Maji Maji Rebellion - Background

Background

Starting circa 1884, Germany entered into a program of imperialism whereby colonies were established both in Africa (often referred to as the Scramble for Africa) and in the Pacific.

In Africa, colonies were established in Togo, Kamerun (the German Cameroons), German South West Africa and what later was known as German East Africa. German East Africa had been acquired largely through the efforts of the German Colonization Society, founded by Karl Peters. Just as in German South West Africa, where genocide was used to exterminate the indigenous population, similarly, by 1898 Karl Peters used extreme violence in accord with his racist views ("...the wild murdering by Karl Peters ...", "the more gifted of the adventurers, gamblers, criminals, etc. ... were walking incarnations of resentment like the German Karl Peters... who openly admitted that he was 'fed up with being counted among the pariahs and wanted to belong to a master race'." " African colonial possessions became the most fertile soil for the flowering of what was later to become the Nazi elite.") to murder large segments of the population. This earned Peters, who was now the Tanganyika colonial governor, the name "Mkono wa Damu," meaning "Man with Blood on His Hands." Throughout this period of German occupation the African population was also subjected to high taxation and a system of forced labor, whereby they were required to grow cotton and build roads for their European occupiers.

Germany began levying head taxes in 1898, and relied heavily on slave labor to build roads and accomplish various other tasks. In 1902, Peters also ordered villages to grow cotton as a cash crop (for export). Each village was charged with producing a quota of cotton. The Headmen of the village were left in charge of overseeing the production, which set them against the rest of the population.

In 1905, a drought threatened the region. This, combined with opposition to the government's agricultural and labor policies, led to open rebellion against the Germans in July, 1905.

The indigenous population opposed the Germans, used their religious views (magic) as a unifying force in the rebellion against the culturally foreign German colonizers. A spirit medium named Kinjikitile Ngwale claimed to be possessed by a snake spirit called Hongo. Ngwale began calling himself "Bokero" and developed a belief that the indigenous peoples had been chosen to eliminate the Germans. German anthropologists recorded that Ngwale gave his followers war medicine that would turn German bullets into water. This "war medicine" was in fact water (maji in Swahili) mixed with castor oil and millet seeds. Empowered with this new liquid, Bokero's followers began what would become known as the Maji Maji Rebellion.