History In the late 19th century, Portugal's dominance of Mozambique was threatened by the expansionist colonial ambitions of Great Britain and Germany . Although the borders of Mozambique had nominally been fixed by the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, Portugal lacked the capital to exert effective control or  exploitation of the territory. To help overcome this, in 1891 the Portuguese government authorised three private companies by royal charter to manage portions of Mozambique: the Mozambique Company, the Zambezi Company and the Niassa Company. In 1913-14, a German banking consortium bought a majority of the shares of the Niassa Company, aiming at a partition of  Mozambique between Germany and Great Britain. With the outbreak of World War I , the British government confiscated  German equities and handed them over to an English financial group led by Owen Philipps, chairman of the Union-Castle Line, which did much business in Portuguese East Africa, but which found the concession to be more of a liability. During the war, the Niassa Company's territory was the scene of several  resistance operations by the local chiefs aided by the Germans (including in the Kionga Triangle). To resist this invasion, more than 300 kilometers of roads were opened. This also meant the effective occupation of the Mueda Plateau, which was occupied by the heavily-armed Makonde people. The Niassa Company only managed to suppress the Makonde by the early 1920s, and the tribe later became the backbone of the FRELIMO movement in the 1960s and 1970s against continued Portuguese colonial rule. In addition, the company relied on a hut tax , modelled after the system in British East Africa . Although theoretically a tax on each dwelling, in reality the tax was on each adult person, which could be paid in cash or in produce. The hut tax, which was two escudo in 1921 was increased to 50 escudo in 1927 and to 85 escudo in 1929. This was party due to devaluation of the escudo, but was also due to a dwindling tax base, as thousands of Mozambicans sought refuge in Tanganyika or Nyasaland to avoid the tax. As a tax of 50 escudo was the equivalent of three months paid labor, many people fell deeply into debt or forced labor.
History In the late 19th century, Portugal's dominance of Mozambique began to be challenged by the establishment of neighboring British and German colonies . Although the borders of Mozambique had nominally been fixed by the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, Portugal lacked the capital to exert effective control or economic exploitation of the territory. To help overcome this, in 1891 the Portuguese government authorised three private companies by royal charter to manage portions of Mozambique: the Mozambique Company, the Zambezi Company and the Niassa Company. In 1913-14, a German banking consortium bought a majority of the shares of the Niassa Company, aiming to bring about a partition of Portuguese Mozambique between Germany and Great Britain. With the outbreak of the First World War , the British government confiscated the German equities and handed them over to an English financial group led by Owen Philipps, chairman of the Union-Castle Line, which conducted several businesses in Portuguese East Africa, but which found the concession to be more of a liability. During the war, the Niassa Company's territory was the scene of several anti-Portuguese resistance operations by the local chiefs aided by the Germans (including in the Kionga Triangle). To resist this invasion, more than 300 kilometers of roads were opened. This also meant the effective occupation of the Mueda Plateau, which was occupied by the heavily-armed Makonde people. The Niassa Company only managed to suppress the Makonde by the early 1920s, and the tribe later became the backbone of the FRELIMO movement in the 1960s and 1970s against continued Portuguese colonial rule. In addition, the company relied on a hut tax to fund its operations . Although theoretically a tax on each dwelling, in reality the tax was on each adult person, which could be paid in cash or in produce. The hut tax, which was two escudo in 1921 was increased to 50 escudo in 1927 and to 85 escudo in 1929. This was party due to devaluation of the escudo, but was also due to a dwindling tax base, as thousands of Mozambicans sought refuge in Tanganyika or Nyasaland to avoid the tax. As a tax of 50 escudo was the equivalent of three months paid labor, many people fell deeply into debt or forced labor.
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was threatened by the expansionist colonial ambitions of Great Britain and Germany
began to be challenged by the establishment of neighboring British and German colonies
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economic
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at
to bring about
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Portuguese
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World War I
the First World War
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the
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did much business
conducted several businesses
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anti-Portuguese
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, modelled after the system in British East Africa
to fund its operations