Emil von Zelewski (13 March 1854 – 17 August 1891) was a German military officer who served as commander of the

Schutztruppe (, Protection Force) was the official name of the colonial troops in the African territories of the German colonial empire from the late 19th century to 1918. Similar to other colonial armies, the consisted of volunteer European commissioned a ...

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; ) was a German colonial empire, 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 Portugu ...

. He led German forces against an uprising by the

Hehe people The Hehe (Swahili language, Swahili collective: Wahehe) is a Bantu ethnolinguistic group based in Iringa Region in south-central Tanzania, speaking the Bantu Hehe language. In 2006, the Hehe population was estimated at 805,000, up from the jus ...

, and was killed at the Battle of Lugalo.

Early years

Emil von Zelewski was born in Bendargau in the Pomeranian district of Neustadt. He joined the Prussian Army and served in the 99th Infantry Regiment at Posen in 1881.

Service in the German East Africa Company

In 1886 he retired from the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...

as a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

and entered the service of the German East Africa Company (GEAC). In August 1888 he was sent to the city of

Pangani Pangani (''Mji wa Pangani'', in Swahili language, Swahili) is a historic town and capital of Pangani District in the Tanga Region of Tanzania. The town lies south of the city of Tanga, Tanzania, Tanga, at the mouth of the Pangani River in whic ...

, which belonged to the

Sultanate of Zanzibar The Sultanate of Zanzibar (, ), also known as the Zanzibar Sultanate, was an East African Muslim state controlled by the Sultan of Zanzibar, in place between 1856 and 1964. The Sultanate's territories varied over time, and after a period of de ...

, as a representative of the company. During the meeting, Zelewski's imperious behavior became a trigger for the uprising of the East African coastal population against the GEAC. The company had concluded a coastal and customs treaty with the Sultan in 1887. In return for an annual lease, it took over the administration of the mainland strip of Zanzibar and levied customs duties. When the GEAC tried to take over the administration of the coastal towns in August 1888, it met with broad rejection from the population, who saw themselves betrayed by the sultan.

Abushiri Revolt

Zelewski's imperious behavior towards the Sultan's local wali and the disregard for the Sultan's flag when the GEAC flag was raised led to open outrage. The Austrian Consul Rudolf Fuchs in Zanzibar then reported to his Foreign Minister in Vienna, This incident also took place on the

Eid al-Adha Eid al-Adha () is the second of the two main festivals in Islam alongside Eid al-Fitr. It falls on the 10th of Dhu al-Hijja, the twelfth and final month of the Islamic calendar. Celebrations and observances are generally carried forward to the ...

which was one of the most important Islamic holidays. The unrest in Pangani triggered the two-year uprising of the coastal population led by Buschiri bin Salim, in which the rule of the GEAC completely collapsed. The German Empire deployed marine infantry from ships of the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the ''Kaiserliche Marine'' (Imperial Navy) was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for ...

in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

and sent

Hermann Wissmann Hermann Wilhelm Leopold Ludwig Wissmann, after 1890 Hermann von Wissmann (4 September 1853 – 15 June 1905), was a German explorer and administrator in Africa. Biography Born in Frankfurt an der Oder, Wissmann was enlisted in the Prussian Arm ...

Reichskommissar (, rendered as "Commissioner of the Empire", "Reich Commissioner" or "Imperial Commissioner"), in German history, was an official governatorial title used for various public offices during the period of the German Empire and Nazi Germany. Ger ...

, who was to put down the insurrection movement with a hastily recruited force of German officers and African mercenaries. The control of the protected area was then transferred from the GEAC to the German Empire. Emil von Zelewski joined Wissmann's troops in 1889, took part in the storming of Buschiri's camp and the capture of Pangani and Saadani. He was eventually appointed head of the Wissmann Troop in Kilwa. During the capture of Pangani, Zelewski and his men committed numerous atrocities. They took away men from manual labour, raped women, and shot anyone who resisted.

Commander of the Protection Force

On 1 April 1891 he succeeded Wissmann as commander in German East Africa. By Imperial law of 22 March 1891 the

for German East Africa was established as a military force under Imperial control and Wissmann's private group was integrated into it. After conquering the coast, the Germans tried to consolidate their power inland as well. To do this, it was primarily necessary to secure the caravan routes between the coast and

Ujiji Ujiji is the oldest town in western Tanzania and is located in Kigoma-Ujiji District of Kigoma Region. Originally a Swahili settlement and then an Arab slave trading post by the mid-nineteenth century nominally under the Sultanate of Zanziba ...

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika ( ; ) is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake. It is the world's List of lakes by volume, second-largest freshwater lake by volume and the List of lakes by depth, second deepest, in both cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. ...

. They roughly correspond to the line on which the Mittellandbahn was later built. In this area, the German colonial power encountered the expanding sphere of influence of the

, who had brought large parts of the southern highlands under their control under their chiefs Munyigumba Muyinga and Mkwawa since the 1860s. The Hehe trains extended into the area of the caravan route. There were also attacks on tribes that had recognized German supremacy. That is why the decision was made in the new capital Dar es Salaam to undertake a

punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong beha ...

against the Hehe.

Death in Lugalo

The first significant action by Zelewski as commander was also his last. In July 1891 he marched with a battalion of the Schutztruppe (three companies with 13 officers, 320 Askaris, 170 porters as well as machine guns and light field guns) from the East African coast towards Heheland. Zelewski switched to

scorched earth A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy of destroying everything that allows an enemy military force to be able to fight a war, including the deprivation and destruction of water, food, humans, animals, plants and any kind of tools and i ...

warfare as he knew it from fighting the coastal insurrection. On 30 July 1891 he noted “a fortified settlement shot at with 20 shells and 850

Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment *Maxim (magazine), ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** Maxim (Australia), ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** Maxim (India), ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim ...

cartridges”, on 5 and 6 August 1891, 25 farms burned down, and on 15 and 16 August 1891 another 50 farms.Thomas Morlang
''You wanted it that way.'' The extermination campaign against the Hehe people in East Africa.
In: '' Die Ziet. '' No. 32/1998, p. 2. Mkwawa and his brother Mpangie had gathered their warriors and were waiting for the Schutztruppe to ambush them. On 17 August 1891 Zelewski, who renounced reconnaissance patrols, marched right into the middle of Mkwawa's army; camouflaged in bush and tall grass. Near Rugaro he was attacked by up to 3,000 Hehe. Zelewski and most of his men were dead within ten minutes. Two German lieutenants and two NCOs managed to escape with two

Effendi Effendi or effendy ( ; ; originally from ) is a title of nobility meaning '' sir'', ''lord'' or '' master'', especially in the Ottoman Empire and the Caucasus''.'' The title itself and its other forms are originally derived from Medieval Gree ...

s, 62 Askaris, 74 porters, four donkeys and some of the luggage. A few years later, a small pyramid with a memorial plaque for the German fallen soldiers was erected at the site of the battle.

Family

A nephew of Emil von Zelewski was

Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-N ...

, who, as a SS-Obergruppenführer, was involved in anti-partisan operations and was significantly involved in extermination campaigns in the Soviet Union. In August 1944 he ordered the suppression of the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

. His biographer Blood takes the view that the uncle's fate was seen as a family disgrace because he was defeated in a fight against "inferior" Africans. This was one of the driving forces behind the atrocities to which the nephew felt were called for.