Ruga-Ruga (sometimes called Rugaruga) were irregular troops in Eastern Africa, often deployed by western colonial forces. [1] They often served as mercenaries or local auxiliaries alongside the regular Askari, professional soldiers who were often hired in other regions of Africa. [2] While the latter were trained by officers of the European colonial powers in Africa, the Ruga-Ruga were mostly hired from tribal warriors during times of conflict. [3]
The term Ruga-Ruga for armed guards in caravans and mercenary troops of Nyamwezi-chieftains dates back to at least 1820, according to Pesek. [4] Ruga-Ruga came into knowledge first as an auxiliary force of Nyamwezi-chieftain Mirambo, dubbed the Napoleon of Africa by Henry Morton Stanley. Mirambo, a trader of ivory and slaves, gathered a militia of young men without social ties to defend his interests against the Arabs of the Swahili coast. This unit consisted mostly of former slaves or porters. Later, the word Ruga-Ruga was used to denote any unit of auxiliary troops in Eastern Africa. [1]
In course of World War I, Ruga-Ruga fought alongside the British as well as the German side in the East African Campaign. The Askari troops of the German Schutztruppe, the armed forces of German East Africa under the command of Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, were often supported by ruga-ruga units of approximately the same size. The ruga-ruga thus effectively doubled the manpower of the German colonial forces after the outbreak of war. Overall, the British War Office estimated that over 12,000 Ruga-Ruga in total served with the Germans during the war. [5] They were most prominent at the western borders of German East Africa, due to the fact that only very few regular Schutztruppe forces were active there. Their reliability in combat varied greatly, however, as Ruga-Ruga often fought for personal reasons such as tribal rivalries and desire for fame and plunder. They were thus equally likely to fight courageously as to flee and desert. [6]
When Lettow-Vorbeck accepted the armistice on 23 November 1918 after four years of guerilla warfare and severe casualties on both sides and among civilians, the mixed force of ruga-ruga, some askaris and a few German survivors was the last unit to surrender in World War I. [7]
Iron breaks the head, a war song of the ruga-ruga, is still sung in today's Tanzania. It can be sometimes heard at political gatherings.
German East Africa was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozambique. GEA's area was 994,996 km2 (384,170 sq mi), which was nearly three times the area of present-day Germany and almost double the area of metropolitan Germany at the time.
An askari or ascari was a local soldier serving in the armies of the European colonial powers in Africa, particularly in the African Great Lakes, Northeast Africa and Central Africa. The word is used in this sense in English, as well as in German, Italian, Urdu, and Portuguese. In French, the word is used only in reference to native troops outside the French colonial empire. The designation is still in occasional use today to informally describe police, gendarmerie and security guards.
Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck, popularly known as the Lion of Africa, was a general in the Imperial German Army and the commander of its forces in the German East Africa campaign. For four years, with a force of about 14,000, he held in check a much larger force of 300,000 British, Indian, Belgian, and Portuguese troops. He is known for never being defeated or captured in battle.
Schutztruppe was the official name of the colonial troops in the African territories of the German colonial empire from the late 19th century to 1918. Similar to other colonial armies, the Schutztruppen consisted of volunteer European commissioned and non-commissioned officers, medical and veterinary officers. Most enlisted ranks were recruited from indigenous communities within the German colonies or from elsewhere in Africa.
The Battle of Tanga, sometimes also known as the Battle of the Bees, was the unsuccessful attack by the British Indian Expeditionary Force "B" under Major General A. E. Aitken to capture German East Africa during the First World War in concert with the invasion Force "C" near Longido on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro. It was the first major event of the war in Eastern Africa and saw the British defeated by a significantly smaller force of German Askaris and colonial volunteers under Lieutenant Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. It was the beginning of the East African Campaign of World War I, and is considered one of the greatest victories of the Schutztruppe in Africa. The British retreat enabled the Schutztruppe to salvage modern equipment, medical supplies, tents, blankets, food and a number of Maxim machine guns which allowed them to successfully resist the allies for the rest of the war.
The Battle of Jassin was a World War I battle that took place on 18– 19 January 1915 at Jassin on the German East African side of the border with British East Africa between a German Schutztruppe force and British and Indian troops. Jassin had been occupied by the British in order to secure the border between British East Africa and German territory, but was weakly defended by a garrison of four companies of Indian troops, commanded by Colonel Raghbir Singh and numbering a little over 300 men. Colonel Raghbir Singh was killed during the battle.
The Nyamwezi, or Wanyamwezi, are one of the Bantu groups of East Africa. They are the second-largest ethnic group in Tanzania. The Nyamwezi people's ancestral homeland is in parts of Tabora Region, Singida Region, Shinyanga Region and Katavi Region. The term Nyamwezi is of Swahili origin, and translates as "people of the moon" or "people of the west", the latter being more meaningful to the context.
The Battle of Kilimanjaro at Longido took place in German East Africa in November 1914 and was an early skirmish during the East African Campaign of the First World War.
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.
Colonial troops or colonial army refers to various military units recruited from, or used as garrison troops in, colonial territories.
The Battle of Salaita Hill was the first large-scale engagement of the East African Campaign of the First World War to involve British, Indian, Rhodesian, and South African troops. The battle took place on February 12, 1916, as part of the three-pronged offensive into German East Africa launched by General Jan Smuts, who had been given overall command of the Allied forces in the region.
The Battle of Kondoa Irangi took place during the East African Campaign of World War I.
The Battle of Kisaki was a confrontation between German and South Africa forces near the town of Kisaki, German East Africa, on 7–11 September 1916.
The Battle of Ngomano or Negomano was fought between Germany and Portugal during the East African Campaign of World War I. A force of Germans and Askaris under Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck had recently won a costly victory against the British at the Battle of Mahiwa, in present-day Tanzania and ran very short of food and other supplies. As a consequence, the Germans invaded Portuguese East Africa to the south, both to supply themselves with captured Portuguese materiel and escape superior British forces to the north.
The Battle of Lioma was fought between the German Empire and British Empire during the East African Campaign of World War I. Having successfully evaded the Allies since late 1917, the German Schutztruppe under Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck waged a guerilla campaign in Portuguese East Africa, attacking and raiding settlements as well as forts in the search of supplies while inflicting as much damage as possible on the Allies. All the while, the Schutztruppe was chased by the British King's African Rifles, which finally cornered the Germans at the village of Lioma on 30–31 August 1918. Led by George Giffard, the British forces almost managed to encircle and destroy the Schutztruppe, but in the end the Germans broke out and successfully retreated. Although greatly weakened by the fighting at Lioma, the Schutztruppe was thus able to remain active until the end of the war.
Tom von Prince was a German East Africa Company military officer and plantation owner in German East Africa. He most notably, as a captain in the Schutztruppe, led the first action by German forces in East Africa during World War I by seizing Taveta on 15 August 1914, and was then killed in November at the Battle of Tanga.
The Maziua raid was an armed clash between German and Portuguese colonial troops in Mozambique on 24 August 1914 during World War I. Though the two countries were officially at peace, German soldiers carried out a cross-border raid into Portuguese Mozambique for unclear reasons, and destroyed the outpost of Maziua. The Portuguese soldiers killed in the raid were the first Portuguese casualties of World War I.
Major Georg Kraut was born in Hildesheim by Georg and Auguste Kraut, née Hoppenstedt. Together with his four siblings Anne, Carl, Luise and Wilhelm Kraut, he grew up in a Lutheran family of lawyers. He was an officer of the Imperial German Army during the First World War, a veteran of the Schutztruppe, and the second-in-command of Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. He was active in German East Africa. He participated in multiple battles, including the Battle of Tanga, the Battle of Salaita Hill, and the Battle of Iringa. Post-war, he joined the Freikorps with Lettow-Vorbeck and helped suppress the Spartacist Revolt.
Schutztruppe, subtitled "East African Guerilla Warfare, 1914-1918", is a board wargame originally self-published by Jim Bumpas in 1975, then published by Flying Buffalo in 1978, that simulates the conflict between German Schutztruppe and Allied forces during World War I.
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.