Editing History of Cameroon (section)

===Scramble for Africa and German Kamerun (1884–1918)===
[[Image:Cameroon boundary changes.PNG|thumb|right|'''Cameroon over time'''
{{legend|#FF8241|German [[Kamerun]]}}
{{legend|#FE0000|British [[Cameroons]]}}
{{legend|blue|French [[Cameroun]]}}
{{legend|#008200|Republic of [[Cameroon]]}}
]]
The [[Scramble for Africa]] beginning in the late 1870s, saw European powers, primarily seeking to establish formal control over the parts of Africa not yet colonized. The Cameroon coast was of interest to both the British, already established in what is now Nigeria and with missionaries outposts in several towns, and the Germans who had extensive trading relationships and plantations established in the [[Douala]] region. On July 5, 1884, German explorer and administrator [[Gustav Nachtigal]] began signing agreements with [[Duala people|Duala]] leaders establishing a German protectorate in the region. A brief conflict ensued with rival Duala chiefs which Germany and its allies won, leaving the British with little choice but to acknowledge Germany's claim to the region. The borders of modern Cameroon were established through a series of negotiations with the British and French. Germany established an administration for the colony with a capital first at [[Buea]] and later at [[Yaoundé]] and continued to explore the interior and co-opt or subjugate local rulers. The largest conflicts were the [[Bafut Wars]] and the [[Adamawa Wars]] which ended by 1907 with German victories.[[Image:Bundesarchiv Bild 163-051, Kamerun, Weihnachten am Mungo.jpg|thumb|German Settlers celebrating [[Christmas]] in Kamerun|left]]

Germany was particularly interested in Cameroon's [[Agriculture|agricultural]] potential and entrusted large firms with the task of exploiting and exporting it. German Chancellor [[Otto von Bismarck]] defined the order of priorities as follows: "first the merchant, then the soldier". It was under the influence of a businessman [[Adolph Woermann]], whose company set up a trading house in [[Douala]], that Bismarck, initially skeptical about the interest of the colonial project, was convinced. Large German trading companies ([[Woermann-Linie|Woermann]], [[Jantzen & Thormählen]]) and concession companies ([[:de: Südkamerun Gesellschaft|Südkamerun Gesellschaft]], [[:de: Nord-West Kamerun Gesellschaft|Nord-West Kamerun Gesellschaft]]) established themselves massively in the colony. Letting the big companies impose their order, the administration simply supported them, protected them, and tried to eliminate indigenous rebellions.<ref name=modo />[[File:SMS OLGA bei der Beschießung von Hickorytown (Duala), Kamerun, Dezember 1884.jpg|thumb|The German [[corvette]] SMS OLGA bombarding Hickorytown (now [[Douala]] in December 1884]]The Imperial German government made substantial investments in the [[infrastructure]] of Cameroon, including the extensive [[railway]]s, such as the 160-metre [[Japoma Bridge|single-span railway bridge]] on the southern branch of [[Sanaga River]]. However, the indigenous peoples proved reluctant to work on these projects, so the Germans instigated a harsh and unpopular system of [[unfree labour|forced labour]].<ref>DeLancey and DeLancey 125.</ref> In fact, [[Jesko von Puttkamer]] was relieved of duty as governor of the colony due to his untoward actions toward the native Cameroonians.<ref>DeLancey and DeLancey 226.</ref> In 1911 at the [[Treaty of Fez]] after the [[Agadir Crisis]], France ceded a nearly 300,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> portion of the territory of [[French Equatorial Africa]] to Kamerun which became [[Neukamerun]] (New Cameroon), while Germany ceded a smaller area in the north in present-day [[Chad]] to France.

Shortly after the outbreak of [[World War I]] in 1914, the British invaded Cameroon from [[Nigeria]] and the French from [[French Equatorial Africa]] in the [[Kamerun campaign]]. The last German fort in the country [[Siege of Mora|surrendered]] in February 1916. After the Allied victory, the territory was partitioned between the United Kingdom and France, which was formalized on June 28, 1919, with [[League of Nations mandate#Class B mandates|League of Nations mandates (Class B)]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=British Mandate for the Cameroons |journal=The American Journal of International Law |year=1923 |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=138–141 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2212948 |publisher=JSTOR|doi=10.2307/2212948 |jstor=2212948 |s2cid=246004050 }}</ref> France gained the larger geographical share, transferred Neukamerun back to neighboring French colonies, and ruled the rest from Yaoundé as [[French Cameroun|Cameroun]] (French Cameroons).<ref name=":0" /> Britain's territory, a strip bordering [[Nigeria]] from the sea to [[Lake Chad]], with a roughly equal population was ruled from [[Lagos]] as part of Nigeria, known as [[Cameroons]] (British Cameroons).<ref name=":0" />