Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
German rule in 1905 was brutally suppressed - villages burned, crops ruined, cattle and
grain stolen.
The British took over the administration of the territory of Tanganyika following WWI
under the auspices of first the League of Nations then the Trusteeship Council of the UN.
To assist in its own postwar economic recovery effort, Britain maintained compulsory cul-
tivation and enforced settlement policies. The development of a manufacturing sector was
actively discouraged by Britain, which wanted to maintain the Tanzanian market for its
own goods. Likewise, very few Africans were hired into the civil service.
The Birth of TANU
The Maji Maji Rebellion of 1905 is so-called because the Africans who
rose against German domination believed - at first - that magic would
turn German bullets to water
(maji)
.
In 1948, a group of young Africans formed the Tanganyika African Association to protest
colonial policies. By 1953, the organisation was re-named the Tanganyika African National
Union (TANU), led by a young teacher named Julius Nyerere. Its objective became nation-
al liberation. In the end, the British decamped from Tanganyika and Zanzibar rather ab-
ruptly in 1961 and 1963 respectively. This was due at least as much to a growing European
sentiment that empires were too expensive to maintain as to recognition of the fundamental
right of Africans to freedom from subjugation.
JULIUS KAMBARAGE NYERERE
Julius Kambarage Nyerere - Baba wa Taifa ('Father of the Nation'), but known
by everyone simply as Mwalimu ('Teacher') - rose from humble beginnings to
become one of Africa's most renowned statesmen. He was born in 1922 in Bu-
tiama, near Lake Victoria, son of a chief of the small Zanaki tribe. After finish-
ing his education, including graduate studies in Scotland, he embarked on a
teaching career. In 1953, he joined with a band of like-minded nationalists to
form the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), which he led to the suc-
cessful liberation of Tanganyika from Britain and through its first two decades
of government.
Nyerere gained widespread respect for his idealism, for his success in shaping
a society which was politically stable and free of divisive tribal rivalries, and for
his contributions towards raising Tanzania's literacy rate, which during his ten-
ure became one of the highest in Africa. He also earned international acclaim
