Thursday, June 09, 2016
Zanzibar Revolution 1964
Zanzibar Revolution
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Zanzibar Revolution | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Unguja and Pemba, the two main islands of Zanzibar |
|||||||
|
|||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Revolutionaries |
 Zanzibar Sultanate |
||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| John Okello |
Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah |
||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 600–800 men[1][2] | Zanzibar Police Force | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| At least 80 killed and 200 injured during revolution (the majority were Arabs)[3] Up to 20,000 civilians killed in the aftermath[4] |
|||||||
The new government's apparent communist ties concerned Western governments. As Zanzibar lay within the British sphere of influence, the British government drew up a number of intervention plans. However, the feared communist government never materialised, and because British and United States citizens were successfully evacuated these plans were not put into effect. Meanwhile, the communist bloc powers of China, East Germany and the Soviet Union established friendly relations with the new government by recognising the country and sending advisors. Karume succeeded in negotiating a merger of Zanzibar with Tanganyika to form the new nation of Tanzania; an act judged by contemporary media to be an attempt to prevent communist subversion of Zanzibar. The revolution ended 200 years of Arab dominance in Zanzibar, and is commemorated on the island each year with anniversary celebrations and a public holiday.
Contents
Background
Part of a series on the
|
|---|
| History of Tanzania |
 |
| Timeline |
| Colonial period |
| Modern history |
|
 Tanzania portal |
By 1964, the country was a constitutional monarchy ruled by Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah.[8] Zanzibar had a population of around 230,000 Africans—some of whom claimed Persian ancestry and were known locally as Shirazis[9]—and also contained significant minorities in the 50,000 Arabs and 20,000 South Asians who were prominent in business and trade.[9] The various ethnic groups were becoming mixed and the distinctions between them had blurred;[8] according to one historian, an important reason for the general support for Sultan Jamshid was his family's ethnic diversity.[8] However, the island's Arab inhabitants, as the major landowners, were generally wealthier than the Africans;[10] the major political parties were organised largely along ethnic lines, with Arabs dominating the Zanzibar Nationalist Party (ZNP) and Africans the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP).[8]
In January 1961, as part of the process of decolonisation, the island's British authorities drew up constituencies and held democratic elections.[10] Both the ASP and the ZNP won 11 of the available 22 seats in Zanzibar's Parliament,[8] so further elections were held in June with the number of seats increased to 23. The ZNP entered into a coalition with the Zanzibar and Pemba People's Party (ZPPP) and this time took 13 seats, while the ASP, despite receiving the most votes, won just 10.[8] Electoral fraud was suspected by the ASP and civil disorder broke out, resulting in 68 deaths.[8] To maintain control, the coalition government banned the more radical opposition parties, filled the civil service with its own appointees, and politicised the police.[10]
In 1963, with the number of parliamentary seats increased to 31, another election saw a repeat of the 1961 votes. Due to the layout of the constituencies the ASP, led by Abeid Amani Karume, won 54 percent of the popular vote but only 13 seats,[11] while the ZNP/ZPPP won the rest and set about strengthening its hold on power.[10] The Umma Party, formed that year by disaffected radical Arab socialist supporters of the ZNP,[12] was banned, and all policemen of African mainland origin were dismissed.[11][13] This removed a large portion of the only security force on the island, and created an angry group of paramilitary-trained men with knowledge of police buildings, equipment and procedures.[14] Furthermore, the new Arab-dominated government made it clear that in foreign policy, the Sultanate of Zanzibar would be seeking close links with the Arab world, especially Egypt and had no interest in forging relationships with the nations on the African mainland as the black majority wished.[15] Slavery had been abolished in Zanzibar in 1897, but much of the Arab elite who dominated the island's politics made little effort to hide their racist views of the black majority as their inferiors, a people fit only for slavery.[16] Memories of Arab slave-trading in the past (some of the older blacks had been slaves in their youth) together with a distinctly patronizing view of the Arab elite towards the black majority in the present meant that much of the black population of Zanzibar had a ferocious hatred of the Arabs, viewing the new Arab-dominated government as illegitimate.[17]
Complete independence from British rule was granted on 10 December 1963, with the ZNP/ZPPP coalition as the governing body. The government requested a defence agreement from the United Kingdom, asking for a battalion of British troops to be stationed on the island for internal security duties,[2] but this was rejected as it was deemed inappropriate for British troops to be involved in the maintenance of law and order so soon after independence.[2] British intelligence reports predicted that a civil disturbance, accompanied by increasing communist activity, was likely in the near future and that the arrival of British troops might cause the situation to deteriorate further.[2] However, many foreign nationals remained on the island, including 130 Britons who were direct employees of the Zanzibar government.[18]
Revolution
Around 3:00 am on 12 January 1964, 600–800 poorly armed, mainly African insurgents, aided by some of the recently dismissed ex-policemen, attacked Unguja's police stations, both of its police armouries, and the radio station.[1][2] The Arab police replacements had received almost no training and, despite responding with a mobile force, were soon overcome.[1][19] Arming themselves with hundreds of captured automatic rifles, submachine guns and Bren guns, the insurgents took control of strategic buildings in the capital, Zanzibar Town.[20][21] Within six hours of the outbreak of hostilities, the town's telegraph office and main government buildings were under revolutionary control, and the island's only airstrip was captured at 2:18 pm.[20][21] The Sultan, together with Prime Minister Muhammad Shamte Hamadi and members of the cabinet, fled the island on the royal yacht Seyyid Khalifa,[21][22] and the Sultan's palace and other property was seized by the revolutionary government.[3] At least 80 people were killed and 200 injured, the majority of whom were Arabs, during the 12 hours of street fighting that followed.[3] Sixty-one American citizens, including 16 men staffing a NASA satellite tracking station, sought sanctuary in the English Club in Zanzibar Town, and four US journalists were detained by the island's new government.[21][23]According to the official Zanzibari history, the revolution was planned and headed by the ASP leader Abeid Amani Karume.[2] However, at the time Karume was on the African mainland as was the leader of the banned Umma Party, Abdulrahman Muhammad Babu.[22] The ASP branch secretary for Pemba, Ugandan-born ex-policeman John Okello, had sent Karume to the mainland to ensure his safety.[1][22] Okello had arrived in Zanzibar from Kenya in 1959,[8] claiming to have been a field marshal for the Kenyan rebels during the Mau Mau Uprising, although he actually had no military experience.[1] He maintained that he heard a voice commanding him, as a Christian, to free the Zanzibari people from the Muslim Arabs,[8] and it was Okello who led the revolutionaries—mainly unemployed members of the Afro-Shirazi Youth League—on 12 January.[2][13] One commentator has further speculated that it was probably Okello, with the Youth League, who planned the revolution.[2] During the revolution, there was an orgy of violence committed against the South Asian and Arab communities with thousands of women being raped by the Okello's followers, much looting and massacres of Arabs all over the island.[24] The American diplomat Don Petterson described the killings of Arabs by the African majority as an act of genocide.[25]
Aftermath
The bodies of Arabs killed in the post-revolution violence as photographed by the Africa Addio film crew
Paper shows photos of ex-government officials defaced after the revolution
By 3 February Zanzibar was finally returning to normality, and Karume had been widely accepted by the people as their president.[29] A police presence was back on the streets, looted shops were re-opening, and unlicensed arms were being surrendered by the civilian populace.[29] The revolutionary government announced that its political prisoners, numbering 500, would be tried by special courts. Okello formed the Freedom Military Force (FMF), a paramilitary unit made up of his own supporters, which patrolled the streets and looted Arab property.[30][31] The behaviour of Okello's supporters, his violent rhetoric, Ugandan accent, and Christian beliefs were alienating many in the largely moderate Zanzibari and Muslim ASP,[32] and by March many members of his FMF had been disarmed by Karume's supporters and the Umma Party militia. On 11 March Okello was officially stripped of his rank of Field Marshal,[31][32][33] and was denied entry when trying to return to Zanzibar from a trip to the mainland. He was deported to Tanganyika and then to Kenya, before returning destitute to his native Uganda.[32]
In April the government formed the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and completed the disarmament of Okello's remaining FMF militia.[32] On 26 April Karume announced that a union had been negotiated with Tanganyika to form the new country of Tanzania.[34] The merger was seen by contemporary media as a means of preventing communist subversion of Zanzibar; at least one historian states that it may have been an attempt by Karume, a moderate socialist, to limit the influence of the radically left-wing Umma Party.[30][34][35] However, many of the Umma Party's socialist policies on health, education and social welfare were adopted by the government.[27]
Foreign reaction
British military forces in Kenya were made aware of the revolution at 4:45 am on 12 January, and following a request from the Sultan were put on 15 minutes' standby to conduct an assault on Zanzibar's airfield.[1][36] However, the British High Commissioner in Zanzibar, Timothy Crosthwait, reported no instances of British nationals being attacked and advised against intervention. As a result, the British troops in Kenya were reduced to four hours' standby later that evening. Crosthwait decided not to approve an immediate evacuation of British citizens, as many held key government positions and their sudden removal would further disrupt the country's economy and government.[36] To avoid possible bloodshed, the British agreed a timetable with Karume for an organised evacuation.Within hours of the revolution, the American ambassador had authorised the withdrawal of US citizens on the island, and a US Navy destroyer, the USS Manley, arrived on 13 January.[37] The Manley docked at Zanzibar Town harbour, but the US had not sought the Revolutionary Council's permission for the evacuation, and the ship was met by a group of armed men.[37] Permission was eventually granted on 15 January, but the British considered this confrontation to be the cause of much subsequent ill will against the Western powers in Zanzibar.[38]
** { Blogger = I served on the USS Manley and was part of the evacuation and rescue of 96 Americans, and Europeans to Dar es Salaam there was much violence - Manley further operated and assisted the HMS Centaur British carrier during this operation}
Western intelligence agencies believed that the revolution had been organized by communists supplied with weapons by the Warsaw Pact countries. This suspicion was strengthened by the appointment of Babu as Minister for External Affairs and Abdullah Kassim Hanga as Prime Minister, both known leftists with possible communist ties.[1] Britain believed that these two were close associates of Oscar Kambona, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Tanganyika, and that former members of the Tanganyika Rifles had been made available to assist with the revolution.[1] Some members of the Umma Party wore Cuban military fatigues and beards in the style of Fidel Castro, which was taken as an indication of Cuban support for the revolution.[39] However this practice was started by those members who had staffed a ZNP branch office in Cuba and it became a common means of dress amongst opposition party members in the months leading up to the revolution.[39] The new Zanzibar government's recognition of the German Democratic Republic (the first African government to do so), and of North Korea, was further evidence to the Western Powers that Zanzibar was aligning itself closely with the communist bloc.[31] Just six days after the revolution the New York Times stated that Zanzibar was "on the verge of becoming the Cuba of Africa", but on 26 January denied that there was active communist involvement.[23][40] Zanzibar continued to receive support from communist countries and by February was known to be receiving advisers from USSR, East Germany and China.[41] Cuba also lent its support with Che Guevara stating on 15 August that "Zanzibar is our friend and we gave them our small bit of assistance, our fraternal assistance, our revolutionary assistance at the moment when it was necessary" but denying there were Cuban troops present during the revolution.[42] At the same time, western influence was diminishing and by July 1964 just one Briton, a dentist, remained in the employ of the Zanzibari government.[18] It has been alleged that Israeli spymaster David Kimche was a backer of the revolution[43] with Kimche in Zanzibar on the day of the Revolution.[44]
The deposed Sultan made an unsuccessful appeal to Kenya and Tanganyika for military assistance,[36] although Tanganyika sent 100 paramilitary police officers to Zanzibar to contain rioting.[1] Other than the Tanganyika Rifles (formerly the colonial King's African Rifles), the police were the only armed force in Tanganyika, and on 20 January the police absence led the entire Rifles regiment to mutiny.[1] Dissatisfied with their low pay rates and with the slow progress of the replacement of their British officers with Africans,[45] the soldiers' mutiny sparked similar uprisings in both Uganda and Kenya. However, order on the African mainland was rapidly restored without serious incident by the British Army and Royal Marines.[46]
The possible emergence of an African communist state remained a source of disquiet in the West. In February, the British Defence and Overseas Policy Committee said that, while British commercial interests in Zanzibar were "minute" and the revolution by itself was "not important", the possibility of intervention must be maintained.[47] The committee was concerned that Zanzibar could become a centre for the promotion of communism in Africa, much like Cuba had in the Americas.[47] Britain, most of the Commonwealth, and the USA withheld recognition of the new regime until 23 February, by which time it had already been recognised by much of the communist bloc.[48] In Crosthwait's opinion, this contributed to Zanzibar aligning itself with the Soviet Union; Crosthwait and his staff were expelled from the country on 20 February and were only allowed to return once recognition had been agreed.[48]
British military response
RFA Hebe
HMS Centaur
Parthenon would have been the largest British airborne and amphibious operation since the Suez Crisis.[32]
Following the revelation that the revolutionaries may have received communist bloc training, Operation Parthenon was replaced by Operation Boris. This called for a parachute assault on Unguja from Kenya, but was later abandoned due to poor security in Kenya and the Kenyan government's opposition to the use of its airfields.[52] Instead Operation Finery was drawn up, which would involve a helicopter assault by Royal Marines from HMS Bulwark, a commando carrier then stationed in the Middle East.[35] As Bulwark was outside the region, Finery's launch would require 14 days' notice, so in the event that a more immediate response was necessary, suitable forces were placed on 24 hours' notice to launch a smaller scale operation to protect British citizens.[35]
With the merger of Tanganyika and Zanzibar on 23 April, there were concerns that the Umma Party would stage a coup; Operation Shed was designed to provide for intervention should this happen.[35] Shed would have required a battalion of troops, with scout cars, to be airlifted to the island to seize the airfield and protect Karume's government.[53] However, the danger of a revolt over unification soon passed, and on 29 April the troops earmarked for Shed were reduced to 24 hours' notice. Operation Finery was cancelled the same day.[53] Concern over a possible coup remained though, and around 23 September Shed was replaced with Plan Giralda, involving the use of British troops from Aden and the Far East, to be enacted if the Umma Party attempted to overthrow President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania.[54]
An infantry battalion, tactical headquarters unit and elements of the Royal Marines would have been shipped to Zanzibar to launch an amphibious assault, supported by follow-on troops from British bases in Kenya or Aden to maintain law and order.[55] Giralda was scrapped in December, ending British plans for military intervention in the country.[56]
Legacy
President Amani Abeid Karume participating in a military parade to mark the 40th anniversary of the revolution
A kanga celebrating ten years since the revolution (mapinduzi), with references to the ASP and TANU (museum of the House of Wonders, Stone Town)
The government sought help from the Soviet Union, the German Democratic Republic (GDR), and P. R. China for funding for several projects and military advice.[57] The failure of several GDR-led projects including the New Zanzibar Project, a 1968 urban redevelopment scheme to provide new apartments for all Zanzibaris, led to Zanzibar focussing on Chinese aid.[60][61] The post-revolution Zanzibar government was accused of draconian controls on personal freedoms and travel and exercised nepotism in appointments to political and industrial offices, the new Tanzanian government being powerless to intervene.[62][63] Dissatisfaction with the government came to a head with the assassination of Karume on 7 April 1972, which was followed by weeks of fighting between pro and anti-government forces.[64] A multi-party system was eventually established in 1992, but Zanzibar remains dogged by allegations of corruption and vote-rigging, though the 2010 general election was seen to be a considerable improvement.[59][65][66]
The revolution itself remains an event of interest for Zanzibaris and academics. Historians have analysed the revolution as having a racial and a social basis with some stating that the African revolutionaries represent the proletariat rebelling against the ruling and trading classes, represented by the Arabs and South Asians.[67] Others discount this theory and present it as a racial revolution that was exacerbated by economic disparity between races.[68]
Within Zanzibar, the revolution is a key cultural event, marked by the release of 545 prisoners on its tenth anniversary and by a military parade on its 40th.[69] Zanzibar Revolution Day has been designated as a public holiday by the government of Tanzania; it is celebrated on 12 January each year.[70]
No comments:
Post a Comment