German East Africa (German: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in East Africa, which included what are now Burundi, Rwanda and Tanganyika (the mainland part of present Tanzania). Its area was 994,996 km2 (384,170 sq mi), nearly three times the size of Germany today.
The colony came into existence during the 1880s and ended with Imperial Germany's defeat in World War I. Afterwards the territory was divided between Britain and Belgium, and was later converted to a mandate of the League of Nations.
Read more about German East Africa: History, Economic Development, Education, First World War, Coinage, German Place-names
Famous quotes containing the words german, east and/or africa:
“Everything ponderous, viscous, and solemnly clumsy, all long- winded and boring types of style are developed in profuse variety among Germans—forgive me the fact that even Goethe’s prose, in its mixture of stiffness and elegance, is no exception, being a reflection of the “good old time” to which it belongs, and a reflection of German taste at a time when there still was a “German taste”Ma rococo taste in moribus et artibus.”
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“The East Wind, an interloper in the dominions of Westerly Weather, is an impassive-faced tyrant with a sharp poniard held behind his back for a treacherous stab.”
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“I who have cursed
The drunken officer of British rule, how choose
Between this Africa and the English tongue I love?
Betray them both, or give back what they give?
How can I face such slaughter and be cool?
How can I turn from Africa and live?”
—Derek Walcott (b. 1930)