Tanganyika () was a

sovereign state A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a polity, political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defin ...

, comprising the mainland part of present-day

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

, that existed from 1961 until 1964. It first gained independence from the United Kingdom on 9 December 1961 as a state headed by Queen Elizabeth II before becoming a republic within the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

a year later. After signing the Articles of Union on 22 April 1964 and passing an Act of Union on 25 April, Tanganyika officially joined with the

People's Republic of Zanzibar The People's Republic of Zanzibar () was an 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 Zan ...

to form the

United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

on Union Day, 26 April 1964. The new state changed its name to the United Republic of Tanzania within a year.

History

Tanganyika originally consisted of the

Tanganyika Territory Tanganyika was a colonial territory in East Africa which was administered by the United Kingdom in various guises from 1916 to 1961. It was initially administered under a military occupation regime. From 20 July 1922, it was formalised into a L ...

, the British share of

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozam ...

, which the British took under a

League of Nations Mandate A League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administ ...

in 1922, and which was later transformed into a

United Nations Trust Territory United Nations trust territories were the successors of the remaining League of Nations mandates and came into being when the League of Nations ceased to exist in 1946. All of the trust territories were administered through the United Nati ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The next largest share of German East Africa was taken into Belgian trusteeship, eventually becoming present-day

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

and

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

. The Tanganyika Independence Act 1961 transformed the United Nations trust territory into the independent

of Tanganyika, with

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

as queen of Tanganyika. The monarch's constitutional roles were mostly exercised by the

governor-general of Tanganyika This is a list of the heads of state of Tanzania, from the independence of Tanganyika (1961–1964), Tanganyika in 1961 to the present day. From 1961 to 1962 the head of state under the Constitution of Tanzania, Constitution of 1961 was the que ...

. Tanganyika adopted a new constitution in 1962 that abolished the monarchy, with the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

(the majority of whom were members of the Tanganyika African National Union Party) drastically revising the new constitution to favor a strong executive branch of government, namely a president. Tanganyika then became a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations, with

Julius Nyerere Julius Kambarage Nyerere (; 13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian anti-colonial activist, politician, and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as president from 1962 to 1964, af ...

as president of Tanganyika. After the Union of Zanzibar and Tanganyika, an interim constitution amended from the 1962 Constitution became the governing document. Although meant to be temporary, the constitutions remained effective until 1977. The unification of Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1964 followed Nyerere's principle of ''

Ujamaa Ujamaa ( in Swahili) was a socialist ideology that formed the basis of Julius Nyerere's social and economic development policies in Tanzania after it gained independence from Britain in 1961. More broadly, ujamaa may mean "cooperative economic ...

'' which entailed a strong "territorial nationalism."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanganyika (1961-1964) Former republics

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...

Government of Tanzania Politics of Tanzania States and territories established in 1961 States and territories disestablished in 1964 Tanzania and the Commonwealth of Nations

Monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...

1961 establishments in Africa 1964 disestablishments in Africa Former member states of the United Nations

History

See also

References