17 Facts About Eberhard Gudowius

Eberhard Gudowius was a German military officer who served as acting colonial resident in Burundi and Rwanda, helping to suppress native uprisings.

Eberhard Gudowius later served as a commander in the World War I's East African campaign until being captured by British forces in 1916.

Eberhard Gudowius eventually joined the Schutztruppe, the German colonial army, and became a lieutenant.

Eberhard Gudowius served in German East Africa, where the Germans had partially implemented a system of indirect rule through native monarchies.

In January 1909, Eberhard Gudowius became acting German colonial resident of the Kingdom of Burundi, succeeding Heinrich Fonck.

Eberhard Gudowius held this position until April 1909, when he wa replaced by Erich von Langenn-Steinkeller.

When Kandt left the region for a long home visit in 1911, Eberhard Gudowius became acting resident.

Eberhard Gudowius thus started to appoint "government chiefs" who were loyal to him and directly implement his orders as well as act intermediaries between Rwandans and non-Rwandans.

Unlike Kandt, Gudowius had showcased little interest in the internal politics of the Rwandan monarchy and thus was not automatically supportive of Yuhi V Contemplating that Ndungutse might be a more pliant ally if he gained the throne through a German intervention, the lieutenant even pondered to offer support to the insurgent leader.

Either way, Eberhard Gudowius decided to enforce a ceasefire between the warring parties and rejected Yuhi V's demands for a counter-insurgency operation, earning the current monarch's lasting enmity.

When someone informed him of the poem's true nature, a furious Eberhard Gudowius retaliated by using another Rwandan tradition: Yuhi V was forced parade his prized cattle before the German officer in public, a traditional move for a Rwandan to acknowledge someone as a superior and patron.

At some point, Eberhard Gudowius explored the rivers in Rwanda, discovering that the Nyabarongo River presented a navigatable waterway between the Kagera River and the settlement of Kigali.

In World War I, Eberhard Gudowius operated in northwestern German East Africa.

Eberhard Gudowius earned the local nickname bwana lazima.

Conversely, historian E Paice argued that Gudowius had probably never planned to reinforce the western German forces in the first place, as the Bukoba garrison was already depleted, on the defensive, and in no position to shift its troops.

Eberhard Gudowius was separated from his troops and then chanced upon Major Rouling, whereupon the opposing commanders reportedly engaged in a pistol duel.

Eberhard Gudowius wrote a right-wing short story titled Expedition gegen Ndungutze und Bassebja, published in a collection of colonial literature by Werner von Langsdorff in 1936.