Latest / The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History / The Battle of Tabora: Belgium's Forgotten Great War Victory
Transcript
- Lucas: We've talked before about the Force Publique in the Second World War — the Battle of Saïo, the liberation of Ethiopia. But for Belgium, the Great War also played out in Africa, and it's a story that's largely unknown outside military history circles. Luna: Because Belgium was occupied at home, right? So all the focus was on the front lines in Flanders. Lucas: Exactly. King Albert I's army was stuck behind the Yser, but the Belgian Congo wasn't occupied. And the colony had a military — the Force Publique — about 20,000 African soldiers, most of them recruited forcibly or from the Tetela and other groups. In 1916, the Allies decided to go on the offensive against German East Africa, which is modern Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi. Luna: So the Force Publique was supposed to help? That seems like a long way from the Congo. Lucas: It was a huge logistical challenge. The British asked the Belgians to attack from the western side, towards the town of Tabora, which was a major German rail junction. The commander was General Charles Tombeur — a Belgian who had served in the Congo since the 1890s. He led a column of about 11,000 men, including thousands of porters carrying supplies. Luna: Porters? So not just soldiers — they needed a whole support army. Lucas: Exactly. The terrain was brutal – dense bush, rivers, and a tsetse fly belt that killed horses and oxen. So almost everything was carried on human heads. They built a railway spur to Lake Tanganyika and used a fleet of small boats. The campaign took months, with constant skirmishes. Lucas: The main battle for Tabora itself happened in mid-September 1916. The Germans had about 1,300 men, including African askaris under German officers. They tried to defend the town, but the Force Publique outnumbered them and attacked from two sides. The fighting was intense — bayonet charges, machine guns. Luna: Did the Belgians win? Lucas: Yes, after five days they captured Tabora. General Tombeur entered the town on September 19th. It was a real victory — the Germans retreated and the Belgians controlled the region for the rest of the war. But the cost was high: about 400 soldiers and over 2,000 porters died from disease and exhaustion. Luna: That's a huge number of porters. The colonial labor system was brutal. Lucas: Absolutely. The porters were conscripted — many from the same villages that had suffered under Leopold's rubber terror. And the campaign itself required hundreds of thousands of man-days of labor. It sparked a revolt among the Tetela, who saw the war as a new form of forced labor. That rebellion was only suppressed in 1918. Lucas: Politically, the Tabora victory gave Belgium a stronger hand at the Versailles peace table. They ended up gaining control of the League of Nations mandates over Rwanda and Burundi — territories that had been part of German East Africa. That was a major territorial expansion. Luna: So the Battle of Tabora directly led to Belgium's colonial rule in Rwanda and Burundi. That's a huge consequence. Lucas: Exactly. And it's often overshadowed by the European front. But for the Congolese soldiers and porters, this was their war too. Yet after 1918, they were mostly ignored — no monuments, no pensions. The colonial administration quickly forgot their service. Luna: That's a common pattern after colonial wars, isn't it? Lucas: Very much so. And it's part of the larger story we've been tracing — the Belgium-Congo relationship built on exploitation and silence. But remembering battles like Tabora at least gives a face to those who fought. Lucas: If today's episode helped you see a different side of the Great War, or the colonial impact, that's what we're here for. These shows are completely listener-supported — no ads, no sponsors. Just history, freely shared. If you'd like to help keep that going, you can at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small gesture, but it really makes a difference. Luna: Yeah, it's because of listeners that we can dive into these forgotten corners. Every bit helps. Lucas: So back to the aftermath — that Tetela revolt I mentioned? It was another chapter in the Force Publique's own internal conflicts. The same soldiers who conquered Tabora were later used to suppress their own people. It's a tragic irony. Luna: It really shows the complex dynamics of colonial armies. Lucas: Indeed. And in 1920, the Force Publique was even used to break strikes in Katanga. So the weapon forged in Tabora became a tool of domestic control. That's a story for another episode.