BBC documentary on Tanzania airing April 11

On April 11, BBC is airing the documentary “The War That Changed The World: Tanzania – Colonial War” made in partnership with The British Council. Program details below.

First aired: Saturday 11 April
Broadcast window: 11 April – 5 June 2015
Number of episodes: 1
Program duration: 49 minutes 30 seconds (23 minutes & 26 minutes 30 seconds) or 59 minutes including the News Bulletins, billboards & promos
Download availability on www.bbc.co.uk/partners: from Saturday 11 April 19:30 GMT for 19 weeks


The First World War is remembered as a European conflict, but one hundred years ago the British and German Empires also fought in East Africa. We look at the struggle over present-day Tanzania which had a catastrophic effect on the population.

Race was a major theme in the war, with myths about the attributes of different people influencing military planning all over the world. In Tanzania both sides competed to recruit soldiers from the Yao tribe, whom were thought to be the best fighters. The British also imported ‘martial races’ from India, and South African forces marched north to join the fight. ‘Non-martial’ tribesmen in Tanzania were made to carry equipment, which was often more life-threatening than fighting. Britain alone enlisted over one million labourers to carry for the military; working in appalling conditions as many as 200,000 died over the course of the war.

Those not actively involved were also affected. German troops destroyed crops and burned farms as they retreated and as many as 300,000 East Africans died as the result of the subsequent famine.

How did this war affect the way East Africa developed? How did it change colonialism and ideas about race, and was it in this war that the first feelings of Tanzanian nationalism stirred?

For this special debate from Dar es Salaam, the BBC’s Audrey Brown is joined by both local and international experts: South African historian Bill Nasson from Stellenbosch University and the Indian historian Santanu Das from King’s College London, are joined by Oswald Masebo from Dar es Salaam University.

Oswald presents an essay on The Tanzanian Memory of The Great War in East Africa, in front of a live audience at the British Council in Dar es Salaam to explore how the First World War should be remembered and what it means to Tanzania.

BBC broadcast times:
APM | Sat 14:06 rpt Sat 23:06, 07:06; Wed 02:06 EDT.