Author: Msomi Bora

VIDEOS OF CHIEF ISIKE Isike ruled from 1885, the son of Chief Kiyungi. He was the last chief to rule Unyanyembe, an important Nyamwezi chiefdom in western Tanzania, before the German conquest. Chief Isike from Nyamwezi is said to be a great leader just like his counterpart Mirambo. By 1890 the Germans advanced further towards Tabora the western part of Tanganyika. It is located in the interior of Nyamwezi land. There, they met stiff resistance from Isike the Nyanyembe hereditary ruler. Isike was the only leader in Unyamwezi who was prepared to defend his country to the last drop of…

VIDEOS OF MAJIMAJI WAR The Majimaji War (1905–1907) was the most significant uprising mounted by Tanzanians against the German colonial rule. It was also one of the most catastrophic events in the colonial history of Africa. Between 100,000 and 300,000 people of southern Tanzania died from the war and its aftermath. Despite this acknowledged death toll, only two known Majimaji mass graves exist. The insurgents turned to magic to drive out the German colonizers and used it as a unifying force in the rebellion. A spirit medium named Kinjikitile Ngwale, who practiced Folk Islam that incorporated animist beliefs, claimed to be possessed by a…

VIDEOS OF SHAKA ZULU Shaka kaSenzangakhona (1787 – 1828), also known as Shaka Zulu was the leader of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. He was one of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu Kingdom. Shaka was born in the lunar month of uNtulikazi (July) in the year of 1787 near present-day Melmoth, KwaZulu-Natal Province. Due to persecution as a result of his illegitimacy, Shaka spent his childhood in his mother’s settlements where he was initiated into an ibutho lempi (fighting unit). In his early days, Shaka served as a warrior under the sway of Dingiswayo. Shaka further refined the ibutho system used by Dingiswayo and others and, with the Mthethwa empire’s support over the…

VIDEOS OF ADOLF HITLER Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was a German politician and leader of the Nazi Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei; NSDAP). He rose to power as the chancellor of Germany in 1933 and then as Führer in 1934. During his dictatorship from 1933 to 1945, he initiated World War II in Europe by invading Poland on 1 September 1939. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust Hitler was born in Austria then part of Austria-Hungary and was raised near Linz. He moved…

VIDEOS OF ZANZIBAR REVOLUTION The Zanzibar Revolution occurred in 1964 and led to the overthrow of the Sultan of Zanzibar and his mainly Arab government by local African revolutionaries. Zanzibar was an ethnically diverse state consisting of a number of islands off the east coast of Tanganyika which had been granted independence by Britain in 1963. In a series of parliamentary elections preceding independence, the Arab minority succeeded in retaining the hold on power it had inherited from Zanzibar’s former existence as an overseas territory of Oman. Frustrated by under-representation in Parliament despite winning 54% of the vote in the…

VIDEOS – UNION OF TANGANYIKA AND ZANZIBAR Tanganyika and Zanzibar united in 26th April, 1964. This led to the formation of The United Republic of Tanzania. Julius Kambarage Nyerere became the first President of the United Republic of Tanzania and Sheikh Abeid Karume became the First Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania and the President of Zanzibar and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council. The late Rashidi Mfaume Kawawa became the second Vice President of Tanzania and leader of Government business in the National Assembly. The unification of Tanganyika and Zanzibar in April 1964 was the first political union…

VIDEOS OF FIRST WORLD WAR World War I (WWI or WW1), also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war that lasted from 1914 to 1918. Contemporaneously described as “the war to end all wars”, it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history, with an estimated 9 million combatant deaths and 13 million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war, while resulting genocides and the related 1918 influenza pandemic…

VIDEOS OF SECOND WORLD WAR World War II (WWII or WW2), also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world’s countries including all the great powers eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from more than 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked…

Abushiri bin Salim (C) VIDEOS OF ABUSHIRI REVOLT It was led by the planter Abushiri ibn Salim al-Harthi, who gained the support by both the Arabs of the area and local Swahili tribes. Abushiri’s father was an ethnic Arab and his mother an Oromo. The rebellion soon spread all along the coast from the town of Tanga in the north to Lindi and Mikindani in the south. The representatives of the German East Africa Company were expelled or killed except for the establishments in Bagamoyo and Dar es Salaam. In February 1889, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck intervened and appointed Lieutenant Hermann Wissmann a Reichskommissar of German East Africa. Wissmann concentrated a Schutztruppe of German officers and native Askari soldiers, who, with…

VIDEOS OF TANZANIA INDEPENDENCE Following Germany’s defeat in World War One (1914-1918), Britain administered the region which it renamed as the ‘Tanganyika’ region. Following the Second World War, the Tanganyika region was placed under United Nations (UN) trusteeship, which mandated Britain with the development of the region. Various independent movements emerged around this time, including the Tanganyika Africa National Union (TANU), headed by Julius Nyerere, now the former president of Tanzania. Support for TANU grew, and by 1960, the first elections were planned for Tanganyika. On 9 December 1961, Tanganyika became an independent republic and became known from then on as…