Following a revolution on Zanzibar, Tanganyika and Zanzibar united as the United Republic of Tanzania, with Nyerere as president and Abeid Karume of Zanzibar as vice president. Zanzibar retained substantial autonomy.
Pres. Julius Nyerere of Tanzania issued the Arusha Declaration, inaugurating the Ujaama Movement for independent socialist development, based on a concept of an African-derived variant of socialism, rooted in communalism. Ujaama is a Swahili word meaning “familyhood” and has since taken the general meaning of African socialism.
Pres. Nyerere announced that 65 percent of the population had been moved into ujaama villages. However, collective control of distribution, combined with a severe drought in 1974–75 and a steep rise in oil prices, produced considerable economic problems.
A force of Tanzanian and Ugandan soldiers deposed Gen. Idi Amin of Uganda, ending an eight-year reign of terror that resulted in perhaps 300,000 deaths.
Nyerere retired as president, and Ali Hassan Mwinyi was elected. He quickly concluded an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, though Nyerere, as party chairman, opposed its austerity and liberalization measures.
Nyerere was reelected, with Mwinyi's support, as chair of Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM—the Revolutionary Party of Tanzania—the successor to TANU after unity with the Zanzibar Party).
