Wednesday 31 August 2016

2.How did direct rule work in Tanganyika?



2.How did direct rule work in Tanganyika?

At the top was the governor who was the head of the colony,stationed at Dares salaam and in most case a solider.

The governor had wide powers and authority and was directly answerable to the colonial minister in berlin.

The Germans for efficient administration divided Tanganyika into districts and by 1914 they were twenty two districts.

Each district was under a district officer called berzirksamtmann,with a police force and a small army to maintain law and order in the area.

The district officer acted as a judge and appointed cheifs to presides aver courts and administer punishment on his behalf.they also acted as the highest courts of appeal.

Districts were divided into counties which were further divided into subcounties then into small villages of around 250000 people

The district of Rwanda and Burundi were left under traditional authority but supervised by German residents

Areas that showed hostility to the German rule were put under military rule.by 1914 the two districts of mahenge and iringa were under military control because they were hostile.

There was the governors council that was setup in 1904 to advise the governor.it was composed of Europeans only.

Below the district officers was Swahili Arabs called the akidas and below them were the jumbes who were In charge of the villages.

These turned out to be very harsh,brutal and disrespectful of the African culture and chiefs which in the end made German rule unpopular

These akidas and jumbes were charged with collection of taxes and supervision of economic developments like cotton schemes.they were also supposed to appoint and dismiss junior African cheifs and also preside over local courts

Many chiefs were stripped of their powers and replaced with the akidas and the jumbes.and others were created in areas where there weren't in existence.

It was only in unyamwezi where the local rulers were left with the traditional roles but still they were made akidas and therefore serving the governor.

In other areas puppet chiefs were created to perpetuate German interests like in usambara after the death of chief samboja and unyanyembe after the death of isike.

German administration was married man administration ,cruel method of tax collection and forced labor o. Roads constructions and communal cotton growing.

Because the policy was geared towards exploitation of the Africans resources and maximize profits,Africans were forced to grow cash crops like cotton

This cotton scheme was under supervision of the akidas and the jumbes who mishandled people resulting into the maji maji rebellion

The German rule in Tanganyika faced many challenges like the different uprisings I.e maji maji,abshiri and hehe rebellion.

In their administration the Germans were arrogant and isolated them selves from the local people which Sparked many rebellions

The Germans were inexperienced in colonial administration because they had just acquired colonies.

The German rule was finally brought to and end in 1919 by the league of nations that mandated Tanganyika to the British colonialist.

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