UNIVERSITY OF ESWATINI

FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

STUDENTS NAME: SINENKHOSI F KUNENE

DATE: 25 AUGUST 2021

QUESTION: CRITICALLY EXAMINE THE ROLE CARL PETERS PLAYED IN THE

Before 1884, German interest in this area was limited. The idea of conquest came from an

individual known as Carl Peters. He was a German explorer, ruler, politician and he was known

to be the founder of the German colony of East Africa. This essay intends to critically examine

the role of Carl Peters in the colonization of Tanganyika.

It is imperative to note that Peters was one of the leading lights in the Society for German

Colonization. German involvement in Tanganyika began with personal ambitions of a man

called Carl Peters who in 1884 established the Society for German Colonization.1 This was an

independent body created after the German government failure to acquire colonies. In as much as

it was seen as propagandist, it served a huge role of reporting the colonial life and the colonial

agenda to residents of Germany. This society was credited for the popularization of colonialism

in German. Moreover, its goal was also to accumulate capital for the acquisition of German

colonial territories in the overseas countries 2. With inadequate private funding the society

embarked on its first expedition into the Tanganyikan interior

Carl Peters visited East Africa late in 1884 and obtained ‘treaties’ over land on which Germans

could settle.3 He and his companions arrived in Zanzibar in November 1884 disguised as

mechanics and they crossed to the mainland, obtained treaties with “chiefs” in the interior before

returning to Berlin in February 1885.4 He travelled and persuaded both the Arabs and African

chiefs to sign away exclusive rights to land and trade route. These treaties were of great

significance in Peters colonial expedition because they offered the Africans “territory with all its

1 L.H. Gann, The rulers of German Africa, 1884-1914 (Stanford: Stanford university press, 1977), p. 11.
2 Ibid. p12.
3 John Ilife, Tanganyika under German rule 1905-1912 (New York: Cambridge University press, 1969), p 11.
4 Robert Maxon, East Africa, an introductory history (West Virginia: West Virginia press, 2009), p 133.
civil and public privileges to Peters Carl”5. This basically meant that they were giving away their

large areas of land and rights to the German colonialist.

An example of one treaty signed by Africans was one known as the “ treaty of eternal

friendship” of 29 November 1884 signed between Germany and Sultan Mangungu 6. Worth

noting is that these treaties were attained through trickery in the sense that most historians agree

that Mangungu had no idea that through signing such treaty, Peter would turn the territory into

part of Germany7. Moreover, this was also the case with Khalifa who was not fully aware of that

the treaty he had signed with Peters had granted the company virtually all administrative powers

on the coast. It is estimated that Within a period of three weeks, Carl Peters and his companions

had managed to collect twelve "treaties" covering 140,000 kilometers of African territory 8.

Within a month, Bismarck’s government had made these treaties the basis of a German

protectorate, the administration of which was to be entrusted to Peters’s society. This German

action brought to an end the British policy of dominating East Africa through her influence over

Zanzibar.9

After securing the treaties, Carl Peters left for Germany in 1885, and he was able to convince

Bismarck to recognize the treaties that he had made the rulers to sign. In actual sense, Peters was

able to convince Bismarck and his government to accept the idea of acquiring colonies in East

Africa. What came after that was the granting of a Protectorate over the area inland of Sadani in

5 Chris. McIntyre, Zanzibar: Pemba (Guilford: The globe Pequot Press, 1993).pg22.
6 Woodruff D. Smith, “The Ideology of German Colonialism, 1840-1906” The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 46, No.
4 (Dec., 1974), pp. 641-662.
7 Jonathan. Glassman, Feast and Riot: Revelry, Rebellion, and popular consensus on the Swahilli Coast, 1856-1888

(Portsmouth: Heinemann, 1995), p 200.

October 1884 and this consecutively led to German acquiring a number of areas as sphere of

influence11. It is because of this then that Peters organized the German East African Company as

Advised by Bismarck to rule his Protectorate.

At the Conference, which was convened by Bismarck, the African continent was effectively

divided, at least on paper, amongst the various European powers 12. Immediately following the

Conference, Bismarck granted Peters' organization (now the German East African Company, or

DOAG) an imperial protectionary charter. This therefore meant that Germany had now formally

joined the Scramble for Africa.

In 1888, he forced the Sultan of Zanzibar to grant him the right to govern the coast. The German

government assisted Peters, but did not want the responsibility itself. However, the government

was compelled to intervene when the coastal people resisted in 1888, in what was called the ‘the

Arab revolt’13, a rebellion of slave traders in a bid to save their economic position in the coast.

This was partly true, but the movement was really a popular resistance by the coastal peoples to

foreign rule, just as they had resisted Portuguese and Arabs before.

The resistance began in Pangani in August 1888 and quickly spread along the whole coast. On 1

January 1891, the German government replaced the Company as ruler of German East Africa.

African resistance forced the German government to replace the Company. It would be wrong to

think that the European occupation of East Africa was easy, that the Europeans had complete

military superiority, or that Africans did show some sort of resistance against foreign rule.

10 P. Freeman-Grenville, The medieval history of the coast of Tanganyika (London, Macmillan, 1962), p. 205.
11 John. Ilife, Tanganyika under German rule 1905-1912 (New York: Cambridge University press, 1969), p 22.
12 Ibid.p22.
13 Ibid. p 23.
Moreover, Peters was able to open up administration stations in East Africa. Such administrative

stations were essential because they later provided a base for German colonial administration.14

These administration stations were found in Ulunguru, Usagara, and Uvinza. Also, Carl ensured

that other rivals were put off such that Germany would have to competition over its colonies 15.

For instance, Peters was able to scare off the Imperial British East African Company

(IBEACO)from securing areas for Britain.

In 1896, Carl Peters was dismissed from the colonial service on accusations of being cruel to

Africans. The German explorer Carl Peters did a number of unpleasant deeds which made him

very infamous among the Africans. He killed Some of the natives and some of their villages

were burned 16. He also launched bloody surprise attack against tribes with whom he’d made a

peace treaty with. Peter’s “discipline” was so brutal that in 1897, after being assigned imperial

commissioner in German East Africa, his own colonial administration brought him to trial and

temporarily dismissed him from office17.

In conclusion the above essay has critically examined the role of Carl Peters, he was one of the

leading lights in the society for German colonization. He established The Society for German

Colonization. He also visited East Africa late in 1884 and obtained ‘treaties’ over land on which

Germans could settle. After getting the treaties to be signed he left for Germany in 1885 and he

was able to convince Bismarck to recognize the treaties that he had made the rulers to sign.

Moreover, he was able to open up administration stations in East Africa. However, in 1896 Carl

Peters was dismissed from the colonial service on accusations of being cruel to the Africans.

14 Bradley. Narach, German colonialism in a global age (London: Duke university press, 2014), p 97.
15 Ibid.p 19.
16 John Gray and Carl Peters, “Anglo-German Relations in Uganda, 1890-1892”, The Journal of African History1960,

Vol. 1, No. 2 (1960), pp. 281-297.

(Philadelphia: Chelsea house publishers, 2002), p 43.

Gann, H. The rulers of German Africa, 1884-1914. Stanford: Stanford university press. 1977.

Glassman, Jonathan. Feast and Riot: Revelry, Rebellion, and popular consensus on the Swahilli
Coast, 1856-1888. Portsmouth: Heinemann. 1995.

Harmon, Daniel. Exploration of Africa: The emerging nations central and East Africa 1880 to
the present Philadelphia: Chelsea house publishers.2002.

Ilife, John. Tanganyika under German rule 1905-1912. New York: Cambridge University press.
1969.

Maxon, Robert. East Africa, an introductory history. West Virginia: West Virginia press.2009.

McIntyre, Chris. Zanzibar: Pemba. Guilford: The globe Pequot Press, 1993.

Narach, Bradley. German colonialism in a global age. London: Duke university press.2014.
Smith, Woodruff. “The Ideology of German Colonialism, 1840-1906” The Journal of Modern
History, Vol. 46, No. 4 (Dec., 1974), pp. 641-662.

Good attempt

7.8/10.0