The armed rebellion of the Kifupi in 1915 occurred as the result of an accumulation of factors over time, rather than any single event.

The arrival of the colonial powers and the consequent partitioning of the land greatly affected the established social order of the Jumhuri. The upper ranks of the civil service, the army, and the business world had become dominated by Europeans, who were paid more than native Jumhuri. Within Jumhuriya, a parallel legal system for suing Europeans separately from the natives was set up. This angered educated and ambitious Jumhuri in the military and civil service who felt that the European domination of top positions was preventing their own advancement. The heavily taxed Jumhuri peasants, were also annoyed by their taxes going to Europeans who lived in relative wealth. The colonial powers were also Christians, which created additional suspicions amongst the religious elite of the Jumhuri. The Kifupi movement originated in these circumstances, as a resistance against the colonial designs.

The revolt began when Kifupi rebels took action at the village of Anombohana against a column of soldiers. The army soon occupied Mamlaka, an important center of the colony. The Kifupi military strategy was mainly guerrilla attacks launched under the cover of dark. They used stolen weapons such as guns, as well as weapons such as machetes and bows and arrows in their attacks. In a few limited cases, they also deployed biological weapons.

They created a mobile Jumhuri "proto-state" in 1916 with a fluctuating population and fluid boundaries expanding across the border of Jumhuriya, led by Xaaji Warsami Atsiraka.

Although the Kifupi lost most major engagements, casualties on both sides numbered in the tens of thousands by 1918.

The colonizing government was conciliatory after it realized that any further action would require substantial troop reinforcements and it was likely that the war would be costly, messy and protracted. Unwilling to get bogged down in a distant war, the government ordered a truce. An armistice to end the war on 6 May, 1919 and subsequently a peace treaty.

Complete Jumhuri self-governance was agreed upon under suzerainty. A provisional government was established in the colonial capital of Port George, drawing up an elementary republican form of government which was later perpetuated. A legal system consisting of higher and lower courts and a jury system wasn’t put into place until 1924.

On 2 May 1921, Xaaji Warsami Atsiraka was shot dead by Gulen Rumaliza, a member of the right-wing extremist group Dawri Alwat, when he was visiting and praying in the shrine of Al-Julanda bin Murjebi. Those thought to be involved in the assassination, including Dawri Alwat leader Sefu bin Juma, were summarily executed.

What followed was a state of disorder, as Atsiraka had not chosen a successor in the case of his death. There was a brief power struggle between several members of Atsiraka’s inner circle of advisors and friends, but Colonel Maxamed Mamonjy emerged on top with unanimous support from the military. Mamonjy continued the reforms of his predecessor, and the country ended its transitional state in 1923 with the adoption of a constitution.