The African Great Lakes nation of Tanzania dates formally from 1964, when it was formed out of the union of the much larger mainland territory of Tanganyika and the coastal archipelago of Zanzibar. The former was a colony and part of German East Africa from the 1880s to 1919’s when, under the League of Nations, it became a British mandate. It served as a British military outpost during World War II, providing financial help, munitions, and soldiers. In 1947, Tanganyika became a United Nations Trust Territory under British administration, a status it kept until its independence in 1961. The island of Zanzibar thrived as a trading hub, successively controlled by the Portuguese, the Sultanate of Oman, and then as a British protectorate by the end of the nineteenth century.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of German East Africa.
Ruanda-Urundi, later Rwanda-Burundi, was a colonial territory, once part of German East Africa, which was occupied by troops from the Belgian Congo during the East African campaign in World War I and was administered by Belgium under military occupation from 1916 to 1922. It was subsequently awarded to Belgium as a Class-B Mandate under the League of Nations in 1922 and became a Trust Territory of the United Nations in the aftermath of World War II and the dissolution of the League. In 1962 Ruanda-Urundi became the two independent states of Rwanda and Burundi.
Tabora is the capital of Tanzania's Tabora Region and is classified as a municipality by the Tanzanian government. It is also the administrative seat of Tabora Urban District. According to the 2012 census, the district had a population of 226,999.
The Force Publique was a gendarmerie and military force in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1885, through the period of Belgian colonial rule. The FP was retitled as the Congolese National Army or ANC in July 1960 after independence.
The Central Line, formerly known as the Tanganyika Railway is the most important railway line in Tanzania, apart from TAZARA. It runs west from Dar es Salaam to Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika via Dodoma. A branch leads to Mwanza on Lake Victoria.
The East African campaign in World War I was a series of battles and guerrilla actions, which started in German East Africa (GEA) and spread to portions of Mozambique, Rhodesia, British East Africa, the Uganda, and the Belgian Congo. The campaign all but ended in German East Africa in November 1917 when the Germans entered Mozambique and continued the campaign living off Portuguese supplies.
Pierre Ryckmans, was a Belgian civil servant who served as Governor-General of Belgium's principal African colony, the Belgian Congo, between 1934 and 1946. Ryckmans began his career in the colonial service in 1915 and also spent time in the Belgian mandate of Ruanda-Urundi. His term as Governor-General of the Belgian Congo coincided with World War II in which he was instrumental in bringing the colony into the war on the Allied side after Belgium's defeat in May 1940. He was also a prolific writer on colonial affairs. He was posthumously created a peer of the realm in the Belgian nobility with the rank of count in 1962.
Lieutenant General Charles Tombeur, 1st Baron of Tabora was a Belgian military officer and colonial civil servant. As well as holding several major administrative positions in the Belgian Congo, he is particularly known for his role as commander of the Belgian colonial military, the Force Publique, during the first years of World War I. His military career culminated in the capture of Tabora in German East Africa in September 1916.
Lake Force was a unit of the British Army stationed in the Uganda Protectorate on the west coast of Lake Victoria under the command of Brigadier-General Sir Charles Crewe in 1916, during the East African campaign of the First World War (1914–18). It consisted of 2,800 soldiers and 10,000 porters. In May 1916, Lake Force sent 5,000 porters and 100 oxwagons to serve with their allies, the Force publique of the Belgian Congo under Charles Tombeur. The Uganda Native Medical Corps (UNMC) served with both units.
The Commemorative Medal of the African Campaigns 1914–1917 was a Belgian military war service medal established by Royal Decree on 21 February 1917 to recognise combat service on the African continent between 1914 and 1918.
The involvement of the Belgian Congo in World War II began with the German invasion of Belgium in May 1940. Despite Belgium's surrender, the Congo remained in the conflict on the Allied side, administered by the Belgian government in exile.
The Battle of Tabora was a military action which occurred around the town of Tabora in the north-west of German East Africa during World War I. The engagement was part of the East Africa Campaign and was the culmination of the Tabora Offensive in which a Belgian force from the Belgian Congo crossed the border and captured the settlement of Kigoma and Tabora, pushing the German colonial army back. The victory not only left much of the Ruanda-Urundi territory under Belgian military occupation but gave the Allies control of the important Tanganjikabahn railway.
Armand Christophe Huyghé, later knighted Armand Huyghé de Mahenge, was a Belgian career soldier. He is best known for his service in the Belgian Congo during World War I, where he succeeded Charles Tombeur as commander of the Belgian forces in the East African Campaign in 1917. He commanded the Belgian contingent during the Allied occupation of the Rhineland after the war. During World War II, he was involved in the resistance and, after being captured by the Germans, was deported to Buchenwald concentration camp where he died in 1944.
Mainland Tanzania refers to the part of Tanzania on the continent of Africa; excluding the islands of Zanzibar. It corresponds with the area of the former country of Tanganyika.
The Tabora Offensive was an Anglo-Belgian offensive into German East Africa, which ended with the Battle of Tabora in the north-west of German East Africa, it was part of the East African Campaign in World War I. The forces of the Belgian Congo crossed the border with German East Africa and captured the port city of Kigoma and the city of Tabora. In August a smaller Lake Force under the command of the South African brigadier general Crewe, launched a parallel attack from Uganda, also aimed at taking Tabora. The completion of the Tabora Offensive not only left much of the Ruanda-Urundi territory under Belgian military occupation but gave the Allies control of the important Tanganjikabahn railway.
Alfred Frédéric Gérard Marzorati was a Belgian lawyer and colonial administrator. He served at the bar in Brussels, then became a magistrate in the Belgian Congo. During World War I he was a legal advisor to the Belgian forces occupying German East Africa. He was appointed royal commissioner in charge of the Belgian mandate of Ruanda-Urundi in 1919, and strongly supported the 1926 administrative union between these territories and the Belgian Congo.
Frederik-Valdemar Olsen was a Danish soldier who became a general and commander in chief of the Belgian Congo Force Publique. He was born into a poor family, joined the Danish army, then in 1898 volunteered to serve in the Congo Free State. He rose quickly through the ranks, and in 1909–1910 played an important role in a stand-off with German and British forces disputing the eastern border of what was now the Belgian Congo. During World War I Olsen commanded a force that defended Northern Rhodesia against a German attack, then advanced from the south of Lake Kivu to take Tabora in what is now Tanzania. After the war he became commander of the Force Publique before retiring as a general in 1925. Olsen was then made general manager of the state-owned Congo River shipping line Unatra, later combined with railway lines to form Otraco. He retired from this position in 1947.
Erich von Langenn-Steinkeller was a German military officer and official who served as the colonial resident of the Kingdom of Burundi in 1909 and from 1911 to 1916.
Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck 
Jacob van Deventer 
Armand Huyghé 
