French Cameroon

Last updated

Territory of Cameroun
Cameroun
1916–1960
League of Nations mandate Middle East and Africa.png
League of Nations mandates in the Middle East and Africa; French Cameroon is number 9.
Status Mandate of France
Capital Yaoundé
3°51′59.108″N11°31′14.027″E / 3.86641889°N 11.52056306°E / 3.86641889; 11.52056306
Official languagesFrench
Common languages
Religion
Christianity, Bwiti, Islam
Government Mandate
History 
  German Cameroon partitioned
20 July 1916
 independence as Cameroon
1 January 1960
Currency
ISO 3166 code CM
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Reichskolonialflagge.svg Kamerun
Cameroon Flag of Cameroon (1957-1961).svg
Map of the history of Cameroon; French Cameroon is the blue area. Cameroon boundary changes.PNG
Map of the history of Cameroon; French Cameroon is the blue area.

French Cameroon, also known as the French Cameroons (French: Cameroun), was a French mandate territory in Central Africa. It now forms part of the independent country of Cameroon.

Contents

History

Beginnings

The area of present-day Cameroon came under German sovereignty during the "Scramble for Africa" at the end of the 19th century. The German protectorate commenced in 1884 with a treaty with local chiefs in the Douala area, in particular Ndumbe Lobe Bell, then gradually it was extended to the interior. [1] In 1911, France ceded parts of its territory to German Cameroon, as a result of the Agadir Crisis, the new territory being henceforth known as Neukamerun ("New Cameroon"). During World War I, the German protectorate was occupied by British and French troops, and later mandated to each country by the League of Nations in 1922. The British mandate was known as British Cameroons and the French mandate as French Cameroon (French: Cameroun). Following World War II each of the mandate territories was made a United Nations Trust Territory. An insurrection headed by Ruben Um Nyobé and the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC) erupted in 1955, strongly repressed by the French Fourth Republic. French Cameroon became independent as the Republic of Cameroon in January 1960 and in October 1961 the southern part of British Cameroons joined it to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon . The Muslim northern part of British Cameroons had opted for union with Nigeria in May the same year. The conflict with the UPC lasted until the 1970s.

Interwar period

After World War I, French Cameroon was not integrated to French Equatorial Africa (AEF) but made a "Commissariat de la République autonome" under French mandate. France enacted an assimilationist policy with the aim of having German presence forgotten, by teaching French on all of the territory and imposing French law, while pursuing the "indigenous politics", which consisted of keeping control of the judiciary system and of the police, while tolerating traditional law issues. The colonial administration also followed public health policies (Eugène Jamot did some research on sleeping sickness) as well as encouraging Francophony. Charles Atangana, designated paramount chief by the Germans, and others local chiefs were invited to France, and Paul Soppo Priso named president of the JEUCAFRA (Cameroon French Youth). Charles Atangana would visit the 1931 Paris Colonial Exhibition and attend the 1935 French Colonial Conference. France took care to make disappear all remains of German presence and aimed at eradicating any trace of Germanophilia. French racism became prevalent throughout the colony rather quickly, and anti-French sentiment followed and would be strengthened in the late 1940s.[ citation needed ]

World War II

Monument of General Leclerc in Douala LT31 (5) Monument au general Leclerc.jpg
Monument of General Leclerc in Douala

In 1940, French Cameroon rallied to Free France. Troops under General Philippe Leclerc landed at Douala, capturing it on 27 August, and then moved to Yaounde, where pro-Vichy France governor Richard Brunot surrendered the civil administration. [2]

Post-war

After World War II, French Cameroon was made a United Nations Trust Territory and unified into the French Union. From the beginning of the 1940s, colonial authorities encouraged a policy of agricultural diversification into monocultural crops: coffee in the west, cotton in the North and cocoa in the south. Construction of roads allowed for greater exploitation of wood. Of a total of three million inhabitants, the French Cameroon territory counted 10% settlers, many who had been resident for decades, and approximatively 15,000 people linked to the colonial administration (civil servants, private agents, missionaries etc.) [3]

In 1946, a Representative Assembly of French Cameroon (ARCAM) was constituted. Paul Ajoulat and Alexandre Douala Manga Bell were elected deputies of the French National Assembly. Some private and public schools were opened, while the best students were sent to Dakar (Senegal) or France to study in college. The colonial administration also built electricity and water infrastructures in large cities. In 1952, the Representative Assembly became the Territorial Assembly of Cameroon (ATCAM).

The Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC), an anti-colonialist party created in 1948 and which struggled for unification of both Cameroons and for independence was outlawed in 1955. A colonial war then started and lasted for at least seven years, with the French Fourth Republic leading a harsh repression of the anti-colonialist movement. The conflict found its roots in the opposition between the settlers and the Cameroonese trade-unionists in the cities. After the Brazzaville Conference of January 1944, during which the Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF) issued several promises concerning progressive self-rule, the settlers organized themselves in 1945 in "General estates of colonisation" (Etats généraux de la colonisation").

A Cercle d'études marxistes (Marxist Study Circle) was created by Cameroonians in 1945, soon followed by the creation of the Union of Confederate Trade Unions of Cameroon (Union des syndicats confédérés du Cameroun, USCC) at the initiative of the CGT trade-union. Conflicts erupted in September 1945, with the settlers violently debating with the French governor. Members of the USCC were arrested. In 1948, Ruben Um Nyobé became the head of the resistance movement, with a nationalist and revolutionary program. Nyobé's UPC was at first only the local section of the African Democratic Rally created in 1946. However, it refused to split, as did the African Democratic Rally, with the French Communist Party (PCF) in 1950. After some revolts and increasing tensions with the colonial administration, the UPC was outlawed on 13 July 1955 by the governor Roland Pré, forcing Nyobé into hiding, from where he led a guerrilla war against the French administration.

Self rule in 1956 and continuation of the war

In 1957–58, Pierre Messmer, a Gaullist and head of the haut-commissaire of Cameroon (executive branch of the French government) started a decolonisation process which went further than the 1956 loi-Defferre (Defferre Act). At the same time, the Fourth Republic was stranded in the Algerian War (1954–62). It managed to obtain support of Britain in Cameroon.

France granted internal autonomy in 1956, and the ATCAM became the Legislative Assembly of Cameroon (ALCM). André Marie Bbida became prime minister in 1957, and Ahmadou Ahidjo vice-premier. Despite the requests by Rubem Um Nyobe, head of the UPC, the new government refused to legalize the UPC. André Bdida renounced in 1958, replaced by Ahidjo, while Um Nyobé was killed by a French commando in the "maquis" on 13 September 1958. Following his death, the UPC divided itself, while competing leaders, verbally in favor of Marxism revolution, radicalized the movement. Starting in 1959, the colonial war juxtaposed itself with a civil war, Ahmadou Ahidjo taking the place of France in fighting the UPC. The successor of Nyobé, Félix-Roland Moumié, was assassinated in 1960 in Geneva by the SDECE, French secret services. [4]

The insurrection continued after independence was granted, even though the UPC had been officially dismantled. The rebellion was really crushed only in the 1970s, after the death in the "maquis" of Ossendé Afana in March 1966 and the public execution of Ernest Ouandié, a historic leader of the UPC, in January 1971.

Estimates about the number of victims of the war ranged around several tens of thousands of deaths, mainly after independence. The war featured human rights abuses by UPC militants and the troops of Cameroon and France. [3] [5] Despite the efforts of writer Mongo Beti, the war and the brutal methods employed by the French government has been overshadowed in France by the Algerian War. The lack interest has been attributed to the use of professional soldiers in the conflict, the low number of Cameroonian immigrants in France requesting recognition of the crimes committed during the war, and, more recently, the fall of Communism. [3]

French Cameroon became independent on 1 January 1960, becoming the Republic of Cameroon. The civil war with the UPC lasted for years afterward.

Colony and mandate

Cameroon from 1901 to 1972
.mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{}
German Cameroon (Kamerun)
British Cameroon
French Cameroon (Cameroun)
independent Cameroon (Cameroun) Cameroon boundary changes.PNG
Cameroon from 1901 to 1972
   German Cameroon (Kamerun)
  French Cameroon (Cameroun)
  independent Cameroon (Cameroun)

The area of present-day Cameroon was claimed by Germany as a protectorate during the "Scramble for Africa" at the end of the 19th century. During World War I, it was occupied by French and Belgian troops.

In 1922 it was mandated to Great Britain and France by the League of Nations. The French mandate was known as Cameroun, in French West Africa. The British mandate was administered as two territories, Northern Cameroons and Southern Cameroons in British West Africa. British Northern Cameroons consisted of two non-contiguous sections, divided by where the Nigerian and Cameroon borders met.

Independence

French Cameroon became independent as the Republic of Cameroon on 1 January 1960, and Nigeria was scheduled for independence later that same year, which raised question of what to do with the British territory. After some discussion (which had been going on since 1959), a plebiscite (British Cameroons referendum) was agreed to and held on 11 February 1961. The Muslim-majority Northern Cameroons area opted for union with Nigeria, and the Southern Cameroons area voted to join Cameroon. [6]

Northern Cameroons became a region of Nigeria on 31 May 1961, while Southern Cameroons became part of the Federal Republic of Cameroon on 1 October.

Governors

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cameroon</span> Country in Central Africa

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Its coastline lies on the Bight of Biafra, part of the Gulf of Guinea, and the Atlantic Ocean. Due to its strategic position at the crossroads between West Africa and Central Africa, it has been categorized as being in both camps. Cameroon's population of nearly 31 million people speak 250 native languages, in addition to the national tongues of English and French, or both. Early inhabitants of the territory included the Sao civilisation around Lake Chad and the Baka hunter-gatherers in the southeastern rainforest. Portuguese explorers reached the coast in the 15th century and named the area Rio dos Camarões, which became Cameroon in English. Fulani soldiers founded the Adamawa Emirate in the north in the 19th century, and various ethnic groups of the west and northwest established powerful chiefdoms and fondoms.

At the crossroads of West Africa and Central Africa, the territory of what is now Cameroon has seen human habitation since some time in the Middle Paleolithic, likely no later than 130,000 years ago. The earliest discovered archaeological evidence of humans dates from around 30,000 years ago at Shum Laka. The Bamenda highlands in western Cameroon near the border with Nigeria are the most likely origin for the Bantu peoples, whose language and culture came to dominate most of central and southern Africa between 1000 BCE and 1000 CE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Cameroons</span> British mandate from 1916 to 1961

British Cameroons or British Cameroon was a British mandate territory in British West Africa, formed of the Northern Cameroons and Southern Cameroons. Today, the Northern Cameroons forms parts of the Borno, Adamawa and Taraba states of Nigeria, while the Southern Cameroons forms part of the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Biya</span> President of Cameroon since 1982

Paul Biya is a Cameroonian politician who has served as the second president of Cameroon since 1982, having previously been the fifth prime minister of Cameroon from 1975 to 1982. As of 2024, he is the second-longest-ruling president in Africa and the longest consecutively serving current non-royal national leader in the world and the oldest head of state in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmadou Ahidjo</span> President of Cameroon from 1960 to 1982

Ahmadou Babatoura Ahidjo was a Cameroonian politician who was the first president of Cameroon from 1960 until 1982. He was previously the first prime minister of Cameroon from the country's independence in January 1960 until May of that same year following the creation of the presidency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union of the Peoples of Cameroon</span> Political party in Cameroon

The Union of the Peoples of Cameroon is a political party in Cameroon.

Articles related to Cameroon include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Cameroons</span> 1916–1961 British mandate in west-central Africa

The Southern Cameroons was the southern part of the British League of Nations mandate territory of the British Cameroons in West Africa. Since 1961, it has been part of the Republic of Cameroon, where it makes up the Northwest Region and Southwest Region. Since 1994, pressure groups in the territory claim there was no legal document in accordance to UNGA RES 1608(XV) paragraph 5, and are seeking to restore statehood and independence from the Republic. They renamed the British Southern Cameroons as Ambazonia.

Félix-Roland Moumié was an anti-colonialist Cameroonian leader, assassinated in Geneva on 3 November 1960 by an agent of the SDECE with thallium, following official independence from France earlier that year. Félix-Roland Moumié succeeded Ruben Um Nyobé, who was killed in September 1958, as leader of the Union des Populations du Cameroun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruben Um Nyobè</span> Cameroonian politician

Ruben Um Nyobè was an anti-colonialist Cameroonian leader, slain by the French army on 13 September 1958, near his natal village of Boumnyebel, in the department of Nyong-et-Kellé in the maquis Bassa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">André-Marie Mbida</span>

Andre-Marie Mbida was a Cameroonian statesman, a nationalist, the first Cameroonian to be elected Member of Parliament at the French National Assembly, a Prime Minister of Cameroon, the second African-born Prime Minister in Sub-Saharan Africa, the first Head of State of French-speaking autonomous Cameroon from 12 May 1957 to 16 February 1958, and the first political prisoner of independent Cameroon from 29 June 1962 to 29 June 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cameroon–United States relations</span> Bilateral relations

Cameroon–United States relations are international relations between Cameroon and the United States.

Kamerun National Democratic Party (KNDP) was a pro-independence political party active in Southern Cameroons during the period of British Mandate rule.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernest Ouandié</span> Cameroonian activists

Ernest Ouandié was a leader of the struggle for independence of Cameroon in the 1950s who continued to resist the government of President Ahmadou Ahidjo after Cameroon became independent in 1960. He was captured in 1970, tried and condemned to the death. On 15 January 1971, he was publicly executed in Bafoussam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osendé Afana</span> Cameroonian Marxist economist and militant nationalist

Castor Osendé Afana was a Marxist economist and militant nationalist who died in 1966 while fighting as a guerrilla against the government of Cameroon.

Boumnyébel is a community in Cameroon about 120 kilometres (75 mi) along the road from Yaoundé to Douala. The village is on the road from Edéa to Yaoundé, at the junction with the road from Bafia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abel Kingué</span> Cameroonian political leader

Abel Kingué was a political leader in the struggle for the independence of Cameroon from France.

The Cameroon War is the name of the independence struggle between Cameroon's nationalist movement and France. The movement was spearheaded by the Cameroonian Peoples Union (UPC). Even after independence, the rebellion continued, shaping contemporary politics. The war began with riots in 1955 and continued after Cameroon gained independence in 1960. Following independence, the first President of Cameroon, Ahmadou Ahidjo requested continued French military intervention to fight the UPC rebels. The UPC rebellion was largely crushed by the Cameroonian Armed Forces and French Army by 1964. This war is often forgotten because it occurred at the height of France's biggest colonial independence struggle, the Algerian War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglophone problem</span> Tension between anglophone and francophone Cameroonian regions

The Anglophone problem is a socio-political issue in the modern Republic of Cameroon, rooted in the country's German, British, and French colonial legacies. Anglophone (English-speaking) Cameroonians form a minority population of around 16 percent, mainly from the Northwest and Southwest regions that formerly constituted the Southern Cameroons, part of the former British Cameroon colonies. These Anglophone regions were formerly controlled by Britain as a mandate of the League of Nations, and then as a United Nations trust territory. During the Foumban Conference of 1961, territories with different colonial legacies were finally united into one state.

The Anglophone Crisis, an ongoing civil war between the Cameroonian state and Anglophone separatists who are trying to establish a new state called "Ambazonia", broke out due to grievances which built up within Cameroon at large and its English-speaking parts specifically over several decades.

References

  1. Encyclopædia Britannica, 1910 edition, Volume 5, p 112 (Cameroon article)
  2. Mokake, John N. (2006). Basic Facts on Cameroon History Since 1884. Limbe, Cameroon: Cure Series. pp. 76–77. ISBN   978-9956-402-67-0. OCLC   742316797.
  3. 1 2 3 Marc Michel, "La guerre oubliée du Cameroun", in L'Histoire n°318, March 2007, pp.50–53
  4. Jacques Foccart, counsellor to Charles de Gaulle, Georges Pompidou and Jacques Chirac for African matters, recognized it in 1995 to Jeune Afrique review. See also Foccart parle, interviews with Philippe Gaillard, Fayard – Jeune Afrique (in French) and also "The man who ran Francafrique – French politician Jacques Foccart's role in France's colonization of Africa under the leadership of Charles de Gaulle – Obituary" Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine in The National Interest , Fall 1997
  5. Johnson, Willard R. 1970. The Cameroon Federation; political integration in a fragmentary society. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  6. Nohlen, D, Krennerich, M & Thibaut, B (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, p177 ISBN   0-19-829645-2

Commons-logo.svg Media related to French Cameroon at Wikimedia Commons