German East Africa
| German East Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deutsch-Ostafrika | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| German colony | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Green: Territory comprising German colony of German East Africa
Dark grey: Other German possessions Darkest grey: German Empire Note: The map shows present-day national borders, but the maximum historical extent of German territory is depicted. |
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| Capital |
Bagamoyo (1885–90) Dar-es-Salaam (1890–1918) |
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| Languages |
German (official) Swahili, Kirundi, Kinyarwanda, Maasai, Iraqw, Chaga languages |
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| Religion | Islam, traditional African religion, Christianity (Catholic and Protestant) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Political structure | Colony | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Emperor | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| • | 1871–1888 | Wilhelm I | ||||||||||||||||||||
| • | 1888-1888 | Frederick III | ||||||||||||||||||||
| • | 1888–1918 | Wilhelm II | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Governor | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| • | 1895–96 (first) | Hermann von Wissman | ||||||||||||||||||||
| • | 1912–18 (last) | Heinrich Schnee | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Historical era | New Imperialism | |||||||||||||||||||||
| • | Established | 27 February 1891 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| • | Border agreement | 1 July | ||||||||||||||||||||
| • | Maji Maji Rebellion | 21 October | ||||||||||||||||||||
| • | Surrender to Britain | 25 November | ||||||||||||||||||||
| • | Disestablished | 28 June 1919 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Area | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| • | 1913 | 995,000 km² (384,172 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Population | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| • | 1913 est. | 7,700,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Density | 7.7 /km² (20 /sq mi) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Currency | Rupie | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Today part of |
 Burundi Kenya Mozambique Rwanda Tanzania
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German East Africa (German: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included what are now Burundi, Rwanda, and the mainland part of present Tanzania (formerly known as Tanganyika). Its area was 994,996 km2 (384,170 sq mi), nearly three times the area of present-day Germany.
The colony was organized when the German military was called upon to put down a revolt against the activities of a colonial company during the late 1880s. It ended with Imperial Germany's defeat in World War I. Ultimately it was divided between Britain and Belgium and reorganized as a mandate of the League of Nations.
Like other powers, the Germans expanded their empire in the Africa Great Lakes region on the basis of fighting slavery and the slave trade. Unlike other imperial powers, however, they never actually formally abolished it, preferring instead to curtail the production of new "recruits" and regulate the extant slaving business.
The colony began with Carl Peters, an adventurer who founded the Society for German Colonization and signed treaties with several native chieftains on the mainland opposite Zanzibar. On 3 March 1885, the German government announced it had granted an imperial charter (signed by Bismarck on 27 February 1885) to Peters' company and intended to establish a protectorate in the Africa Great Lakes region. Peters then recruited specialists, who began exploring south to the Rufiji River and north to Witu, near Lamu on the coast.
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Wikipedia