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Zanzibar and Tanganyika: The (Un)Making of a Union

Zanzibar and Tanganyika: The (Un)Making of a Union. Introduction: Thinking in Metaphor. Horticulture metaphor –seeds of nationalism Historical writing on Zimbabwe Cecil Rhodes and the Chimurenga of 1896, “seeds of nationalism” Anti-colonial seeds

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Zanzibar and Tanganyika: The (Un)Making of a Union

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  1. Zanzibar and Tanganyika:The (Un)Making of a Union

  2. Introduction: Thinking in Metaphor • Horticulture metaphor –seeds of nationalism • Historical writing on Zimbabwe • Cecil Rhodes and the Chimurengaof 1896, “seeds of nationalism” • Anti-colonial seeds • 1930s – “seeds put down roots” – economic conditions • Post-WWII – growing discontent, “flowering” • “Second Chimurenga” of the 1970s v. Ian Smith • 1978, end of colonialism – “fruits of independence”

  3. Introduction: Thinking in Metaphor • Horticulture metaphor –seeds of nationalism • Misleading: • Believe nationalism sprung from resistance of 1890s • Zimbabwe – legitimating for Robert Mugabe – power resides in people of 1890s • 1950s/1960s – school of historians – “roots of nationalism” • Simplicity attractive – story much more complex • Complexity and post-independence Africa

  4. East Africa and Zanzibar • Zanzibar and colonial rule in E. African context • Germany – mainland of Tanganyika (until WWI) • British Protectorate (1890) – Zanzibar and 6 mile coastal strip • British/German trade for islands in the Baltic Sea • British colonial rule in Zanzibar • Economically viable – agricultural production and taxation • Politically – Busaidi Sultanate (like Kabaka, Uganda) • Bombardment of Stone Town (August, 1896), succession crisis • Destruction of Beit al-Sahel and Beit al-Hukm • Shortest war in history, 38 minutes

  5. East Africa and Zanzibar • British colonial rule • “Divide and Rule” • Colonial Institutions – categories of race and ethnicity codified • Executive Council – Arab and Asian representation • Legal codes and African customary law • Historic fluidity now reified

  6. East Africa and Zanzibar • British colonial rule • Economy and free market principles • Arab Indebtedness to Asian lenders. Threat of insolvency and fear of agricultural collapse • British agricultural subsidies failed. • Marketing Board – Clove Growers Association (CGA) in 1928 – controlled prices and export (1937) • Protection of Arab landlords at expense of Asians. Forbid Asian land ownership of plantations • Boycotts in India on demand side • 1938 – “Heads of Agreement” – guaranteeing export to Asians, but prices remained fixed • NOT a free market – interference of state in economy, put another way, economy embedded in institutions

  7. Growth of Anti-colonial Politics • World War II – Turning Point • Fighting in Southeast Asia • African conscriptions, self-determination and British invincibility • East African Politics • Kenya – Violence and Mau Mau • Settler Society • Anti-colonial and Civil War • Tanzania – Comparatively Peaceful

  8. Mainland Tanzania • Julius KambarageNyerere and TANU • Studied at Makerere University and University of Edinburgh; devout Catholic • Founded Tanganyika African Association (TAA) in 1929 – civic organization for civil servants • 1954 – transforms into the politically oriented Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) • Demand of national sovereignty • Registration, leading political organization • British ultimatum – school teacher or politician • Oratory skills – speech to United Nations • First elections 1958-59 – entered LegCo; 1960 chief minister • Tanzanian independence, Dec. 9, 1961 – Prime Minister

  9. Zanzibar • Trade Unions – 1948 – dockworkers protest British and Arab domination • Influenced by strikes in Mombasa and Dar • Spreads in Stone Town – Government and domestic servants, ex-slaves, migrants, indigenous Zanzibari population • 1958 – Spreads to rural areas – formation of Zanzibar Nationalist Party (ZNP) • Planters, Arab minority, formed out of Arab Association of the 1920s • 1957 Elections • Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP) • Formed with African Association and Shirazi Association • Shirazi identity – challenge Arab hegemony • “The trees are yours, the land is ours” • Cooper – Class consciousness

  10. Zanzibar • Increasingly rigged elections (1959/1961) – Increasingly acrimonious political party conflict • ZNP minority – disproportionate representation • 1961 election riot – Stone Town, spread to rural areas 68 dead, 381 injured • Assaults at polling stations, groups targeting Arabs, settling of old scores • June 1963 vote – British introduce limited self-government • ASP lost, despite winning 54% of the vote (gerrymandering) • December 10, 1963 – Sultanate of Zanzibar established

  11. Zanzibar Revolution • John Okello – • Similar to Clement Khadalie in South Africa • Born in Uganda, orphaned • Peripatetic life – moved to Kenya, unskilled jobs – gardener, house servant, office clerk, laborer • 1959 – travels to Pemba for work (cloves) • Joins ASP, begins amassing following • Message from God to unite the struggle and overthrow oppressors in Zanzibar • Moves to Unguja – joins trade union – builds mass following • Not a major player in ASP, nor close to its head, AbeidAmaniKarume

  12. Zanzibar Revolution • January 11th, 1964 - Revolution • ASP – Committee of Fourteen plans revolution • Karume tries to warn British police, not taken seriously • “Field Marshall” Okello leads some 600 supporters • Some 12,000 Arabs and Indians killed • Arabs and Indians flee, together with their capital • Zanzibar’s last Sultan, Jamshidibn Abdullah, flees to Britain in exile • Creation of new Zanzibar Government • Okello lacked support • Karume made himself President of the People’s Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba

  13. Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar • Aftermath of Zanzibar Revolution • Nyerere fear of destabilization. Himself survived an army mutiny • Act of Union – provide Nyerere power to intervene unilaterally • Karume – economic devastation of Revolution; lack of foreign aid for leftist organization – Union his only option • April 26, 1964 – United Republic of Tanzania • Nyerere – President • Karume – one of two Vice Presidents • Okello – barred from returning from mainland to Zanzibar

  14. United Republic of Tanzania • National Assembly • 343 seats, 50 for Zanzibar • Union matters – foreign affairs, taxation, education • Laws passed applicable to Zanzibar on Union matters – increasing number of Union matters defined by fiat • Legal system • Five-level judiciary • Combination of English common law, African customary law, and Islamic law • Zanzibar House of Representatives • 76 members – jurisdiction over all non-Union issues • “Semi-autonomous” government – unique • Islamic courts still govern many matters

  15. Arusha Declaration • February 1967 – Socialist economic program/African socialism. One-party state, no ethnic organizations. Ally with China in Sino-Soviet rivalry/TANZAM railway. • “Ujamaa” – “Familyhood” • Collectivization, or villagization, as country’s agricultural policy • 1970s – Forcible transfers into collective farms. By 1977, 80% of population uprooted • Food denial to those who resisted • Abandonment of crops and structures • Food production plummeted – once one of largest producers now one of largest recipients of food aid • Ujamaa villages – 90% population, 5% of production • Nationalization • Banks, retail, import-export • Corruption and repression extreme – “Wabenzi”

  16. Zanzibar after Union • Divisions, including pro-government Unguja and pro-opposition Pemba • Karume • Economic ruin similar to mainland • Paranoid and dictatorial – mass deportations of Asians and remaining Arabs • April 1972 – assassinated • Creation of Chama Cha Mapinduzi – CCM (Revolutionary Party) – February 1977 • AboudJumbe – successor to Karume • Merger of Zanzibar’s ASP with Mainland’s TANU

  17. End of African Socialism • 1980s – Tanzania in economic ruin • IMF and World Bank impose structural adjustment • Nyerere forced to step down; Ali Hassan Mwinyi handpicked successor • Forced privatization of industries • Nyerere – left Tanzania one of poorest, least developed, and most dependent on foreign aid • “Father of the Nation” • End of one-party system – first multiple party elections in 1995 – Mkapa to power, followed by Kikwete • Zanzibar – Continued fraught politics and violence • Police brutality, arbitrary arrests, “treason trial” • 2000 Elections – 26 demonstrators killed, brought Karume

  18. Conclusion • Hardening of ethnic and racial categories under British colonial rule • Creation of institutions and structures, both political and economic, to facilitate preferential access to state and wealth • Tensions created and heightened in colonial period gifted to independent government • African nationalism not a neat, heroic story • Nyerere and African socialism • Failure economically, but… • High literacy rates • African conceptions of modernity • Contemporary culture

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