Neukamerun was the name of

Central Africa Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...

n territories ceded by the

Third French Republic The French Third Republic (, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France duri ...

to the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

in 1911. Upon taking office in 1907, Theodor Seitz, governor of Kamerun, advocated the acquisition of territories from the

French Congo The French Congo (), also known as Middle Congo (), was a French colony which at one time comprised the present-day area of the Republic of the Congo and parts of Gabon, and the Central African Republic. In 1910, it was made part of the larger ...

. In 1911, the

Agadir Crisis The Agadir Crisis, Agadir Incident, or Second Moroccan Crisis, was a brief crisis sparked by the deployment of a substantial force of French troops in the interior of Morocco in July 1911 and the deployment of the German gunboat to Agadir, ...

broke out over the question of French influence in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. France and Germany agreed to negotiate on 9 July 1911, and on 4 November, they signed an agreement. In exchange for German recognition of France's rights to MoroccoDeLancey and DeLancey 200. and a strip of land in northeastern Kamerun near Fort Lamy between the Logone and Chari rivers, France agreed to cede part of the French Congo to Germany. Germany's only major river outlet from its Central African possessions was the

Congo River The Congo River, formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second-longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the third-largest river in the world list of rivers by discharge, by discharge volume, following the Amazon Ri ...

, and the Germans hoped that more territories to the east of Kamerun would allow for better access to that waterway. Accordingly, Kamerun gained a connection to the Congo centered on the Sangha River and another to the Ubangi at the town of Zinga; a small strip of French territory lay enclosed by the two outlets. Also included was a strip from northern

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

that resulted in the Spanish colony of Rio Muni becoming surrounded.Marquardsen H., et al In total, the Kamerun colony grew from 465,000 km² to 760,000 km². Otto Gleim was governor of Kamerun at the time. The expanded colony became known as Grand Kamerun. The transfer took two years, and was completed when Ouham Region of Ubangi-Shari was transferred on June 1, 1913.Bradshaw 2016 476 The exchange sparked debate in Germany; opponents argued that the new territories presented little opportunity for commercial exploitation or other profit. The German colonial secretary eventually resigned over the matter. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, France was eager to regain the territories. In 1916, France seized the territories after the fall of German forces in western Africa. After the war, France administered

Cameroun 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 R ...

as a

League of Nations mandate A League of Nations mandate represented a legal status under international law for specific territories following World War I, involving the transfer of control from one nation to another. These mandates served as legal documents establishing th ...

which was distinct from French Equatorial Africa. Neukamerun ceased to exist as the boundary was placed back at its pre-1911 line (except for the strip of land between the Logone and Chari rivers, which remained part of French Equatorial Africa). The territory today forms part of

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

, the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

, the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

, and

.Neba 4–5.

Notes

References

* DeLancey, Mark W., and DeLancey, Mark Dike (2000). ''Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon'' (3rd ed.). Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press. . * Hoffmann, Florian (2007). ''Okkupation und Militärverwaltung in Kamerun. Etablierung und Institutionalisierung des kolonialen Gewaltmonopols.'' Göttingen: Cuvillier. * Marquardsen H., et al. (1914). "Die Grenzgebiete Kameruns Im Süden Und Osten; Hauptsächlich Auf Grund Der Ergebnisse Der Grenzexpeditionen. Mitteilungen Aus Den Deutschen Schutzgebieten. Ergänzungsheft," No. 9a. Ross Archive of African Images, Yale University Art Gallery. Yale University Open Community Collections, JSTOR, https://jstor.org/stable/community.36673070. Accessed 11 Oct. 2024. * Neba, Aaron (1999). ''Modern Geography of the Republic of Cameroon,'' 3rd ed. Bamenda: Neba Publishers. . * Ngoh, Victor Julius (1996). ''History of Cameroon Since 1800.'' Limbé: Presbook. .
Map of Kamerun
* Bradshaw, Richard., & Fandos-Rius, J. (2016). ''Historical dictionary of the Central African Republic'' New edition. . {{Former German colonies Kamerun 1911 in Morocco States and territories established in 1911 States and territories disestablished in 1916 Former colonies in Africa 1911 establishments in Africa 1916 disestablishments in Africa