Before France and Britain… Cameroon Was German. How Many of You Were Ever Taught That?

Before France and Britain… Cameroon Was German. How Many of You Were Ever Taught That?

Before France and Britain… Cameroon Was German. How Many of You Were Ever Taught That?

Let me ask you a simple question.

When you hear “Cameroon,” what comes to your mind?

A French-speaking African country? An English-speaking African country? Maybe both?

Now here’s another question…

Who taught you that Cameroon was once a German colony?

Not France.

Not Britain.

Germany.

For over 30 years, from 1884 to 1916, Cameroon was called Kamerun, and it was part of the German colonial empire.

Strange, isn’t it?

Most of us spent years in school learning about European history, yet many Africans were never taught that one of Africa’s most important countries was first colonized by Germany before France and Britain ever took control.

So how did that happen?

In the late 1800s, Europe was busy doing what history calls the “Scramble for Africa.” They gathered around tables in Europe, drew lines across maps, and divided African lands among themselves without asking the people who actually lived there.

Germany, eager to build an empire, arrived in Cameroon in 1884. They signed treaties with some coastal rulers, especially around Douala, and declared the land a German protectorate called Kamerun.

But here’s the part many history books rush through.

The people already living there didn’t suddenly stop owning their land because Europeans signed papers.

Many communities resisted.

Some fought.

Others refused to submit.

Germany answered with military force, executions, forced labor, and harsh punishments. Villages were destroyed. Thousands of Africans were forced to work on plantations, roads, railways, and ports that mainly benefited the colonial economy.

Yes, Germany built infrastructure.

But we must ask ourselves…

Who paid the real price for those roads and railways?

Certainly not the people sitting comfortably in Berlin.

Then World War I changed everything.

Germany fought Britain and France in Europe.

But the war didn’t stay in Europe.

It reached Africa.

British troops invaded Kamerun from Nigeria.

French forces attacked from the east.

After two years of fighting, Germany lost.

And this is where another chapter of history begins.

Did the people of Kamerun get their country back?

No.

Britain and France simply divided it between themselves.

Think about that for a second.

One colonial ruler leaves…

Two colonial rulers arrive.

France received about 80 percent of the territory.

Britain received the remaining 20 percent.

Each ruled differently.

France imposed French language, French laws, and French education.

Britain introduced English, British legal traditions, and indirect rule through local authorities.

Two different colonial systems.

One people.

Fast forward to independence.

French Cameroon became independent in 1960.

The British-administered regions later voted on whether to join Nigeria or Cameroon.

Northern Cameroons joined Nigeria.

Southern Cameroons joined Cameroon.

That single decision still shapes Central African politics today.

Have you ever wondered why Cameroon has both English and French as official languages?

Now you know.

It wasn’t because Cameroonians chose to speak both.

It was because European colonial powers divided one territory and governed each part differently.

Even today, many of the country’s political tensions can be traced back to that colonial division.

History has a long shadow.

This story also raises another question.

If European powers could divide African lands among themselves over a hundred years ago, what other parts of African history have been left out of our classrooms?

How many kingdoms, civilizations, scientific achievements, and political systems have been ignored because they didn’t fit the colonial narrative?

History is not just about what is written.

Sometimes it’s about what was deliberately left out.

So before anyone tells you that Cameroon has always been French or British, remind them of one forgotten name…

Kamerun.

A German colony.

A divided land.

A history that still shapes millions of lives today.

Now let me ask you…

Why do you think so much of Africa’s colonial history is barely taught in our schools? Do you think this history should be compulsory for every African student?