Most of Germany’s African colonies were of limited interest to the British, but German East Africa (modern-day Tanzania) was a tempting territory with economic potential. Elsewhere on the continent, Allied armies had encountered little difficulty in dislodging the small military forces holding German possessions, but the story was very different in German East Africa. It wasn’t so much that they had a large army (available manpower was never more than 15,000 and usually much less), but more that they were commanded by a man of genuine military capability.
Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck understood that he couldhad a vast territory to operate in and so waged his campaign in a daring and innovative way. His only objective was to tie down British troops (preventing them from being sent to Europe) by keeping his own small army intact.