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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class. It's a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Quick warning before we start the show, this

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Speaker 1: episode contains physical and sexual violence. Hi everyone, I'm Eves.

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Speaker 1: Welcome to This Day and History Class, a show that

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Speaker 1: will convince you that history can be fascinating even when

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Speaker 1: you expect it not to be. Today's January the day

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Speaker 1: was January twelfth, nineteen sixty four. The government of the

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Speaker 1: Sultan of Zanzibar was overthrown and Zanzibar was proclaimed a

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Speaker 1: republic under President of Baby karum A. Zanzibar is an

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Speaker 1: island in the Indian Ocean, just off the coast of

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Speaker 1: east central Africa. Many people immigrated to the island from

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Speaker 1: Persia and from the African mainland, and Arabs established a

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Speaker 1: lot of control and influence in Zanzibar. The island became

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Speaker 1: central to slave in ivory trade routes, and it was

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Speaker 1: rich in resources like coconuts. At the end of the

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Speaker 1: seventeenth century, Zanzibar came under the rule of the Sultan

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Speaker 1: of Oman, but Omani rule weakened and in eighteen ninety

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Speaker 1: Zanzibar became a British protectorate. The British considered Zanzibar an

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Speaker 1: Arab country, and upheld existing power structures. The Office of

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Speaker 1: the Sultan remained, though it was stripped of most of

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Speaker 1: its power, and Arabs were given ample opportunities for education

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Speaker 1: and bureaucratic positions. This set up lasted until nineteen sixty three.

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Speaker 1: In July of that year, a general election gave a

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Speaker 1: majority to a coalition of two political parties, the Arab

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Speaker 1: dominated Zanzibar Nationalist Party and the Zanzibar and Pemba People's Party.

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Speaker 1: The Afro Scherazi Party, an African nationalist party, was in

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Speaker 1: the minority even though it got fifty of the vote.

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Speaker 1: Members of the Afro Sharazi Party or a SP were

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Speaker 1: unsatisfied with this lack of representation despite their victories, and

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Speaker 1: the Arab elite made it clear that they viewed Africans

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Speaker 1: as inferior through treatment and policy. Racial tensions were already

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Speaker 1: high between the Arab elite and the black majority, and

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Speaker 1: it was no different with the new Arab dominated government.

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Speaker 1: The Sultan band the UMA Party, which was made up

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Speaker 1: of radical Arab socialists and policemen of mainland African origin,

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Speaker 1: were fired. This inspired mainland Africans in Zanzibar and the

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Speaker 1: UMA Party to work together. That said, a SP member,

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Speaker 1: John o'kello, kept his revolutionary plans secret from the top

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Speaker 1: leaders of the party. In December of nineteen sixty three,

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Speaker 1: the UK ended the Protectorate over Zanzibar. Zanzibar regained its

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Speaker 1: independence and became a member of the British Commonwealth. It

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Speaker 1: became a constitutional monarchy under the Sultan, but this period

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Speaker 1: was short lived. On the early morning of January twelfth,

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Speaker 1: nineteen sixty four, just a month after Zanzibar became inde

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Speaker 1: in it from British rule, o'kella led a group of

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Speaker 1: mainly African insurgents in attacking police stations and taking weapons.

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Speaker 1: Then they went to Zanzibar town where they outsted the

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Speaker 1: Sultan and his government. The revolution got a lot of

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Speaker 1: support from Africans, but the uprising was bloody, as the

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Speaker 1: insurgents killed and raped Arabs in South Asians and forced

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Speaker 1: many others to flee. The death toll is disputed, with

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Speaker 1: high estimates placed at around twenty thou people. The Moderate

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Speaker 1: ASP leader Abadi Karum became Zanzibar's new president and head

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Speaker 1: of state. Members of the UMA Party were installed in

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Speaker 1: positions of power. Western nations feared the new government's communist ties,

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Speaker 1: but Zanzibar never emerged as a communist power. Leaders in China,

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Speaker 1: East Germany and the Soviet Union did establish relations with Zanzibar, though.

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Speaker 1: In April of nineteen sixty four, Karum signed a declaration

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Speaker 1: immunity with tam gin Yika, a state in East intral Africa,

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Speaker 1: and together the two countries became the United Republic of Tanzania.

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Speaker 1: The revolution ended two centuries of dominance by the Arab

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Speaker 1: ruling class, and Zanzibar Revolution Day is a public holiday

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Speaker 1: in Tanzania, but the revolutions legacy is also one of

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Speaker 1: brutal violence. I'm Eaves Jeff Coote and hopefully you know

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Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did it yesterday.

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Speaker 1: If you haven't gotten your fill of history yet, you

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Speaker 1: can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t

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Speaker 1: d I h C Podcast. You can also shoot us

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Speaker 1: an email at this day at I heart media dot com.

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Speaker 1: We're here every day, so you know where to find

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