James Baquet Battles make up wars. But sometimes, between the two, is another category: campaigns. Today we’ll talk about the Battle of Kilimanjaro, which occurred — obviously — in Africa. This was during the First World War, and was one of the earliest encounters to take place during the East African Campaign. The war pitted the so-called “Central Powers” of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria (and their “co-belligerents,” including the South African Republic and many others) against the “Allied Powers”: France, the British Empire, Italy, Russia, the United States, China and many others. It began when Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was assassinated in Serbia. The Austro-Hungarians were not satisfied with Serbia’s official response to the incident, and war became inevitable. A complex web of alliances brought in the other players, one by one or en masse, and the war was on. The main theater of operations was, of course, Europe, but the far-flung colonial interests of the various combatants meant that there would be battles in some remote places. East Africa was one of these, where the U.K. and her colonies, along with Belgium and Portugal and theirs, took on Germany and her colony of East Africa. One of the primary purposes of the Germans was to divert Allied resources away from the action in Europe. The Battle of Kilimanjaro was part of a two-pronged attack, the other part of the operation hitting farther south, at Tanga. The plan was to catch the Germans in a pincer movement. Unfortunately, the British had received faulty intelligence and expected only 200 German soldiers. There were well over three times that many, and most of those were dug into defensive positions. So, the 1,500 or so Indian members of the British army faced nearly 700 Germans. The Germans lost just over 100 men, the British over 300. Defeated by the defenders, the British army withdrew, and the remaining Germans were shuttled by rail to the south, where they contributed to the German victory at the other half of the campaign, the Battle of Tanga. Vocabulary: Which word above means: 1. murdered for political purposes 2. far away, isolated 3. inaccurate, not working properly 4. altogether, as one 5. placed in opposition 6. military operation for a specific objective 7. one who will inherit 8. draw away from 9. intricate set of relationships 10. clearly, without doubt | 