An Italian postcard map of central and southern Africa with insets for New Guinea and Kiautschau, China, with the colonies of Italy, Britain, France, Portugal, Spain, Germany, and Belgium.

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Mozambique was a Portuguese colony in southeast Africa.

General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck commanded a colonial army of German and African (Askari) troops in a guerrilla campaign based in German East Africa to the north of Mozambique. The campaign primarily targeted British East Africa but also Belgian forces based in Belgian Congo.

Despite British pressure, Portugal remained neutral until early 1916. In retaliation for the sinking of neutral Portuguese vessels, the Portuguese Government seized 38 German ships in Portuguese waters on March 8, 1916. Germany demanded their immediate release and, when Portugal refused, declared war. Austria-Hungary did the same on March 15.

In the face of a British offensive in September 1917, Lettow-Vorbeck withdrew into Mozambique with 2,200 troops. Pursued by the British, his forces trekked 1,250 miles (2,000 km) before returning to German East Africa on September 28, 1918.

Mozambique is a colony in Africa.