German East Africa

German East Africa was a German colony that existed for some three decades from the 1880s to the end of World War I (1918). It was nearly, larger than any European country except Russia or any American state except Alaska.

Regions
All of what was once German East Africa is now part of other countries: After being defeated in World War I Germany was forced to give up all its colonies. That did not mean the colonies became independent; they were just taken over by European powers that had been on the winning side. In East Africa Britain got Tanganyika, Belgium got what is now Burundi and Rwanda, and Portugal got the triangle.
 * Far the largest piece is Tanganyika, the part of today's Tanzania which is on the African mainland.
 * Rwanda, now a separate country
 * Burundi, now a separate country

Since World War II all the former colonies in the region have become independent, with Tanganyika uniting with Zanzibar to form Tanzania. Zanzibar is an island that is not far off the coast just north of Dar es Salaam.

Germany exerted influence in Zanzibar as well until 1890. Then in the "Heligoland Zanzibar Treaty" (a name coined by Bismarck to dismiss the treaty that his successor had made), Germany gave up its claim there and Britain transferred Heligoland to Germany.

Destinations
The main towns of importance to the colonial administration were: There are other places in the region that may be of interest.

First World War campaign
During the First World War there was a campaign in this region. The Germans and their African allies faced great disadvantages: they were vastly outnumbered, it was almost impossible for Germany to send supplies or reinforcements, and they were surrounded by colonies of enemy powers &mdash; British Kenya and Uganda to the north, and Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) to the southwest, the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) to the west and Portuguese East Africa (now Mozambique) to the south. On the east, the British held Zanzibar, and they were in control of the sea so they could bring in troops from India. Despite all this, German forces were able to hold out for the duration of the war, and did not surrender until news of the armistice in Europe reached them.

The British argued there should be "no war in Africa"; all the whites needed to work together to keep the blacks under control. The German governor accepted that notion and was willing to allow British troops to land to "keep the peace", in particular to help suppress troublesome tribes. The military commander, von Lettow, took the position that in wartime he was no longer under the governor's authority, and part of his job was to resist any British incursion. Among other things, he broke with colonial tradition by arming his tribal allies.

In the listings below, the blue links are to Wikivoyage articles with current travel information. The Wikipedia links (little "W" at the end of a listing) are to historical information.

In late 1914 the British tried to invade, but were thrown back. The Germans won those battles, but at a cost their small army could ill afford. For the rest of the war they fought a guerrilla campaign, and did quite well at that. They even raided into Kenya, attacking the Uganda Railroad. Before Ngomano the Germans were running low on supplies, most importantly food and ammunition. However they captured a lot at Ngomano and afterwards ravaged the countryside of Portuguese East Africa (now Mozambique), mostly unopposed. This gave them enough to keep them going for the rest of the war.

They returned to German East Africa in early 1918. Late that year they invaded Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia. Their last victory was taking Kasama, then and now a provincial capital, on November 13. They surrendered on the 14th when word of the armistice in Europe reached them.

Like Alexander the Great, the German general Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck was never defeated in the field. This is a claim few other generals could make, and thoroughly amazing given the disadvantages he faced. Part of that was because of the fierce personal loyalty of his Askaris (native troops, mostly serving under European officers). He was an unusual man who spoke good Swahili and, unlike most colonial commanders, was willing to promote some natives to officer rank; as he put it "We are all Africans here."

An excellent historical novel covering the campaign, mainly from a German point of view, is William Stevenson's The Ghosts of Africa (ISBN 0-345-29793-8). C.S. Forester's novel The African Queen (ISBN 0-316-289108) and the movie based on it also take place in East Africa during the war.