The Maji-Maji-uprising of 1905/1906 was a combined rebellion of about twenty ethnic groups in so called Deutsch-Ostafrika (German East Africa) aimed against the rule of the German colonial power. The motive for the uprising was the gradual increase of repressions by the Germans The colonial authorities took measures to foster the cotton production and gain higher income from taxes.
The initial spark which led the uprising burst into flames was the destruction of a cotton field in the area of the Matumbi (Kilewa-region) by two man and a women on 20th of July 1905. Shortly after this had happened, a number of different ethnic groups joined the outcry.
A very important part was played by KINJIKITILE, a man from the Matumbi area. He was the founder of the maji-maji-cult. Since June/July 1904 he was acknowledged as a prophet in his region.His followers believed in the power of the maji-maji-magic, expressed in the conviction of the fighters of being protected from any harm coming from German weapons. In their believe the bullets of the enemy would be transformed into harmless water. This erroneous belief led to hundreds of casualties in hails of bullets in the course of an attack.
The reaction of the German colonial troops was disastrous. Up to the year 1907 a great number of people were sentenced to death and their houses and fields set on fire. According to approximations it appears reasonable that during the two years of war the number of victims may well have excided 100 000. Moreover, the land was stricken by a vast famine.
The brutish actions of the colonial troops also led to waves of protest in Germany, where upon the conditions of life became a bit easier for the African people. Some of the native leaders carried on with a kind of guerrilla war until July 1908. At this time the leaders finally were captured and executed.
In the state of Tanzania of today the maji-maji-uprising is valued as an important affair in the course of the creation of its own history. Julius NYERERE, the first president of united Tanzania, called the uprising an event which paved the way to national unity, ending into its final establishment in 1964. However, a number of historians think this opinion is an overestimation because the phase of unity and solidarity among the different ethnical groups lasted for about one month only at the time the uprising began.
