Germany Claims Tanzania

In the era of intensified European competition for African territory, formalized at the Berlin Conference of 1884 to 1885, the recently unified German Empire under Chancellor Otto von Bismarck moved to acquire overseas colonies. Agents such as Carl Peters signed treaties with local chiefs in the East African interior to establish German claims.

In 1885 the German East Africa Company received an imperial charter to administer the territory on the mainland opposite Zanzibar, corresponding roughly to present-day mainland Tanzania. In the same period Germany also asserted control over South-West Africa, Togoland, and Cameroon, rapidly assembling a colonial empire.

The company proved unable to manage the territory, particularly after a coastal uprising, and in 1891 the German government assumed direct control, creating the colony of German East Africa. German rule provoked considerable resistance, most notably the Maji Maji rebellion of 1905 to 1907. The colony remained German until the First World War, after which the territory was placed under British administration as Tanganyika.