People's Republic of Zanzibar
People's Republic of Zanzibar Jamhuri ya Watu wa Zanzibar (Swahili) | |||||||||||
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1964 | |||||||||||
socialist republic | |||||||||||
President | |||||||||||
• 23 Jan – 26 Apr 1964 | Abeid Karume | ||||||||||
Prime Minister | |||||||||||
• 12 January 1964 – 27 April 1964 | Abdullah Kassim Hanga | ||||||||||
Historical era | Cold War | ||||||||||
12 January 1964 | |||||||||||
Currency | East African shilling | ||||||||||
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Today part of | Tanzania |
The People's Republic of Zanzibar (Swahili: Jamhuri ya watu wa Zanzibar) was a short-lived African state founded in 1964, consisting of the islands of the Zanzibar Archipelago. It existed for less than a year before it merged with Tanganyika to create the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, which would be renamed to Tanzania in October of that year.
History
In the wake of the
By 3 February, Zanzibar was finally returning to normality, and Karume had been widely accepted by the people as their president.[9] A police presence was back on the streets, looted shops were re-opening, and unlicensed arms were being surrendered by the civilian populace.[9] 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.[10][11] 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,[12] 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 stripped of his rank of Field Marshal,[11][12][13] 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.[12]
In April, the government formed the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and completed the disarmament of Okello's remaining FMF militia.
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.[2][16] 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.[16] 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
Western intelligence agencies believed that the revolution had been organised by communists supplied with weapons by the
The deposed Sultan made an unsuccessful appeal to Kenya and Tanganyika for military assistance,[16] although Tanganyika sent 100 paramilitary police officers to Zanzibar to contain rioting.[2] 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.[2] Dissatisfied with their low pay rates and with the slow progress of the replacement of their British officers with Africans,[25] 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.[26]
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.[27] The committee was concerned that Zanzibar could become a centre for the promotion of communism in Africa, much like Cuba had in the Americas.[27] Britain, most of the Commonwealth, and the United States withheld recognition of the new regime until 23 February, by which time it had already been recognised by much of the communist bloc.[28] 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.[28]
References
- ^ a b c d Speller 2007, p. 7.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Parsons 2003, p. 107.
- ^ Conley, Robert (14 January 1964). "Regime Banishes Sultan". The New York Times. p. 4.
- ^ a b Conley, Robert (19 January 1964). "Nationalism Is Viewed as Camouflage for Reds". The New York Times. p. 1.
- ^ "Slaughter in Zanzibar of Asians, Arabs Told". Los Angeles Times. 20 January 1964. p. 4. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
- ^ a b Plekhanov 2004, p. 91.
- ^ a b c Sheriff & Ferguson 1991, p. 241.
- ^ Daly 2009, p. 42
- ^ a b Dispatch of The Times London (4 February 1964). "Zanzibar Quiet, With New Regime Firmly Seated". The New York Times. p. 9.
- ^ a b Speller 2007, p. 15
- ^ a b c Sheriff & Ferguson 1991, p. 242
- ^ a b c d Speller 2007, p. 17.
- ^ Conley, Robert (March 12, 1964). "Zanzibar Regime Expels Okello". The New York Times. p. 11.
- ^ a b Conley, Robert (27 April 1964). "Tanganyika gets new rule today". The New York Times. p. 11.
- ^ Speller 2007, p. 19.
- ^ a b c Speller 2007, p. 8.
- ^ a b Speller 2007, pp. 8–9.
- ^ Speller 2007, p. 9.
- ^ a b Lofchie 1967, p. 37
- ^ Franck, Thomas M. (26 January 1964). "Zanzibar Reassessed". The New York Times. pp. E10.
- ^ Speller 2007, p. 18.
- ^ Speller 2007, pp. 27–28.
- ^ David Kimche (16 March 2010). "Israeli spymaster found himself embroiled in Iran-Contra". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
- ^ p.161 Pateman, Roy Residual Uncertainty: Trying to Avoid Intelligence and Policy Mistakes in the Modern World 2003 University Press of Kentucky.
- ^ Speller 2007, p. 10
- ^ Parsons 2003, pp. 109–110
- ^ a b Speller 2007, p. 12
- ^ a b Speller 2007, p. 13
Sources
- Daly, Samuel (2009), "Our Mother is Afro-Shirazi, Our Father is the Revolution" (PDF), Senior Thesis, New York: Columbia University.
- Lofchie, Michaael F. (1967), "Was Okello's Revolution a Conspiracy?", Transition (33): 36–42, JSTOR 2934114.
- Parsons, Timothy (2003), The 1964 Army Mutinies and the Making of Modern East Africa, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 0-325-07068-7.
- Plekhanov, Sergey (2004), A Reformer on the Throne: Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al Said, Trident Press Ltd, ISBN 1-900724-70-7.
- Sheriff, Abdul; Ferguson, Ed (1991), Zanzibar Under Colonial Rule, James Currey Publishers, ISBN 0-85255-080-4.
- Speller, Ian (2007), "An African Cuba? Britain and the Zanzibar Revolution, 1964.", Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 35 (2): 1–35, S2CID 159656717.
External links