Tanzania-German Relations: A History of Conflict and Cooperation

The history of Tanzania-German relations is a complex one, marked by both conflict and cooperation.

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany is visiting Tanzania on a three day working trip to the country. President Frank-Walter Steinmer will also visit Zambia. The African trip will go on simultaneously with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visit to Nigeria and Ghana, clearly a charm offensive by the Germans towards the continent.

The president’s delegation will include government officials and investors from 12 German corporations. The German president and his host President Samia Suluhu Hassan will take part in a business forum that will include business persons from both countries. President Steinmeier will also have an audience with youth in the Tanzanian startup eco-system and a trip to Songea the site of the Maji Maji rebelion in order to visit the Maji Maji War Museum.

With the country hosting such a high profile visit and considering the fact that Germany was the initial colonizer of the area we call Tanzania today, it is only fitting that we take a brief look at the history of relations between our two countries.

In 1885, Germany colonized what is now Tanzania (including Rwanda, Burundi and parts of Mozambique), establishing the territory of German East Africa. German colonial rule was harsh and repressive, and led to a number of conflicts with the local population, including the Hehe Wars and the Maji Maji Rebellion.

The Hehe Wars were a series of conflicts between the Hehe people and the German colonial government from 1891 to 1893. The Hehe people were led by Chief Mkwawa, who fought fiercely against the Germans. Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, the Hehe were able to inflict heavy casualties on the Germans.

The battle between the Hehe people and the German colonial government on 17 August, 1891, in the valley of the river Lugalo, ended in a surprising Hehe victory. The German commander von Zelewski was killed in action.

On 19 June, 1898, the Germans encircled Mkwawa and his personal guard in Mlam- balasi. Having realized there was no way to escape, Mkwawa committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. This was after several years of avoiding capture.

In 1898, Mkwawa was finally defeated and killed by the Germans. However, the Hehe Wars had a lasting impact on Tanzanian history, and the Hehe people continue to be revered as national heroes.

The Maji Maji Rebellion was a larger and more widespread conflict that took place from 1905 to 1907. The rebellion was sparked by German colonial policies that were seen as exploitative and oppressive. The rebels, who were largely Muslim and animist Africans, believed that they could defeat the Germans with the help of magic that would turn German bullets into water.

The Maji Maji Rebellion was an armed rebellion of Muslim and animist Africans against German colonial rule in German East Africa. The rebels were motivated by a number of factors, including economic exploitation, forced labor, and religious discrimination.

The Maji Maji Rebellion was ultimately crushed by the Germans, but it had a lasting impact on Tanzanian history. The rebellion is remembered as a symbol of resistance to colonial rule.

However, the rebellion was ultimately crushed by the Germans, who used brutal force to suppress it. The Maji Maji Rebellion is estimated to have killed over 100,000 people.

The list of German Governors in German East Africa include Carl Peters (1885–1888), Herman von Wissman (1888–1891), Julius von Soden (1891–1893), Friedrich von Schele (1893–1895), Hermann von Wissman (1895–1896), Eduard von Liebert (1896–1901), Gustav Adolf von Götzen (1901–1906), Albrecht von Rechenberg (1906–1912), and Heirich Schnee (1912–1918).

After World War I, Germany lost its colonies in Africa, including German East Africa. The territory was placed under British control as Tanganyika Territory.

In 1961, Tanganyika achieved independence from Britain. Tanganyika and the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) established diplomatic relations in 1963. West Germany opened its embassy in Dar Es Salaam in 1965.

However, relations between Tanzania and Germany were to smooth sailing during the years that followed. The Cold War and the Hallstein Doctrine meant that West Germany and the socialist government of Tanzania would find themselves in conflict.

The Hallstein Doctrine, named after German diplomat Walter Hallstein, was a cornerstone of West Germany’s foreign policy from 1955 to 1970. It stipulated that West Germany would sever diplomatic relations with any country that recognized the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).

Dar Es Salaam became the first African country south of the Sahara desert where East Germany maintained a diplomatic mission in the 1960s. East Germany pushed for full recognition from Tanzania while West Germany strived to ensure that that would not happen.

In the 1960s, a number of developing country’s, lead by Tangayika’s Julius Nyerere, established the Non-Allignment Movement, a lose union of 120 countries which had agreed to not side with any of the competing superpowers in the Cold War. Non-allignment was a good policy on paper, but in reality it meant that you pleased neither side and most likely angered both sides.

In 1964, East Germany promised to recognize the new revolutionary government of Zanzibar under President Abeid Amani Karume. President Karume showed willingness to recognize East Germany, however this was further complicated by Zanzibar’s union with Tangayika just a few months after the revolution, to form Tanzania. With the union, Zanzibar gave up foreign policy powers to the new government. Tanzania was under President Nyerere and continued to practive non-allignment.

Zanzibar refused to close the East German embassy in the island and thus the Union government through foreign minister Oscar Kambona announced that all embassies in Zanzibar would be downgraded to consulates.

Nyerere tried to reach a middle ground in February of 1965, by allowing East Germany to establish a low-level consulate-general in Dar Es Salaam. However, West Germany was not happy about it and retaliated by cancelling military assistance to Tanzania even though Tanzania had explicitly stated that the opening of the East German consulate-general did not constitute diplomatic recognition.

Nyerere responded to West Germany by forgoing all forms of aid from West Germany which totalled $32.5 million. West Germany obliged by cancelling all capital assistance to Tanzania.

Although Nyerere tried to mend relations with West Germany it was to no avail as his move seemed to confirm to Western countries that Tanzania was a bastion of communist subversion in Africa.

The East Germans did not ingretiate themselves with Nyerere as well. After the Arusha Declaration in 1967, East Germany created ties with a group lead by Oscar Kambona, which was opposed to Nyerere and the Arusha Declaration. The East Germans had calculated that if Kambona rose to prominence, it will be their way of gaining full recognition from Tanzania. However Oscar Kambona and his group failed and were eventually exiled from government. This and East Germany’s attempts to directly cut a deal with Zanzibar infuriated Nyerere. Once the East Germans realized they had backed the wrong group in Kambona and his allies it was too late.

As East Germany’s standing with Nyerere fell, that of West Germany rose. Though Nyerere and Willy Brandt, the leader of West Germany were never fully aligned, they at least found mutual grounds for cooperation. Brandt was a social democrat and sort to realign Germany’s foreign policy to at least include a third world development dimension. Nyerere and Brandt’s personal relationship went a long way in reviving a strong partnership between Tanzania nad West Germany.

Tanzania began to establish full diplomatic relations with East Germany after the end of the Hallstein Doctrine.

Germany has been a major provider of development assistance to Tanzania since the country’s independence. Germany has funded a wide range of projects in Tanzania, including infrastructure development, education, health care, and environmental protection.

In 1981, Germany opened its first development cooperation office in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Since then, Germany has become one of Tanzania’s largest bilateral donors.

In 2004 and 2015, German Presidents Johannes Rau and Joachim Gauck respectively visited Tanzania. These visits were seen as a sign of the strong and close relations between the two countries.

Today, Tanzania and Germany enjoy strong bilateral relations. The two countries cooperate closely on a range of issues, including development, trade, and investment.

Germany is one of Tanzania’s largest bilateral donor, and Tanzania is a major recipient of German development assistance. Germany is also a major investor in Tanzania, and there are a number of German companies operating in the country.

Despite the difficult history of Tanzania-German relations, the two countries have managed to build a strong and mutually beneficial partnership.

Currently Tanzania purchases goods worth $ 237.43 million per year from Germany which includes medicine, cars, cosmetics and electrical equipment. Germany buys from Tanzania products worth $42.04 million including products such as coffee, tobacco, cotton, honey, fish, wax and minerals.

In 2021, Germany ranked 5 in the Economic Complexity Index (ECI 1.81), and 3 in total exports ($1.56T). That same year, Tanzania ranked 111 in the Economic Complexity Index (ECI -1.09), and 104 in total exports ($8.56B).

One way Tanzania could reduce the trade deficit with Germany is selling value added products instead of just raw material.

In 2014, current German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Tanzania as German Foreign Minister and was hosted by then President Jakaya Kikwete.

Tanzania-German relations have a complex history, marked by both conflict and cooperation. However, the two countries have managed to build a strong and mutually beneficial partnership in recent decades.

However I would like to end the article with a plee to the German government. Sitting in archives in Berlin are the skulls of our ancestors. One specific demand is that from Isaria Anael Meli. Isaria’s grandfather,Chief Mangi Meli, along with 18 other chiefs and advisors were hanged by German colonial soldiers.

Others like Isaria include Zablon Kiwelu, whose grandfathers Sindato Kiwelu’s skull also resides in Germany. Sindato was the advisor of Chief Mangi Meli.

For the Chagga people, it is a tradition and a spiritual practice to have the remains of their dead burried in their home soil. I urge President Steinmeier and the German government to work on immediately returning the remains of our people that currently sit in Germany. This gestures would go a long way in seeking closure and closing the chapter on our colonial past while forging better relations for the future between the people of Tanzania and Germany.