African Reactions to the First World War: The Case of the Mtenga-Tenga of Northern Rhodesia (Zambia)

During the First World War, 312,891 men and women from Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) were recruited as porters. Their task was to ensure a steady supply of food and artillery from Northern Rhodesia to the northern border into German East Africa (modern Tanzania and parts of Rwanda and Burundi) and Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique). There is a growing body of literature on African porters who served in the East Africa campaign during the First World War. Despite the recognition of the importance of African porters, the experiences of those from Northern Rhodesia remains understudied. Therefore, this article examines the experiences of Northern Rhodesian porters – the mtenga-tenga – in the East Africa campaign. It also explores the porters’ reactions to their wartime experiences. The article argues that negative experiences in the war altered these men and women in many ways. Significantly, these experiences adversely affected their relationship with the traditional authorities. This shook the very foundations of established traditional authority. The article draws extensively on new primary data stored in Zambian museums and archives, which hitherto have been underutilised.