Book Description

When war broke out in Europe in 1914, the fighting quickly extended to the colonial possessions of the European powers. In 1916 British forces operating from South Africa set out to conquer German East Africa (present-day Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda). They were assisted by Belgian and Congolese troops operating from the Belgian Congo. The allies never subdued the German army led by Colonel (later General) Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck, but they captured the German rail line and occupied much of the territory of German East Africa. At the conclusion of the war, most of the German colony was transferred to British control under a mandate from the League of Nations. This book by a young British author describes the territory in 1920, the year of its transfer to British control. The author, Ferdinand Stephen Joelson (1893-1979), became a prominent writer on African affairs and the founder and editor of the weekly newspaper East Africa and Rhodesia. British control of Tanganyika lasted until 1961, when the territory became independent. In 1964 it merged with Zanzibar to become the United Republic of Tanzania.