About the Colonial Power

The western power that colonized Tanzania was Germany. At the time, European super powers such as Britain and France began carving up Africa. The new unified country of Germany wanted a piece as well, but could only get a chance at the un-claimed areas of Africa, particularly East Africa.1 After attaining the territory, Germany began cultivating sisal in Tanzania. The sisal cultivating industry was encouraged by the development of a railway that linked the then capital, Dar es Salaam, to Lake Tanganyika. Another railway, linking Tanga to Moshi, allowed the pioneering of coffee-growing. Tanzania also served as a place to cultivate plantation-grown rubber. All in all, the country served as an agricultural producer.

German colonial interests were first advanced in 1884. In 1884, Karl Peters, with Joachin von Pfeil and Karl Juhlke, landed on Tanzania. After several “deals” were made, the chiefs of the area surrendered the territory to the German East Africa Company (of which Karl Peters was member and founder). Peters’ actions were backed by Otto von Bismarck. Later, the Anglo-German Agreement of 1886 divided the area between Britain and Germany, and the southern region became German East Africa.2

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1. "Tanzania History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts." The History Channel Home Page. Web. 28 Feb. 2010. http://www.history.com/topics/tanzania

2. "History of TANZANIA." HistoryWorld - History and Timelines. Web. 02 Mar. 2010. http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ad23