| 1884 | November 4 | Karl Peters, Joachim Graf von Pfeil and Doctor Juhlke, agents of the Deutsch Kolonialgeschellschaft (German Colonization Society), arrive in Zanizbar disguised as mechanics on a passenger steamer. The trio plans land on the mainland opposite Zanzibar and conclude treaties placing the local tribes under German protection. The German Government officially disapproves of their undertaking but German residents of Zanzibar provide encouragement. |
| November 8 | Peters, von Pfeil and Juhlke land at Mbuzini armed with a supply of German flags and blank treaty forms. A treaty is signed with the Chief of Usambara placing him under German protection. The flag is hoisted and Usambara is declared to be independent of Zanzibar. |
| November | The German agents push up the Wami as far as the Usagara country and continue to conclude treaties of protection with the native tribes. |
| December | Karl Peters returns to the coast with documents which he claims concede nearly 100,000 sq. km. to the Deutsch Kolonialgeschellschaft (German Colonization Society). |
| 1885 | February 17 | Kaiser Wilhelm II grants a charter of protection to the Deutsch Kolonialgeschellschaft (German Colonization Society) accepting suzerainty over the newly acquired territories and placing them, “under our Imperial protection”. |
| March 6 | The British Government and the Sultan of Zanzibar are officially notified of the German actions in East Africa. Sultan Seyyid Bargash wires a protest to Berlin declaring that the lands in question have belonged to Zanzibar since the time of his fathers. The German Consul rejects Zanzibar’s protest and the Sultan dispatches a small force to the disputed territory which he subsequently withdraws. May |
| | The Sultan of Zanzibar sends an expedition under the command of General Lloyd Mathews, the commander-in-chief of the Zanzibar army, to the Kilimanjaro district, in to forestall further treaty making by German agents. |
| May 6 | The Sultan of Witu, a small territory situated north of the Tana River, executes a deed of sale and cession by which German subjects acquire rights on the coast-line claimed by the sultan. |
| May 25 | British Foreign Secretary Lord Granville directs the British ambassador to Berlin to inform the German Government that, “the supposition that Her Majesty's Government have no intention of opposing the German scheme of colonization in the neighbourhood of Zanzibar is absolutely correct.” |
| August | A German naval squadron appears off the coast of Zanzibar. |
| August 14 | The Sultan of Zanzibar agrees to recognize the German protectorate over Usagara and Witu as well as the validity of earlier treaties with the East African chiefs. |
| 1886 | June | A joint commission established by Great Britain, Germany and France, " for the purpose of inquiring into the claims of the sultans of Zanzibar to sovereignty over certain territories on the east coast of Africa, of the and of ascertaining their precise limits" recognizes the sultan’s claims to the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba, Lamu, Mafia and a 10 mile wide strip of the East African coast stretching 600 miles between the south bank of the Minengani River and the mouth of the Tana River. |
| November | Great Britain and Germany accept the findings of the International Joint Commission on Zanzibar. |
| December 4 | The Sultan of Zanzibar accepts the report of the International Joint Commission. |
| December 30 | Germany and Great Britain define the border between their East African spheres of influence between the mouth of the Tana River and Lake Victoria. |
| 1887 | March | The Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft (German East African Company) is incorporated under Imperial charter. |
| 1888 | April 28 | Sultan Khalifa of Zanzibar grants a lease on his mainland possessions to the Deutsch- Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft (German East African Company). |
| August 16 | The Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft (German East African Company) begins administration of its leases. |
| August 21 | Arab traders on the East African coast revolt against the rule of the German East Africa Company. The Company is unable to suppress the rebellion. Chancellor Bismarck dispatches a naval squadron and detachment of troops under the command of Major Hermann von Wissmann. |
| 1889 | February 8 | Major Hermann von Wissmann is appointed Commissioner of German East Africa. |
| During the Year | Major von Wissman’s detachment (for the most part Sudanese troops under German officers) crushes the Arab rebellion. 1890 |
| July 1 | Great Britain and Germany sign an accord defining their spheres of influence in East Africa. Great Britain abandons plans to link its possessions from the “Cape to Cairo” and agrees to recognize German East Africa’s boundary with the Congo Free State in return for German recognition of a British protectorate over Zanzibar. |
| October 28 | The sultan of Zanzibar cedes all sovereignty over the mainland territories leased to the Deutsch- Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft to the German Empire in return for a compensatory payment of 4 million marks (£200,000). |
| 1891 | January 1 | German East Africa is declared a protectorate of the Reich (Schutzgebiet Deutsch-Ostafrika). |
| February 14 | Julius Freiherr von Soden appointed Governor of German East Africa. |
| During the Year | Wahehe tribesmen ambush and nearly annihilate a German military force of 350 men under Baror von Zelewski. |
| 1892 | | Karl Peters, now district administrator in the Kilimanjaro region, resorts to harsh methods including the execution of women to maintain his authority over the natives. |
| 1894 | September 1 | Portugal cedes the Kionga triangle, a small district south of the Ruvuma River to German East Africa. |
| 1895 | | Elephant tusks account for nearly half of the protectorates export earnings. |
| 1896 | | Karl Peters is condemned by a disciplinary court for a misuse of official power and stripped of his commission. |
| 1901 | March 12 | Gustav Adolf Graf von Götzen is appointed Governor of German East Africa. Count von Götzen adopts a policy of maintaining the authority of native rulers but since most of the natives have no political organization the burdens of administration rest with the German authorities. |
| 1903 | | German East Africa’s exports triple to nearly 2 million marks during the year. Rubber (caoutchouc) led the list of exports at 750,000 marks followed by sisal hemp, coffee, ores and minerals. |
| | Traders complain about the affect of the Uganda Railroad on German East Africa’s commerce. |
| | Plantation owners experiment with cotton cultivation. The Government enacts regulations to protect the crop. Importation of American cotton seed is banned to prevent importation of parasites. Cotton seed may only be imported Tanga and has to be immediately examined by the biological-agricultural institute at Amani. Plantations found to be infested with cotton beetle will be burnt over and cotton cultivation will be banned in such districts for the next 20 years. |
| 1904 | January 1 | The European population of the protectorate numbers 1437. |
| June 16 | Reichstag approves construction of a 225 km railway linking Dar-es-salaam and Morogoro. The Reich guarantees the newly formed East African Railway Company 3 % annual interest on their capital of 22 million marks and warrants to pay 20 % over face value for shares sold to be amortized over 87 years. Morogoro should be reached within three years. |
| August 3 - 4 | The first agricultural exhibition is staged in Dar-es-salaam. The exhibition attracts about 500 Europeans from throughout the colony, Zanizbar and British East Africa as well as thousands of Arabs and Indians. The exhibits illustrate the diversity of German East Africa’s products; grain, vegetables, oil plant fruits, coffee, vanilla, pepper etc., industrial plants (cotton, caoutchouc, kapoc), useful minerals, cattle, animal products in addition to manufactures. |
| During the Year | The Deutsch-Afrikanische Bank is established In order to regulate currency and to stabilize the value of the rupee in the protectorate. The Bank is authorized to issue banknotes. |
| | The Indian rupee is the preferred medium of exchange in the protectorate’s commerce an estimated 5 to 6 million are in circulation. The Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft introduces the German silver rupee. The company has 3 ½ million rupees minted in silver coins of 2, 1, ½ and ¼ rupee denominations, as well as, copper 1 heller and ½ heller coins. |
| | Service on the Usambara Railway’s 84 km line from Tanga to Korogwe continued without interruption. A reduction in rates has encouraged establishment of sisal agave plantations and hemp factories along the right of way. Construction of the route has reached Mombo at the western foot of the Usambara Mountains. The protectorate’s budget includes a one time allocation for road construction. The construction cost of all weather roads ranges from 7,000 to 10,000 marks per kilometer. Only the 60 km road from Dar-es-salaam to Morogoro and a few short streets around the ports are passable by wagon. The Governor, Count von Götzen, suggests that because of the natives’ poor skills as teamsters and the threat of infectious animal diseases all roads in the protectorate should be designed and constructed with automobile traffic in mind. |
| | Caoutchouc (rubber tree) plantations are established in an attempt to maintain production levels as the harvest from wild stands of rubber trees diminishes. |
| | Acreage under cotton cultivation increases fivefold. Considerable numbers of natives are reportedly taking up cotton farming in the Tanga and Wilhelmstal districts. |
| 1905 | January 1 | The European population of German East Africa has increased by 30% to 1,873 during the preceding year. Germans number 1,324 followed by 110 Greeks, 83 South African Afrikaners, 78 Frenchmen, 67 Englishmen and 60 Italians. |
| February 9 | Prince Adalbert of Prussia presides at groundbreaking ceremonies for construction of the Morogoro railway. |
| February 19 | Prince Adalbert of Prussia attends the opening of Usambara Railroad’s extended route to Malinde. The 129 km line opens the Schume forest to exploitation. |
| July | German restrictions on the native population including forced labor on plantations spark widespread uprisings centered in the region between Nyasa and the coastal settlements of Kilwa and Lindi. Matumbi tribesmen burn several homes belonging to East Indians in the coastal village of Ssamanga. Several settlers and a Catholic bishop along with a party of four missionaries are killed near Kilwa. Wangoni tribesmen wrest control of the countryside around Nyasa. The Governor dispatches two companies of Schutztruppe to quell the uprising but the rebellion spreads further south. Governor von Götzen calls for reinforcements. SMS Bussard cruising off the African coast is sent to join the cruisers SMS Seeadler and SMS Thetis at Dar-es-salaam and a company from the sea battalion is dispatched from Germany. The uprising does not reach the scale feared by the authorities and subsides during the later part of the year. |
| During the Year | Somalis and New Guineans are recruited to fill the ranks of the black Schutztruppe in East Africa but the Reichstag rejects a plan to enlist Togolese and Cameroonians. |
| | Cranes are installed at the port of Dar-es-salaam to permit quicker offloading of railcars, locomotives and wagons from ocean steamers. |
| | The amount of ivory tusk collect continues to decline with the elephant population but the value of ivory exports increases due to high market prices. |
| | Beeswax exports total 1.25 million marks. Hive keepers find it necessary to teach the native labor improved gathering methods as the Africans are destroying the bees while gathering the wax. |
| | Plant fiber production increases by over 200%. Sisal plantations at Kikogwe and Buschirihof double their harvest despite a serious labor shortage. Fiber exports top 750,000 marks. |
| | The Deutsch-Afrikanische Eisenbahngesellschaft completes route surveys for the first 100 km of the southern railway line. |
| 1906 | March | The native uprising is quelled in the coastal regions and has not been joined by the Wahehe, Unyamwesi and Ussukuma tribes as authorities once feared. |
| April 15 | Georg Albrecht Freiherr von Rechenberg is appointed Governor of German East Africa. |
| July | The native rebellion ends with a crushing defeat of the Wangoni near Nyasa. German authorities report that the war has left at least 120,000 dead. A large number of Arabs and East Indians have left the protectorate to escape the rebellion. The Wassukuma and Wanyamwesi laborers journey from their homelands on Lake Victoria to the plantations on the coast in smaller numbers. The labor shortage is worse in the northern plantation districts. Attempts are made to hire workers from the interior and bring them to Usambara. Famine fears grow the colony. |
| During the Year | Construction of the Dar-es-salaam - Morogoro railroad is delayed by extraordinarily high precipitation and a labor shortage. The project employs 4000 workers on average but only 32 km of the route have opened for traffic. |
| | Caoutchouc (rubber) continues as the leading source of the colony’s export income with sales of 2.25 million marks. Unrestricted and destructive exploitation of wild trees continues as only a small fraction of East Africa’s rubber is produced by plantations. |
| | Cultivation of sisal hemp is remarkably successful despite the labor shortage. Exports of the fiber increase 35% to 1.1 million marks. |
| | Prospecting is beginning to payoff. A number of quartz stamping mills are extracting gold from concessions in the northern districts of Irrangi, Usindja and Kissama. Three entrepreneurs have extracted 60,000 kg of mica from 21 claims in the Uluguru Mountains. Reported discoveries of uranium bearing pitchblend deposits are verified and the Mlagarassi saltworks resumes operations after suffering flood damage. |
| 1907 | January 1 | The European population numbers 2629, a 7% increase over the previous year. A 25% drop in the number of children is attributed to emigration by large families of Trek Boers from the Moschi district to neighboring British East Africa. The native population is estimated to be 9 to 10 million and is reportedly in decline. It is believed that as many as 75,000 native men have died during the preceding year from war, famine or disease. |
| August | The undersecretary of state for colonial affairs, Herr Dernburg, arrives for a two month tour of German East Africa and the neighboring British colonies of East Africa and Zanzibar. |
| October 9 | Colonial undersecretary Dernburg presides over the opening of the newly completed 220 km Dar-es-salaam – Morogoro Railway. During the Year |
| | Export earnings drop 1.1 million marks over all. Caoutchouc (rubber) exports drop by weight and value. Ivory exports increase by 70,000 marks to just under 300,000 marks. |
| 1908 | January 1 | The European population of German East Africa has increased by 8% during the preceding year to 2845. The 224 independent settlers who arrived in the colony are evenly divided between Germans and other Europeans. |
| February 18 | Colonial undersecretary Dernburg outlines the Government’s policy towards the native population in German East Africa in testimony before the budget committee of the Reichstag. "In East Africa, we must - and this is the basis of our authority - keep everything together by the respect the administration enjoys, by the severity with which it acts against any insubordination, by the technical support of the railways, which, as you know, still provide an imperfect service, and by the confidence it enjoys from the side of the blacks. We must introduce and keep up an energetic, just, trustworthy administration, and we have to teach the people that they gain an advantage from German rule. It is very difficult to make them understand this, because the advantages they had, so far, have been small in proportion, compared to the disadvantages the German administration has imposed on them, according to their own perception, concerning the alteration of their traditions, taxation, controls etc." During the Year |
| | Exports of coffee and sisal hemp increase. |
| | Caoutchouc (rubber) exports suffer from low world market. |
| | Cattle herders on Lake Victoria are damaged by outbreaks of coastal and Texas fevers and a sharp drop in prices for fur and hides on the American market. |
| | A hut tax of 4 marks per dwelling and head produces revenues of 2,854,000 marks for the colony’s treasury. The Colonial undersecretary, Herr von Lindequist, tours the highlands of German East Africa to study their potential for settlement. He pronounces them suitable provided that an extension of the Usambara Railway is constructed into the regions around the Kilimandjaro and Meru. |
| 1909 | January 1 | The European population numbers 3,387. The 16% increase during the preceding year is attributed to a resumption of railroad construction. |
| April | A smallpox epidemic breaks out in the Kondoa and Irangi districts despite the inoculation of 892,842 native during the preceding year. The pox strikes 1114 victims of who 376 die. |
| During the Year | An epidemic of African sleeping sickness breaks out among the natives and a few Europeans in the hinterlands around Lake Victoria and spreads to the settlements on Lake Tanganyika. Combating the disease is made difficult by the refusal of the natives to accept quarantine. |
| | Measures are taken to prevent an outbreak of plague. 27,000 rats are exterminated in coastal settlements. |
| | A scientific expedition reports the discovery of a gigantic deposit of dinosaur fossils near Lindi. |
| | Ivory exports increase to 47.9 tons valued at 960,085 marks. Beeswax exports also increase while those of caoutchouc (rubber) and cotton continue in decline. |
| | Cotton has become a medium of exchange on a par with cash and cattle for the natives. Europeans are encouraging its cultivation with advance payment to native farmers. The Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei (cotton mill) in Sadani extends advances totaling 10,000 Rupees. |
| 1910 | January 1 | The European population numbers 3,756 of whom 2,703 are Germans followed by 306 British colonials (mostly South Africans). They are by occupation: 566 farmers and planters, 402 missionaries, 322 administrators, military officers 198 and assorted traders, barkeepers and freight drivers 285. The African population has been increased by the immigration of 30,000 laborers from Mozambique. The number of resident East Indians has reached a record high 6,748. |
| During the Year | A punitive expedition is dispatched to Ruanda following the murder of missionary Father Loupias by chief Lukarra. |
| | The Eastern & South African Telegraph Company cable connects the stations at Dar-es-Salaam and Bagamojo to the outside world. Telegraph stations are operating in 17 of German East Africa ’s 39 post offices. Plantations in the Pangani basin begin cultivating sugar cane. |
| 1911 | | Rubber production increases 61% to 684 tons but poor markets limit the increase in its export value to just over 1%. Rubber is the leading source of export earnings for the colony bringing in 3,610,000 marks. |
| | The cattle industry around Lake Victoria recovers after several years of poor market prices and diseases among the herd. Hides are German East Africa’s second most valuable export followed by copra, beeswax, rubber and peanuts. 1912 |
| April 22 | Albert Heinrich Schnee is appointed Governor of German East Africa. The outgoing Governor, Georg Albrecht Freiherr von Rechenberg, was criticized in some quarters as favoring the natives at the expense of European settlers. Colonial undersecretary Wilhelm outlined the Government’s view of the matter during a visit to Dar-es-Salaam he told an audience, "some of you believe the opening of Africa can only proceed via the indigenes and trade with them; some would not like to see white planters in East Africa. This is not the government's standpoint. South West Africa, for instance, is not regarded as a livestock raising country only. What I have said in Morogoro a while ago, I want to repeat here: indigenous cultures can coexist next to plantations quite well. It is very well possible to do the one and not neglect the other. This land is big and wide enough for both. Let the indigenes take care of their cultures. On the other hand the government will not forget that we have, in East Africa, a German colony." |
| During the Year | Head counts and surveys estimate the colony’s non-white population at under 7,500,000. It was previously estimated to be about 10,000,000. The colony’s foreign born non-white population is a cosmopolitan mix of 15,000 Arabs, Baluchis, Hadramaut men, Egyptians, Syrians, Somalis, Sudanese, Comorans, Indians (Muslims, Hindus, Parsee), Malays, Chinese, Persians, Madagascarians and the ethnically mixed descendants of these. Systematic vaccination against the sleeping sickness appears to be a success. A hospice for infected at Lake Victoria is closed down and the endangered population is resettled elsewhere. At Lake Tanganyika the situation is somewhat different but here also the steps taken to fight the disease seem to be progressing satisfactorily. |
| | A veterinary service is organized to combat an outbreak of cattle plague. |
| | A school for native cotton farmers is established in Mpanganja. Cotton cultivation is still in an experimental phase and encompasses only 14,000 ha. The crop suffers from soil parasites and diseases and quickly exhausts the soil. |
| 1913 | January 1 | The European population numbers 5,333 up 9% from the preceding year. the Indian population in the colony. |
| | The East Indian population numbers slightly less than 9,000. An official report comments, "This relatively low number, compared with a total population of 7.5 million proves that frequent complaints that German East Africa will be flooded with Indians, are in no way founded. The Muslimic Indians in part are Meman (Sunnites of the Hamitic branch), in part Thenaschiri (Persian National religion Shi'ites), in part Kodja Ismaili (extreme, Shi'ites, still to be counted to the Muslims), in part Bohoro (Shi'ites, Mustalites). The pagan Indians are Hindu, Buddhists, Sikhs, animists and others. The Jewish Indians (almost all, craftsmen) belong to the Ban Israel from Bombay, the former warlike wild Jews of Afghanistan.” |
| During the Year | Smallpox vaccinations are given to 750,000 natives. |
| | Plague appears at Kilimanjaro but is contained by extermination of rats. Plague fighting expeditions kill more than 100,000 rats near Muansa, Kilimanjaro and a few coastal settlements. |
| 1914 | August 4 | German authoritiess in Dar-es-salaam receive official notification of Britain’s declaration of war. |
| August 8 | British cruisers shell the transmission tower of Dar-es-salaam’s wireless station. |
| August 13 | British troops capture the steamer Hermann von Wißmann which is beached on the shore of Lake Nyasa for repairs. The Captain and crew who were unaware of the state of war are taken prisoner. |
| August 17 | HMS Pegasus captures German merchant ships in the port of Tanga. |
| August 23 | HMS Pegasus bombards the town of Bagamoyo. |
| September 20 | The German cruiser Königsberg sinks HMS Pegasus off Zanzibar before withdrawing into the Rufiji estuary. |
| | November 2 – 5 British attack on Tanga repulsed with a loss of 795 killed in action. |
| 1915 | January | British forces capture Mafia Island at the mouth of the Rufiji and bottle up the cruiser Königsberg. |
| March 6 | The British gunboat Winifred destroys the only armed German boat on Lake Victoria. |
| July 11 | German forces scuttle the badly damaged cruiser Königsberg after removing the ships guns for use as ground artillery. |
| 1916 | February 19 | South African General Jan Christian Smuts takes command of British forces in East Africa. General Smuts finds the Germans still entrenched in British East Africa behind the Lumi River with their centre on Taveta, southwest of Mount Kilimanjaro, and their right on Lake Jipe. A British column under General Stewart is at Longido 50 miles to the northwest attempting a flanking movement around the western slope of Kilimajaro towards the German rear. |
| March 7 | General Smuts’ force crosses the Lumi River ten miles north of Taveta. |
| March 9 | General Smuts’ column forces the Germans from Salaita. |
| March 10 | German forces move towards the Rovuma River on the Mozambique border after Germany declares war on Portugal. |
| March 11 | Von Lettow-Vorbeck withdraws to the Ruvu River near Kahe following skirmishes in the Kivoto Mountains. |
| March 13 | A British column under General van Deventer captures the railhead at Moshi where they are soon joined by General Stewart's column from Longido. |
| March 19 | British forces drive German troops from position on the Latema-Reata Nek after fierce fighting. |
| March 21 | General van Deventer’s column forces von Lettow-Vorbeck to retreat from the Ruwu. The British capture Arusha and complete their occupation of the Kilimanjaro district. |
| March 28 | General Smuts moves 2 divisions against von Lettow-Vorbeck’s position between Taveta and Rombo. The Germans are forced to withdraw to the Kivoto Mountains. |
| April | Belgian troops enter the German East African district of Ruanda from Uganda. |
| April | General Smuts begins a march to the sea along the Usambara railway. General van Deventer’s column is detached to proceed in a southwesterly direction at right angles to Smuts line of advance. |
| April 19 | General van Deventer’s column seizes Kondoa Irangi after continuous skirmishes that cost most of their pack animals. May 6 |
| | Belgian troops capture Kigali, the capital of Ruanda. |
| May 9-11 | Van Deventer repulses a von Lettow-Vorbeck’s counter-attack on Kondoa Irangi. |
| May | An independent British column, under General Northey, enters German East Africa from Rhodesia and Nyasaland. |
| June 8 | Belgian forces under General Tombeur capture Usumbaru at the head of Lake Tanganyika and begin moving towards the British column advancing from Lake Victoria. |
| June 8 | A Rhodesian column under General Northey captures Langenburg and Bismarcksburg at the foot of Lake Tanganyika and finish clearing German forces from the western frontier between Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa. |
| June 24 | General van Deventer’s column moves south, captures Dodoma on the Central Railway and begins to push the Germans east towards Mpapwa and west towards Kilimatinde. |
| July 7 | Tanga falls to General Smuts leaving the entire Usambara Railway in British hands. British naval and ground forces move southward in a combined assault on German East Africa's ports. |
| July 15 | Mwanza on Lake Victoria falls to the British. |
| July 29 | Belgian troops capture Ujiji and Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika. Rolling stock is ferried across the lake from Albertville in the Belgian Congo and a systematic advance along the line to Tabora begins. |
| August 1 | Pangani and Sadani fall to the British. |
| August 15 | British forces occupy Bagamoyo. |
| August 18 | General Smuts’ column moving from Lukigura fights its way across the Wami River and dislodges the Germans from the Nguru Mountains. The main body of German forces retreats to Morogoro, the provisional capital of German East Africa. A smaller force joins the resistance to van Deventer’s column at Kilossa. |
| August 22 | General van Deventer’s column captures Kilossa and links up with the main British force moving from Lukigura. August 26 |
| | British troops capture Morogoro, the provisional capital of German East Africa. German forces retreat towards Mahenge. |
| August 29 | General Northey’s Rhodesian column occupies the German military post at Iringa about halfway between Langenburg and the Central Railway. |
| September 4 | Dar-es-Salaam surrenders to the British. |
| September 7 | The Royal Navy occupies Kilwa. |
| September 11 | Tabora falls to Belgian and British troops against considerable resistance. |
| September 15 | General Smuts’ column captures German positions at Kissaki on the Mgeta River. The Germans retreat to a defensive line between the Mgeta and the Rufiji after which Smuts breaks off the attack to regroup. |
| September 16 | The Royal Navy occupies Lindi and Mikindani. |
| September 18 | The Royal Navy takes Kiswere, the last unoccupied port on the German East African coast. |
| October 9 | Horace Archer Byatt appointed British administrator of occupied German East Africa. |
| 1917 | January 20 | General Smuts relinquishes his command to Lieutenant General A.R. Hoskins. |
| May | Major General J.L. van Deventer takes command of British forces in German East Africa. |
| June | German forces disperse and begin a guerrilla campaign against the Allied forces. The main body of 4,000 to 5,000 under von Lettow-Vorbeck is sighted near Kilwa and Lindi. Tafel’s 2,000 to 3,000 man group is sighted in the Mahenge district and at Songwa 60 miles north of the Mozambique border. A 600 man force under Naumann is seen in the vicinity of the border with British East Africa and later reported to be in the Luchulingo Valley inside Mozambique. September |
| | The British attack Von Lettow-Vorbeck’s forces at Lindi and Kilwa. The Germans disperse and move south towards Mozambique. |
| October 9 | Belgian forces capture Mahenge after heavy fighting with Tafel’s group in the Kalimoto Hills. Tafel moves south to rejoin von Lettow-Vorbeck. |
| October | The Rhodesian column, under General Northey, pushes the Germans from their administrative center at Liwale. |
| November 28 | Tafel surrenders the remnants of his group. |
| December | Surviving German forces, 320 Germans and 2,500 Askaris, cross the Rovuma into Mozambique. Organized resistance ends in German East Africa. |
| 1918 | June | The main body of German East African forces is reduced to 250 German and 1,300 Askaris. They continue the fight in Mozambique some 500 miles south of the Rovuma River boundary. |
| August | Von Lettow-Vorbeck’s main force re-enters German East Africa and treks north towards Tabora. |
| November 14 | Commissioner Albert Heinrich Schnee and General von Lettow-Vorbeck surrender at Abercorn, Rhodesia. Surviving German forces consist of 30 German officers, 125 German troops, 1,165 Askaris, 2,294 native carriers and 819 native women. |
| 1919 | May 6 | The Supreme Council of the Allied Powers restores the Kionga triangle to Portuguese Mozambique. |
| June 28 | Germany signs the Treaty of Versailles and cedes all sovereignty over German East Africa. |
| 1922 | July 20 | The League of Nations ratifies the British mandate over German East Africa (Tanganyika). |
| | The League of Nations ratifies the Belgian mandate over the German East African districts of Ruanda and Urundi. |
