after the ruling white minority had illegally declared independence

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Подскажите, пож-та, как понять
after the ruling white minority had illegally declared independence in 1965 в следующем контексте? Заранее спасибо.

By the mid-1960s the European empires in Africa had come to an end and nearly all the remaining colonies around the world were independent by the early 1970s. The last to go were the Portuguese colonies after the revolution in 1974 and southern Rhodesia in 1980 after the ruling white minority had illegally declared independence in 1965.

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...после того как правящее белое меньшинство нелегально объявило независимость в 1965 году.

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Пан, большое спасибо.