence Forces Headquarters was created.

[4] After a 15-year guerrilla war with black nationalist forces, culminating in a peace agreement in December 1979, Robert Mugabe became the first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe on 11 April 1980 following his ZANU–PF party winning the general election.

The Mozambique Civil War was a long-running conflict between the Marxist FRELIMO Government, and anti-communist RENAMO insurgents.

During the 1970's, Rhodesian intelligence supported the rebel group, but in the years following the election of Robert Mugabe in 1980, the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) switched to support the FRELIMO Government, in order to protect Zimbabwe's eastern city of Mutare and the strategic railway line to Mozambique's port city of Beira which were being attacked by RENAMO.

[6] In October 2017, the ZDF was involved in a coup d'état which resulted in the resignation of long-serving President Robert Mugabe and the formation of a new government under Emmerson Mnangagwa.