UNIVERSITY OF ESWATINI

FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

NAME: SIGCINILE VILAKATI

STUDENT ID:159523 PART TIME
PROGRAMME: BA HUMANITIES
COURSE NAME: HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN INDEPENDENT
EAST AFRICA
COURSE CODE: HIS418
DUE DATE: 30 SEPTEMBER 2022

QUESTION: 1: WHAT ROLE DID CARL PETERS PLAY IN THE

COLONISATION OF TANGANYIKA.
Germany in the 19th century was facing a number of problems which included social problems

such as over population and as well as intensified national rivalries over resources in Europe.

The colonization of Tanganyika was an end the result of few German explorers and traders who

were seeking to promote the growth of their wealth as well as to help develop the interests of

Germany in the African ground and settle the rivalries between Germany and other European

countries. Carl Peters may be regarded as the major booster of the establishment of the German

colony in Tanganyika, as he played vital roles in the colonization of Tanganyika, because he was

one of the instrumental members who formed the German East African Company in the mid-

1880s which brought about the establishment of German East Africa and helped create the

scramble of Africa. The following essay will critically examine the role Carl Peters played in the

colonization of Tanganyika.

It is imperative to note that Peters was one of the leading lights in the Society for German

Colonization. German involvement in Tanganyika began with personal ambitions of a man

called Carl Peters who in 1884 established the Society for German Colonization 1. This was an

independent body created after the German government failure to acquire colonies Even though

it was viewed as propagandist, it played a vital function in informing German citizens about

colonial life and the colonial agenda. German colonialism was said to have gained popularity

thanks to this society. This society was credited for the popularization of colonialism in German.

Moreover, its goal was also to accumulate capital for the acquisition of German colonial

territories in the overseas countries2. With inadequate private funding the society embarked on its

first expedition into the interior of Tanganyika.

1
L.H. Gann, The rulers of German Africa, 1884-1914 (Stanford: Stanford university press, 1977), p. 11.
2
Ibid. p12.
Carl Peters visited East Africa late in 1884 and obtained ‘treaties’ over land on which Germans

could settle3.He and his companions arrived in Zanzibar in November 1884 disguised as

mechanics and they crossed to the mainland, obtained treaties with “chiefs” in the interior before

returning to Berlin in February 18854. He travelled and persuaded both the Arabs and African

chiefs to sign away exclusive rights to land and trade route. These treaties were of great

significance in Peters colonial expedition because they offered the Africans “territory with all its

civil and public privileges to Carl Peters l” 5. This basically meant that they were giving away

their large areas of land and rights to the German colonialist.

In 1884, during a journey in November and December 1884, Peters resolved and concluded

several "treaties of protection" with tribal chiefs in the Useguha, Ussagara, Nguru, and Ukami

regions. Just like most countries in Africa were colonized using primitive accumulation; as such

Carl Peters would use one of the primitive ways which was through signing treaties; where he

signed treaties with African chiefs along the coast on behalf of German 6. The agreement

pertained or conferred all rights to exploit the territories on East Africa in exchange for some

inexpensive gifts. Carl Peters would continue to play his major role in the quest of the

establishment of the German colonies in overseas; he managed to persuade a number of other

Germans and they became his colleagues who joined him in the quest of founding the German

Colonization Society. They successfully formed the Society for Germany Colonization with

which he went with To East Africa especially Tanganyika7.

3
John. Iliffe, Tanganyika under German rule 1905-1912 (New York: Cambridge University press, 1969), p 13.
4
Robert Maxon, East Africa, an introductory history (West Virginia: West Virginia press, 2009), p 133.
5
Chris. McIntyre, Zanzibar: Pemba (Guilford: The globe Pequot Press, 1993).pg22.
6
B. A. B. Sikhonze, Historical Developments in Independent East Africa, University of Swaziland: Institute of
Distance Education, 2004, p.9.
7
B. Brookmeyer, Doing Colonialism: reading the banishment of a native chief in the Tanganyika territory, Inter
Disciplines, Journal of History and Sociology, 2016, vol.7, p. 38.
An example of one treaty signed by Africans was one known as the “treaty of eternal friendship”

of 29 November 1884 signed between Germany and Sultan Mangungu6. Worth noting is that

these treaties were attained through trickery in the sense that most historians agree that

Mangungu had no idea that through signing such treaty, Peter would turn the territory into part of

Germany8. Moreover, this was also the case with Khalifa who was not fully aware of that the

treaty he had signed with Peters had granted the company virtually all administrative powers on

the coast. It is estimated that within a period of three weeks, Carl Peters and his companions had

managed to collect twelve "treaties" covering 140,000 kilometers of African territory 9. Within a

month, Bismarck’s government had made these treaties the basis of a German protectorate, the

administration of which was to be entrusted to Peter’s society. This German action brought to an

end the British policy of dominating East Africa through her influence over Zanzibar10.

Moreover, Peters played a vital role through that, although he was underfunded and had less

resources, this would be the basis of the gradual establishment of colonial rule in Tanganyika ,

since with a charter from the government, the GEAC gained the authority to formally rule not

only the areas where Carl Peters had signed treaties with chiefs ,but also to extend its

governmental power into the interior of the mainland which would eventually lead to

Tanganyika being a German protectorate in last quarter of the 19 th century11. When Carl Peter

Returned to Germany in February 1885, he driven by the quest to establish the economic and

political dominance over Tanganyika in East Africa he requested the implementation of an

official protection status for the areas where he had secured using the treaties in 1884 and Otto

8
Jonathan. Glassman, Feast and Riot: Revelry, Rebellion, and popular consensus on the Swahilli Coast, 1856-1888
(Portsmouth: Heinemann, 1995), p 200.
9
Ibid.page.222.
10
Robert. Maxon, East Africa, an introductory history (West Virginia: West Virginia press, 2009), p 134.
11
https://www.msomibora.com/2018/08/history-2-form-six-topic-3-imperialism.html
von Bismarck who was the statesman would initially resist ,but after Peters threatened to assign

his newly acquired territories to King Leopard II of Belgium, Bismarck agreed to issue an

imperial charter by which Germany claimed and protected all of the lands which lay roughly

between Lake Tanganyika and the dominions of the Sultan of Zanzibar 12. Although Otto von

Bismarck had developed his own colonial strategies, but he however presented the treaties

resolved by Carl Peters to the Berlin conference in October 1884 and through these treaties,

Germany acquired these areas as her sphere of influence13.

In April 1885, Carl Peters constituted the German East Africa Company which had the same

ideas and objectives as the East India Company which was structured or formed for the

exploitation of trade with East and Southeast Asia14. Carl Peters with the founding of the German

East Africa Company was aware that the imperial charter marked the beginning colonisation of

Tanganyika. Otto Bismarck would then support Carl Peters through He sent a cavalry of Imperial

Navy gunboats under Admiral Eduard von Knorr to the port of Zanzibar, where after the sultan

gave in, and on 20 December 1885 signed a "treaty of friendship" recognising the acquisitions of

German East Africa. Thus, Carl Peters advanced the establishment of the German East African

protectorate of Tanganyika, now a part of Tanzania.

In 1888, he forced the Sultan of Zanzibar to grant him the right to govern the coast. The German

government assisted Peters, but did not want the responsibility itself. However, the government

was compelled to intervene when the coastal people resisted in 1888, in what was called the ‘the

Arab revolt’15, a rebellion of slave traders in a bid to save their economic position in the coast.

12
B. A. B. Sikhonze, Historical Developments in Independent East Africa, University of Swaziland: Institute of
Distance Education, 2004, p.g11.
13
W. D. Smith, The Ideology of German Colonialism, 1840-1906, The Journal of Modern History, 1974, vol.46, No.4,
p. 655.
14
Carey, W. H, The Good Old Days of Honorable John Company. Simla: Argus Press. Retrieved 22 August 2021,1882.
15
John. Iliffe, Tanganyika under German rule 1905-1912 (New York: Cambridge University press, 1969), p 22.
This was partly true, but the movement was really a popular resistance by the coastal peoples to

foreign rule, just as they had resisted Portuguese and Arabs before.

Peters was able to open up administration stations in East Africa. Such administrative stations

were essential because they later provided a base for German colonial administration 16. These

administration stations were found in Ulunguru, Usagara, and Uvinza. Also, Carl ensured that

other rivals were put off such that Germany would have to competition over its colonies 17. For

instance, Peters was able to scare off the Imperial British East African Company (IBEACO)from

securing areas for Britain.

In 1896, Carl Peters was dismissed from the colonial service on accusations of being cruel to

Africans. The German explorer Carl Peters did a number of unpleasant deeds which made him

very infamous among the Africans. He killed Some of the natives and some of their villages

were burned 18. He also launched bloody surprise attack against tribes with whom he’d made a

peace treaty with. Peter’s “discipline” was so brutal that in 1897, after being assigned imperial

commissioner in German East Africa, his own colonial administration brought him to trial and

temporarily dismissed him from office19.

In conclusion the above essay has critically examined the role of Carl Peters, he was one of the

leading lights in the society for German colonization. He established The Society for German

Colonization. He also visited East Africa late in 1884 and obtained ‘treaties’ over land on which

Germans could settle. After getting the treaties to be signed he left for Germany in 1885 and he

was able to convince Bismarck to recognize the treaties that he had made the rulers to sign.

16
Bradley. Narach, German colonialism in a global age (London: Duke university press, 2014), p 97
17
Ibid, pg. 19.
18
John Gray and Carl Peters, “Anglo-German Relations in Uganda, 1890-1892”, The Journal of African History1960,
Vol. 1, No. 2 (1960), pp. 281-297.
19
Daniel. Harmon, Exploration of Africa: The emerging nations central and East Africa 1880 to the present
(Philadelphia: Chelsea house publishers, 2002), p 43.
Moreover, he was able to open up administration stations in East Africa. However, in 1896 Carl

Peters was dismissed from the colonial service on accusations of being cruel to the Africans

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