300,000 Tanzanians were killed by Germany during the Maji-Maji uprising – it was genocide and should be called that

Klaus Bachmann and Gerhard Kemp

Political actors in Tanzania have in recent years demanded compensation from Germany for colonial atrocities committed in the early 20th century. In early 2017, the National Assembly of Tanzania stopped short of putting the label of genocide on the atrocities committed by German troops during the Maji-Maji uprising (1905–1907).

During a visit to Tanzania recently, the German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, asked for “forgiveness” and expressed “shame” for the colonial atrocities committed in what was then German East Africa. This was in reference to the killing of up to 300,000 people during the Maji-Maji uprising.

German involvement in Tanzania began in 1890 when Berlin decided to take over administration of east African territories which German traders and travellers had secured. To reduce the cost of administration, governance rested on a few German officers with unchecked power, along with African and Arab fighters (called Askari) to suppress