Overview

The immediate postcolonial moment brought both promise and peril for the states of Africa and their security. The process of decolonization generated instability, and the emergent Cold War caught up the still-fragile independent states in a global ideological struggle between superpowers. While the political story of these states has been written in detail, the story of their militaries has been largely inaccessible, leaving only sketches of the coups, mutinies, and overall failures of security that outside observers could chronicle. Ujamaa’s Army traces the evolution of the Tanzania People’s Defence Force from its inception in 1964 following the broader East African uprisings to its fully realized form on the eve of Tanzania’s 1978 conflict with Uganda. The book gathers primary interviews with key military actors within Tanzania and interweaves their narratives with archival sources to produce a detailed history of the culmination of President Julius Nyerere’s ideological project and the military leadership’s vision of a professional and effective force for guarding the nation and supporting liberation struggles across Southern Africa.

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Charles G. Thomas’s Ujamaa’s Army is a much-needed, exemplary history of the Tanzania People’s Defense Force (TPDF), a postcolonial army of tremendous importance for understanding African sovereignty and liberation struggles. Thomas’s patient, resolute, and creative research on the TPDF provides fresh insights into independence-era African militaries, their political complexities, and the material, moral, and political costs of state building. -- Michelle R. Moyd, Michigan State University Ujamaa’s Army is a groundbreaking study of the development of an African national army. Drawing on unprecedented access to Cold War–era archives and interviews with high-ranking former officers, Charles G. Thomas shows how the Tanzanian People’s Defence Force balanced the necessity of military efficiency with Tanzanian socialism. In moving beyond the conventional literature on African military institutions this book is one of the first to provide an inside look into the historical evolution of the armed forces of an African nation-state. -- Timothy Parsons, Washington University in St. Louis Ujamaa’s Army is among the most exciting and important books on African military history to appear in recent years. Based on extensive research, Charles G.Thomas shows how Julius Nyerere’s Tanzania built a new style of postcolonial African armed forces during the 1960s and 1970s that supported Southern African liberation movements and defeated Uganda in a conventional war. -- Timothy Stapleton, University of Calgary

Ujamaa’s Army is a groundbreaking study of the development of an African national army. Drawing on unprecedented access to Cold War–era archives and interviews with high-ranking former officers, Charles G. Thomas shows how the Tanzanian People’s Defence Force balanced the necessity of military efficiency with Tanzanian socialism. In moving beyond the conventional literature on African military institutions this book is one of the first to provide an inside look into the historical evolution of the armed forces of an African nation-state. -- Timothy Parsons, Washington University in St. Louis Ujamaa’s Army is among the most exciting and important books on African military history to appear in recent years. Based on extensive research, Charles G.Thomas shows how Julius Nyerere’s Tanzania built a new style of postcolonial African armed forces during the 1960s and 1970s that supported Southern African liberation movements and defeated Uganda in a conventional war. -- Timothy Stapleton, University of Calgary Charles G. Thomas’s Ujamaa’s Army is a much-needed, exemplary history of the Tanzania People’s Defense Force (TPDF), a postcolonial army of tremendous importance for understanding African sovereignty and liberation struggles. Thomas’s patient, resolute, and creative research on the TPDF provides fresh insights into independence-era African militaries, their political complexities, and the material, moral, and political costs of state-building. -- Michelle R. Moyd, Michigan State University

Ujamaa’s Army is a groundbreaking study of the development of an African national army. Drawing on unprecedented access to Cold War–era archives and interviews with high-ranking former officers, Charles G. Thomas shows how the Tanzanian People’s Defence Force balanced the necessity of military efficiency with Tanzanian socialism. In moving beyond the conventional literature on African military institutions this book is one of the first to provide an inside look into the historical evolution of the armed forces of an African nation-state. -- Timothy Parsons, Washington University in St. Louis

Charles G. Thomas’s Ujamaa’s Army is a much-needed, exemplary history of the Tanzania People’s Defense Force (TPDF), a postcolonial army of tremendous importance for understanding African sovereignty and liberation struggles. Thomas’s patient, resolute, and creative research on the TPDF provides fresh insights into independence-era African militaries, their political complexities, and the material, moral, and political costs of state building. -- Michelle R. Moyd, Michigan State University Charles G. Thomas’s Ujamaa’s Army is a much-needed, exemplary history of the Tanzania People’s Defense Force (TPDF), a postcolonial army of tremendous importance for understanding African sovereignty and liberation struggles. Thomas’s patient, resolute, and creative research on the TPDF provides fresh insights into independence-era African militaries, their political complexities, and the material, moral, and political costs of state building. -- Michelle R. Moyd, Michigan State University Ujamaa’s Army is a groundbreaking study of the development of an African national army. Drawing on unprecedented access to Cold War–era archives and interviews with high-ranking former officers, Charles G. Thomas shows how the Tanzanian People’s Defence Force balanced the necessity of military efficiency with Tanzanian socialism. In moving beyond the conventional literature on African military institutions this book is one of the first to provide an inside look into the historical evolution of the armed forces of an African nation-state. -- Timothy Parsons, Washington University in St. Louis Ujamaa’s Army is a groundbreaking study of the development of an African national army. Drawing on unprecedented access to Cold War–era archives and interviews with high-ranking former officers, Charles G. Thomas shows how the Tanzanian People’s Defence Force balanced the necessity of military efficiency with Tanzanian socialism. In moving beyond the conventional literature on African military institutions this book is one of the first to provide an inside look into the historical evolution of the armed forces of an African nation-state. -- Timothy Parsons, Washington University in St. Louis Ujamaa’s Army is among the most exciting and important books on African military history to appear in recent years. Based on extensive research, Charles G.Thomas shows how Julius Nyerere’s Tanzania built a new style of postcolonial African armed forces during the 1960s and 1970s that supported Southern African liberation movements and defeated Uganda in a conventional war. -- Timothy Stapleton, University of Calgary Ujamaa’s Army is among the most exciting and important books on African military history to appear in recent years. Based on extensive research, Charles G.Thomas shows how Julius Nyerere’s Tanzania built a new style of postcolonial African armed forces during the 1960s and 1970s that supported Southern African liberation movements and defeated Uganda in a conventional war. -- Timothy Stapleton, University of Calgary

Ujamaa’s Army is a groundbreaking study of the development of an African national army. Drawing on unprecedented access to Cold War–era archives and interviews with high-ranking former officers, Charles G. Thomas shows how the Tanzanian People’s Defence Force balanced the necessity of military efficiency with Tanzanian socialism. In moving beyond the conventional literature on African military institutions this book is one of the first to provide an inside look into the historical evolution of the armed forces of an African nation-state. -- Timothy Parsons, Washington University in St. Louis Ujamaa’s Army is among the most exciting and important books on African military history to appear in recent years. Based on extensive research, Charles G.Thomas shows how Julius Nyerere’s Tanzania built a new style of postcolonial African armed forces during the 1960s and 1970s that supported Southern African liberation movements and defeated Uganda in a conventional war. -- Timothy Stapleton, University of Calgary

Author Information

Charles G. Thomas is an associate professor of strategy and security studies at the US Air Force’s Global College of Professional Military Education. He is the co-managing editor of the Journal of African Military History and primarily writes and teaches on the construction and evolution of postcolonial African militaries from the Cold War to the present.

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