Tanzania

The struggle

German East Africa met the Maji Maji war of 1905–07, put down with a famine that killed hundreds of thousands, before becoming a British mandate. Julius Nyerere built TANU into a disciplined national movement using Swahili as a unifying language and won independence without armed struggle on 9 December 1961. Zanzibar became independent in December 1963, and the two united as Tanzania on 26 April 1964.

One date, a longer story: Union Day, 26 April, marks the joining of Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1964.

Key people

• Julius Nyerere

  1922–1999

  Founded TANU; first president

• Kinjeketile Ngwale

  1870–1905

  Spiritual leader of the Maji Maji war

• Bibi Titi Mohamed

  1926–2000

  Mobilised women into TANU across the territory

• Abeid Karume

  1905–1972

  Led the Zanzibar revolution and the union