Tanganyika was a colonial territory in East Africa which was administered by the United Kingdom in various guises from 1916 until 1961.

It was gradually occupied by forces from the British Empire and Belgian Congo during the East Africa Campaign, although German resistance continued until 1918.

The island of Zanzibar was even taken as a part of the Sultanate of Oman; when Seyyid Said came to power in 1806, Omani interests in Tanzania began to increase.

Britain and Germany then agreed to divide the mainland into various spheres of influence, and the Sultan was forced to acquiesce.

The German colonial administration instituted an educational program for native Africans, including elementary, secondary, and vocational schools.

Cultivation of several profitable cash crops such as cotton, sisal, cocoa and coffee was important to developing the colony as these resources were used for German consumers and industry.

The most important of these was the Mittellandbahn (Central Line, which connected much of the country with the port city of Dar es Salaam.

After Germany's defeat during World War I, GEA was divided among the victorious powers under the Treaty of Versailles.

Both elections were won by the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), which led the country to independence in December 1961.

The following year a presidential election was held, with TANU leader Julius Nyerere emerging victorious.

Once Britain took control of the colony, they wished it to be a "Black man's country", similar to Nigeria in terms of its state structure.

The British also pursued an anti-German policy which was led by the head official in Tanganyika, Sir Horace Bryatt.

Bryatt was an unpopular politician, and his policies of expelling Germans halved Tanganyika's European population.

There was some resistance, though, from the British settlers who established the United Tanganyikan Party (UTP) by Brian Willis in 1956.

For example, TANU, discussed and promoted fears that the colonial state had attempted to give a disproportionate amount of power to the European and Asian minority groups living within Tanganyika.

TANU installed a deep-rooted fear within the African population that the colonialists might still rule or have influence, even after independence.

In addition, Nyerere's growing emphasis on modernisation and his African socialist ideology known as Ujamaa saw many rural farmers' livelihoods destroyed by encroaching agriculturalists.