1815-1886 Between the Wars, 1918-1939







The Emergence of British Rule, 1886-1918



In 1886, Britain and Germany signed a treaty according to which the territory of the Sultanate of Zanzibar on the African continent was split up between the Germans and the British; the island of Zanzibar itself, with the island of Pemba was to remain independent.
In 1890, Germany and Britain signed another treaty. Germany recognized Zanzibar and Pemba as located within the British sphere of interest, and ceded German claims over WITULAND, BENADIR and UGANDA in exchange for the much smaller and less populated island of HELIGOLAND, located in the North Sea, as well as the CAPRIVI STRIP linking German South West Africa with the Zambezi river.

The conception that Germany would have ceded Zanzibar to Britain in the treaty of 1890 is a widespread misconception. Germany never exercised a protectorate over Zanxibar and in 1890 only accepted the establishment of a British protectorate over that hitherto independent island sultanate.

The British treated Zanzibar as a protectorate. The dynasty of the Sultans continued (now limited to Zanzibar and Pemba), advised by the British consul general (until 1913), from then by the British resident.
In 1914 World War I broke out; British/South African troops stationed in Kenya and on Zanzibar and German troops stationed in German East Africa facing each other. The island of MAFIA, part of German East Africa, was occupied by the British navy in 1914. Until 1916 the situation on the Kenyan/Tanganyikan border was a stalemate; then British troops penetrated into German East Africa; German commander VON LETTOW-VORBECK switched to guerilla warfare, holding out until the war was over.







EXTERNAL
FILES 		History of Zanzibar, from Zanzibar.net
Articles from Infoplease : Zanzibar
Links to Zanzibar History, from Looksmart
Zanzibar History Page from Zanzinet, detailed subfiles
History of Tanzania, from geographia.com
Zanzibar's Postal History, by Menno Jan Kraak; see also Zanzibar's History in Stamps, from swahilicoast.com
Articles from Catholic Encyclopedia, 1914 edition : Zanzibar
DOCUMENTS Das Sultanat Sansibar, from Jaduland, text : Ritter, Länder- und Völkerkunde, 1904 (in German)
Map Zanzibar in colonial period, posted by Jaduland
Zanzibar flags, from FOTW
List of Sultans of Zanzibar, from Regnal Chronologies, scroll down for Zanzibar
Banknotes, from Numismondo
News from Zanzibar, in "The Great Round World and What is Going on in it", Vol.1 No.32, June 1897, posted by Gutenberg Library Online
REFERENCE Article : Zanzibar, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1913 p. 645 [G]
Article : Zanzibar, in : Statesman's Year Book 1895 pp.199-202, 1898 pp.182-185, 1901 pp.198-201, 1905 pp.214-218, 1910 pp.175-179 [G]
Article : Zanzibar, in : International Year Book 1898 pp.926-927 [G]
Article : East Africa - Zanzibar, in : Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events 1894 p.246 [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on October 18th 2007

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