Barter exchange
Betschausch was a name for African sergeants ( Unterfeldwebel ) in the Imperial Protection Force for German East Africa . The origin of the word lies in the Turkish non-commissioned officer rank of "Başçavuş" in the Ottoman army, which corresponds to a sergeant's rank in today's Turkish army . The original meaning is main leader .
The rank designation was common among the mostly Sudanese mercenaries recruited by Hermann von Wissmann in Egypt to fight the uprising of 1889 on the coast of East Africa and was brought into the Wissmann's troops, which later became part of the Schutztruppe.
Because of the racist structure of the colonial force, African sergeants always ranked lower than German NCOs. This also applied to other ranks of black soldiers such as Schausch or the Effendi officer rank .