Editing History of Cameroon (section)

===French Cameroon (1918–1960)===
====League of Nations Mandate, Free France, and UN Trust Territory====
[[File:Missionnaire Cameroun.jpg|thumb|right|French Missionary with the Sultan of [[Ngaoundéré]] in 1920]]
The French administration declined to return much of the property in Cameroon to its prior German owners, reassigning much of it to French companies. This was particularly the case for the [[SOCFIN Group|Société financière des Caoutchoucs]], which obtained plantations put into operation during the German period and became the largest company in French Cameroon. Roads and other infrastructure projects were undertaken with native labor, often in extremely harsh conditions. The Douala-Yaoundé railway line, begun under the German regime, was completed. Thousands of workers were forcibly deported to this site to work fifty-four hours a week. Workers also suffered from lack of food and the massive presence of mosquitoes and related illnesses. In 1925, the mortality rate on the site was 61.7%. However, the other sites were not as deadly, although working conditions were generally very harsh.<ref name=modo />

French Cameroon joined the [[Free France]] in August 1940. The system established by Free France was essentially a military dictatorship. [[Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque]] established a state of siege throughout the country and abolished almost all public freedom. The objective was to neutralize any potential feelings of independence or sympathy for the former German colonizer. Indigenous people known for their Germanophilia were executed in public places. In 1945, the country was placed under the supervision of the United Nations, as successor to the League of Nations, which left Cameroon under French control as a [[UN Trust Territory]].

====Independence Movement====
[[File:UPC-LEADERS.jpg|thumb|right|The leaders of the UPC]]
In 1948, the [[Union des populations du Cameroun]] (UPC), a nationalist movement, was founded and [[Ruben Um Nyobe]] took over as its leader. In May 1955, the arrests of independence activists were followed by riots in several cities across the country. The repression caused several dozen or hundreds of deaths - the French administration officially lists twenty-two, although secret reports acknowledge many more. The UPC was banned and nearly 800 of its activists were arrested, many of whom would be beaten in prison. Because they were wanted by the police, UPC activists took refuge in the forests, where they formed guerilla bands; they also took refuge in neighboring British Cameroon. The French authorities repressed these events and made arbitrary arrests. The party received the support of personalities such as Gamal Abdel Nasser and Kwame Nkrumah and France's action was denounced at the UN by representatives of countries such as India, Syria, and the Soviet Union.<ref name=modo>Thomas Deltombe, Manuel Domergue, Jacob Tatsita, Kamerun !, La Découverte, 2019</ref>

An insurrection broke out among the [[Bassa people (Cameroon)|Bassa people]] on 18 to 19 December 1956. Several dozen anti-UPC figures were murdered or kidnapped, bridges, telephone lines, and other infrastructure were sabotaged. The French military and native security forces violently repressed these uprisings, which led to many native Cameroonians joining the cause of independence and long-running guerilla war. Several UPC militias were formed though their access to weapons was very limited. Though the UPC was a multi-ethnic movement, the pro-independence movement was seen as particularly strong among the [[Bamileke]] and [[Bassa people (Cameroon)|Bassa]] peoples, and both were targeted by the French for severe repression, including razing of villages, forced relocations, and indiscriminate killings in what was sometimes called the [[Bamileke War]] or the Cameroon Independence War. Though the uprising was suppressed, guerilla violence and reprisals continued even after independence.

[[Cameroonian parliamentary election, 1956|Legislative elections]] were held on 23 December 1956 and the resulting Assembly passed a decree on 16 April 1957 which made French Cameroon a state. It took back its former status of associated territory as a member of the [[French Union]]. Its inhabitants became Cameroonian citizens, and Cameroonian institutions were created under a parliamentary democracy. On 12 June 1958, the Legislative Assembly of French Cameroon asked the French government to: "Accord independence to the State of Cameroon at the ends of their trusteeship. Transfer every competence related to the running of internal affairs of Cameroon to Cameroonians". On 19 October 1958, France recognized the right of its [[United Nations trust territories|United Nations trust territory]] to choose independence.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/10/20/archives/cameroons-gets-freedom-pledge-paris-backs-independence-for-african.html?sq=Cameroon%2520independence&scp=1&st=p|title=CAMEROONS GETS FREEDOM PLEDGE; Paris Backs Independence for African Trust Territory After Interim Self-Rule|first=Thomas F.|last=Brady|date=20 October 1958|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref> On 24 October 1958, the Legislative Assembly of French Cameroon solemnly proclaimed the desire of Cameroonians to see their country accede full independence on 1 January 1960. It enjoined the government of French Cameroon to ask France to inform the General Assembly of the United Nations, to abrogate the trusteeship accord concomitant with the independence of French Cameroon.

On 12 November 1958, France asked the United Nations to grant French Cameroon independence and end the Trusteeship. On 5 December 1958, the United Nations’ General Assembly took note of the French government's declaration according to which French Cameroon would gain independence on 1 January 1960.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cameroon50.cm/en/history-and-presentation/167-tutelle-a-independance.html |title=From trusteeship to independence (1946–1960) |access-date=2011-12-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121027131756/http://www.cameroon50.cm/en/history-and-presentation/167-tutelle-a-independance.html |archive-date=27 October 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Question of the future of the Trust Territories of the Cameroons under French administration and the Cameroons under United Kingdom administration|id=A/RES/1282(XIII) |url=https://undocs.org/A/RES/1282(XIII)|website=undocs.org|publisher=United Nations|access-date=17 March 2017|language=en}}</ref> On 13 March 1959, the United Nations’ General Assembly resolved that the UN Trusteeship Agreement with France for French Cameroon would end when French Cameroon became independent on 1 January 1960.<ref>{{cite web|title=The future of the Trust Territories of the Cameroons under French administration|id=A/RES/1349(XIII) |url=https://undocs.org/A/RES/1349(XIII)|website=undocs.org|publisher=United Nations|access-date=17 March 2017|language=en}}</ref>