The Chilembwe uprising was a rebellion against British colonial rule in Nyasaland (modern-day Malawi) in January 1915. Led by John Chilembwe, an American-educated black millenarian Christian minister, the uprising was based around his church in the village of Mbombwe in the south-east of the country. It was centred on the black middle class and encouraged by grievances against the colonial system, including forced labour, discrimination and the new demands on the indigenous population caused by the outbreak of World War I.