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Zanzibar Revolution

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Zanzibar Revolution

Unguja and Pemba, the two main islands of Zanzibar
Date12 January 1964
Location
Zanzibar
Result Revolutionary victory
Belligerents
Mainly African revolutionaries The government of Zanzibar
Commanders and leaders
John Okello 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 Zanzibar Revolution was the 1964 overthrow of the Sultan of Zanzibar and his mainly Arab government. The key revolutionary leader was Ugandan John Okello, who commanded 600–800 men, largely members of the African Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP). The ASP was frustrated by under-representation in Parliament, it held a minority of seats despite winning 54% of the vote in the July 1963 election. The revolution began early on the morning of 12 January 1964, when Okello's men overran the country's police force and took their weaponry before proceeding to Zanzibar Town and overthrowing the Sultan and government. The revolutionaries then attacked Arab and South Asian civilians in the country. The death toll is disputed, with estimates ranging from several hundred to 20,000. The ASP worked in collaboration with the left-wing Umma Party, which caused consternation among the Western Powers then engaged in the Cold War. Abeid Karume became the country's new president and head of state.

As Zanzibar lay within the British sphere of influence, the British government drew up several plans for military intervention but these were not put into action. Meanwhile, the communist powers of the China, East Germany and the USSR opened friendly relations with the new government by recognising the country and sending advisors. In an attempt to maintain stability in East Africa, which had seen several army riots sparked by the revolution, Karume entered Zanzibar into a merger with Tanganyika to form the new nation of Tanzania. 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.

Background

The Zanzibar Archipelago, now part of the East African republic of Tanzania, is a group of islands lying in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Tanganyika. It comprises the main southern island of Unguja (also known as Zanzibar), the smaller northern island of Pemba, and numerous surrounding islets. With a long history of Arab rule dating back to 1698, Zanzibar was an overseas territory of Oman until it achieved independence in 1858 under its own Sultancy.[5] In 1890 during Ali ibn Sa'id's reign, Zanzibar became a British protectorate,[6] and although never formally under direct rule was considered part of the British Empire.[7]

By 1964 the country was a constitutional monarchy under the rule of Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah.[8] Zanzibar had a population of around 230,000 Africans and Persians—the latter known locally as Shirazis[9]—and also contained significant minorities, with 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 source, a significant reason for the general support for Sultan Jamshid was his family's ethnic diversity.[8] However, as the island's major landowners, its Arabic inhabitants were generally wealthier than the Africans,[10] and 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 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 round of voting saw a repeat of the 1961 elections. The ASP, led by Abeid Amani Karume, won 54 percent of the 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.[13][11] 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]

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] The British government further suspected that civil disturbance was likely in the near future, and wished to avoid inflaming the situation.[2] However, many foreign nationals remained on the island, including 130 Britons who were direct employees of the Zanzibar government.[15]

Revolution

File:Zanzibar revolution troops.jpg
Some of Okello's revolutionaries

Around 3 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][16] Arming themselves with hundreds of captured automatic rifles, submachine guns and bren guns, the insurgents took control of strategic buildings in Zanzibar Town, the capital.[17][18] 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.[18][19] The Sultan, Prime Minister Muhammad Shamte Hamadi, and members of the cabinet fled the island on the royal yacht Seyyid Khalifa,[20][18] 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 the uprising.[3] Sixty-one American citizens, including 16 men staffing a NASA satellite tracking station, fled to the English Club in Zanzibar Town, and four US journalists were detained by the island's new government.[18][21]

The official Zanzibari history of the revolution claims that ASP leader Abeid Amani Karume was at its head.[2] However, at the time of the revolution Karume was on the African mainland, as was Abdulrahman Muhammad Babu, the leader of the Umma Party.[20] The leader was actually John Okello, and his revolutionaries were mainly unemployed members of the Afro-Shirazi Youth League.[2][13] Okello was a Ugandan who had arrived in Zanzibar from Kenya in 1959, and had served as a branch secretary for the ASP on Pemba.[8][1] He claimed to have been a Field Marshal for the Kenyan rebels during the Mau Mau Uprising but actually had no military experience.[1] He also claimed to have heard a voice that commanded him, as a Christian, to free the Zanzibari people from the Arabs.[8] It was Okello that removed Karume to the mainland for safekeeping.[20]

Aftermath

The ASP and Umma party established the Revolutionary Council to act as an interim government. Karume headed the council as President and Babu served as Minister of External Affairs.[20] The country was then renamed the People's Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba.[1] The first act of the new government was to permanently banish the Sultan and to ban the ZNP and ZPPP.[3] Okello appeared to be too unstable to play any role in the government of the new country and was quietly sidelined from the political scene by Karume, who allowed him to retain the title of Field Marshal.[1][20]

File:Zanzibar grave.jpg
A mass grave of Arabs killed following the revolution as captured by the Africa Addio film crew

Following the revolution Okello's men began reprisals against the Arab and Asian people on the island, which included beatings, rapes, murder and attacks on property.[1][20] Okello claimed in radio speeches to have killed or imprisoned tens of thousands of his "enemies and stooges".[1] Estimates for the number of deaths in the post-revolution violence vary greatly from "hundreds" to 20,000; though the higher estimates may be inflated by Okello's own radio broadcasts and the Western and Arab press.[1][4][22] Some Western newspapers used figures of 2,000–4,000 deaths.[21][23] The killings of Arab prisoners and their burial in mass graves was documented by an Italian film crew, filming from a helicopter, in the film Africa Addio.[24] The victims of the attacks were mainly Arabs; by Okello's order, no Europeans were harmed.[20] Many surviving Arabs fled to safety in Oman.[4] The post-revolution violence was confined to Unguja and there was no trouble on Pemba.[22]

By 3 February Zanzibar was finally returning to normality and Karume had been widely accepted by the people as their president.[25] A police presence was on the streets, looted shops were re-opening and unlicensed arms were being surrendered by the civilian populace.[25] The revolutionary government also announced that political prisoners, who numbered 500, would be tried by special courts.

However Okello formed a paramilitary unit from his own supporters, known as the Freedom Military Force (FMF), which is known to have patrolled the streets and become involved with looting.[26][27] In addition Okello's violent rhetoric, Ugandan accent and Christian beliefs alienated many in the largely moderate, Zanzibari and Muslim ASP.[28] By March many of his FMF had been disarmed by Karume's supporters and the Umma Party militia, and on 11 March he was officially stripped of his rank of Field Marshal.[28][27][29] When Okello tried to return to the country from a trip to the mainland he was denied entry. He was deported to Tanganyika and then to Kenya before returning, destitute, to his native Uganda.[28]

In April the government formed the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and completed the disarmament of Okello's remaining FMF troops.[28] On 26 April Karume announced that he had negotiated a union with Tanganyika to form the new country of Tanzania.[30] Karume, a moderate socialist, may have agreed to the merger to reduce the influence of the radically left wing Umma Party or to prevent subversion by a foreign communist entity.[26][31][30] Despite this, many of the Umma Party's socialist policies on health, education and social welfare were adopted by the government.[22]

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 minute standby to conduct an assault on Zanzibar's airfield.[32][1] 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 troops in Kenya were reduced to four hours' readiness by the evening. Crosthwait decided not to authorise an evacuation of British citizens immediately, as many of them held key government positions and their sudden removal would further damage the economy and government of Zanzibar.[32] The British agreed a timetable with Karume for an organised evacuation in order to avoid possible bloodshed. The American ambassador authorised an evacuation of US citizens within hours of the revolution and a US Navy destroyer, the USS Manley, arrived on 13 January for this purpose. [33] The Manley docked at Zanzibar Town harbour to begin the evacuation but was met by a group of armed men on behalf of the Revolutionary Council.[33] This was because the US had not sought the Council's permission to begin the withdrawal of US citizens. Permission was granted on 15 January, and Manley completed the remainder of its mission without further trouble. The British authorities considered this armed confrontation to have caused much ill will against the Western powers in Zanzibar.[34]

Western intelligence agencies believed that the revolution had been organised by communists supplied with weapons by the Warsaw Pact. 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 also believed that these two men 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] The fact that the new Zanzibar government was the first from Africa to recognise the German Democratic Republic and also recognised North Korea was taken by the Western Powers as evidence that Zanzibar was aligning itself closely with the communist bloc.[27] In addition some members of the Umma Party had received training in Cuba and wore Cuban military fatigues and beards in the style of Fidel Castro.[20] 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.[21][35] Despite this, by February Zanzibar was known to be receiving advisers from the USSR, East Germany and China, and by July 1964 just one Briton, a dentist, remained in the employ of the Zanzibari government.[36][15]

File:Karume and chinese.jpg
Karume with advisors, including some from the People's Republic of China

The Sultan appealed to Kenya and Tanganyika for military assistance, but was turned down.[32] Tanganyika responded to a request from the new government for support, and sent 100 paramilitary police officers to Zanzibar to contain rioting.[1] The police, with the Tanganyika Rifles, were the only armed force in Tanganyika, and the transfer of the police officers to Zanzibar sparked a mutiny of the entire regiment on 20 January.[1] This mutiny was caused by the soldiers' dissatisfaction with their low rate of pay, and by the slow progress of the replacement of their British officers with Africans.[37] The mutiny in Tanganyika inspired similar events in Uganda and Kenya. All three riots were quelled without serious incident by the British Army and Royal Marines.[38]

The Western Powers were still concerned by the possibility of a communist state emerging. 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.[39] The committee was concerned that Zanzibar could become a centre for the promotion of communism in Africa, much like Cuba had in the Americas.[39] 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.[40] In Crosthwait's opinion this late recognition contributed to Zanzibar aligning itself with the USSR. Indeed Crosthwait and his staff were expelled from the country on 20 February and were only allowed to return once recognition had been agreed.[40]

British military response

File:RFA Hebe .1972.jpg
RFA Hebe

Following the evacuation of its citizens on 13 January, the US government stated that it would recognise that Zanzibar lay within Britain's sphere of influence and that it would not intervene.[41] The US did, however, urge that Britain cooperate with the other East African countries to restore order.[41] The first British military vessel on the scene was HMS Owen, a survey ship diverted from the Kenyan coast, which arrived on the evening of 12 January.[34] Owen was joined on 15 January by the frigate Rhyl and Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Hebe. The lightly armed Owen proved able to demonstrate the Royal Navy's power without acting as a threat to the revolutionaries but the Hebe and Rhyl were different matters.[34] The Rhyl had embarked a company of troops of the first battalion of the Staffordshire Regiment from Kenya due to inaccurate reports that the situation in Zanzibar was deteriorating, whilst the Hebe had just finished removing stores from the naval depot at Mombassa and was loaded with weapons and explosives. The latter fact was not known to the Revolutionary Council but the Royal Navy's refusal to allow a search of the Hebe created suspicion ashore and there were rumours that she was an amphibious assault ship.[34] The embarkation of the troops aboard Rhyl had, however, been widely reported in the Kenyan media and hindered British negotiations with Zanzibar.[34]

HMS Centaur

The British forces completed a partial evacuation of British citizens on 17 January.[42] The army riots in East Africa prompted the dispatch of Rhyl and the company from the Staffordshire Regiment to Tanganyika to assist with the quelling of the mutiny. A company of the Gordon Highlanders was loaded aboard Owen so that an intervention could still be made if necessary.[43] The aircraft carriers Centaur and Victorious were also transferred to the region as part of Operation Parthenon.[40] This operation would have been enacted if Okello or the Umma party radicals attempted to seize power from the more moderate ASP.[28] In addition to the two carriers the plan involved three destroyers, Owen, 13 helicopters, 21 transport and reconnaissance aircraft, the second battalion of the Scots Guards, 45 Commando of the Royal Marines and one company of the second battalion of the Parachute Regiment. Operation Parthenon would have involved troops landing by parachute and helicopter to take the island of Unguja, and its airport, before occupying Pemba. If implemented it would have been the largest British airborne and amphibious operation since the Suez Crisis.[28]

After the revelation that the revolutionaries may have had training from communist forces, Operation Parthenon was replaced by Operation Boris. Boris would have made use of airfields in Kenya to launch a parachute assault on Unguja. The plan was later abandoned due to poor security in Kenya and the opposition of the Kenyan government to the use of its airfields.[44] Boris was replaced by Operation Finery which called for a helicopter assault by Royal Marines from HMS Bulwark, a commando carrier then stationed in the Middle East.[31] As Bulwark would need to transfer from the Middle East, 14 days notice would be required before Finery could be launched. In the event that a more immediate response was required, suitable forces were kept on 24 hours' notice to launch a smaller scale operation to protect British citizens.[31] Following the merger of Tanganyika and Zanzibar on 23 April there were concerns that the Umma Party would stage a coup; Operation Shed was drawn up to provide forces to intervene in such a case.[31] 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.[45] The danger of a revolt over the merger soon passed, and the troops were stood down to 24 hours' notice on 29 April, the same day that Finery was cancelled.[45] Around 23 September, however, Shed was replaced with Plan Giralda, a plan involving British troops from Aden and the Far East, to be used if the Umma Party attempted a coup against President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania.[46] 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.[47] Giralda was scrapped in December, ending British plans for military intervention in the country.[48]

Legacy

A parade held to mark the 40th anniversary of the revolution

The revolution was a turning point in Zanzibar's history that ended 200 years of Arab dominance in the country.[49] In addition to causing the Western countries to fear the spread of communism to East Africa and inspiring the mutinies in Tanganyika, Uganda and Kenya, the revolution lead to the creation of Tanzania. The revolution remains a part of Zanzibar's culture and was marked by the release of 545 prisoners on its tenth anniversary and by a military parade on its 40th.[50] In addition 12 January each year is designated as a public holiday, known as Zanzibar Revolution Day, by the government of Tanzania.[51]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Parsons 2003, p. 107
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Speller 2007, p. 6
  3. ^ a b c d Conley, Robert (14 January 1964), "Regime Banishes Sultan", New York Times, pp. p. 4, retrieved 16 November 2008 {{citation}}: |pages= has extra text (help).
  4. ^ a b c Plekhanov 2004, p. 91
  5. ^ Hernon 2003, p. 397
  6. ^ Ingrams 1967, pp. 172–173
  7. ^ Shillington 2005, p. 1710
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shillington 2005, p. 1716
  9. ^ a b Speller 2007, p. 4
  10. ^ a b c d Parsons 2003, p. 106
  11. ^ a b Speller 2007, p. 5
  12. ^ Bakari 2001, p. 204
  13. ^ a b Sheriff & Ferguson 1991, p. 239
  14. ^ Speller 2007, pp. 5–6
  15. ^ a b Speller 2007, pp. 27–28
  16. ^ Clayton 1999, p. 109
  17. ^ Speller 2007, pp. 6–7
  18. ^ a b c d Conley, Robert (13 January 1964), "African Revolt Overturns Arab Regime in Zanzibar", New York Times, pp. p. 1, retrieved 16 November 2008 {{citation}}: |pages= has extra text (help).
  19. ^ Speller 2007, pp. 6–7
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h Speller 2007, p. 7
  21. ^ a b c Conley, Robert (19 January 1964), "Nationalism Is Viewed as Camouflage for Reds", New York Times, pp. p. 1, retrieved 16 November 2008 {{citation}}: |pages= has extra text (help).
  22. ^ a b c Sheriff & Ferguson 1991, p. 241
  23. ^ Los Angeles Times (20 January 1964), "Slaughter in Zanzibar of Asians, Arabs Told", Los Angeles Times, pp. p. 4 {{citation}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  24. ^ Jacopetti, Gualtiero (Director). (1970). Africa Addio [Video in English]. Retrieved on 16 November 2008.
  25. ^ a b Dispatch of The Times London (4 February 1964), "Zanzibar Quiet, With New Regime Firmly Seated", New York Times, pp. p. 9, retrieved 16 November 2008 {{citation}}: |pages= has extra text (help).
  26. ^ a b Speller 2007, p. 15
  27. ^ a b c Sheriff & Ferguson 1991, p. 242
  28. ^ a b c d e f Speller 2007, p. 17
  29. ^ Conley, Robert (March 12, 1964), "Zanzibar Regime Expels Okello", New York Times, pp. p. 11, retrieved 16 November 2008 {{citation}}: |pages= has extra text (help).
  30. ^ a b Conley, Robert (27 April 1964), "Tanganyika gets new rule today", New York Times, pp. p.11, retrieved 16 November 2008 {{citation}}: |pages= has extra text (help).
  31. ^ a b c d Speller 2007, p. 19
  32. ^ a b c Speller 2007, p. 8
  33. ^ a b Speller 2007, pp. 8–9
  34. ^ a b c d e Speller 2007, p. 9
  35. ^ Franck, Thomas M. (26 January 1964), "Zanzibar Reassessed", New York Times, pp. p. E10, retrieved 16 November 2008 {{citation}}: |pages= has extra text (help).
  36. ^ Speller 2007, p. 18
  37. ^ Speller 2007, p. 10
  38. ^ Parsons 2003, pp. 109–110
  39. ^ a b Speller 2007, p. 12
  40. ^ a b c Speller 2007, p. 13
  41. ^ a b Speller 2007, pp. 13–14
  42. ^ Speller 2007, pp. 9–10
  43. ^ Speller 2007, p. 11
  44. ^ Speller 2007, pp. 18–19
  45. ^ a b Speller 2007, p. 20
  46. ^ Speller 2007, p. 24
  47. ^ Speller 2007, p. 25
  48. ^ Speller 2007, p. 26
  49. ^ Speller 2007, p. 1
  50. ^ Kalley, Schoeman & Andor 1999, p. 611
  51. ^ Commonwealth Secretariat (2005), Tanzania, retrieved 2009-02-10

Bibliography

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