Maji Maji Uprising (1905–1907)

AbstractThe Maji Maji Uprising is one of the best known cases of mass anti‐colonial resistance in African history. It began in the southeastern portion of German East Africa (today's Tanzania) in July 1905, and spread rapidly across southern and central regions of the colony. Maji Maji fighters had some initial successes against the German colonial army (Schutztruppe), but the Schutztruppe's turn toward scorched earth tactics and summary executions led not only to the rebels' military defeat, but also to massive famine and general devastation in the southern highland region. Maji Maji was remarkable in its geographic scope, as well as in the diversity and number of peoples who became involved in armed resistance against German colonialism. Many joined Maji Maji because of grievances against the German colonial labor regime, taxation practices, and myriad other abuses. Its scope and the perceived unity of purpose among those who fought led nationalist historians of the 1960s and 1970s to describe Maji Maji as a protonationalist moment in Tanzanian history. More recent scholarship reveals, however, that the range of participation in Maji Maji resulted from multiple local circumstances and influences.