In the years 1905-1907, the peoples of what is now Tanzania attempted to drive out the German colonial rulers. Although the uprising - known as the Maji Maji War - failed, it was epoch-making: for the first time in history, numerous African ethnic groups with very different forms of society and economy united here. This unity endured and became the driving force behind the independence movement and thus the basis of national identity in Tanzania. The author critically analyses the causes and the course of the Maji Maji War and describes its effects and significance.
