History: Colonial Cameroon, Mandates and Reunification
History is the single domain of the Cameroon GCE Ordinary Level History papers, which test secure chronology, explained causation and disciplined use of evidence. The Cameroon strand - German annexation, the First World War campaign, League mandates, UN trusteeship, decolonisation and reunification - is the most heavily examined and supplies this section's worked example.
Build chronology before argument
Examiners reward precise placement. Anchor these: the 12 July 1884 treaty between Gustav Nachtigal and Duala rulers; the 1884–85 Berlin Conference, which regulated partition but did not award Cameroon to Germany; the 1914–16 Allied campaign; the German surrender at Mora in 1916; the 1922 League of Nations mandates; the 1946 UN trusteeships; the 1955 banning of the UPC; the independence of French Cameroun on 1 January 1960; the plebiscites of 11 February 1961; reunification on 1 October 1961; and the 1972 referendum.
Distinguish the concepts
Use terms exactly. A protectorate was the 1884 German claim; a mandate was post-1922 League supervision; a trusteeship was its post-1946 UN successor. A plebiscite asks a population to choose a status; a referendum approves a constitutional change. “Federal” describes 1961–72; the 1972 referendum replaced federation with a unitary state.
Worked example
Question: Why did Southern Cameroons join the Republic of Cameroon in 1961? Reasoning: identify the mechanism, then explain the choice. The UN organised separate plebiscites on 11 February 1961. Northern Cameroons voted to join Nigeria; Southern Cameroons voted to join Cameroon. The Southern result is explained by the campaign for federation, fear of domination within Nigeria, and the promise that the two Cameroons would enter as equal federal states. A strong answer links each reason to the outcome and notes that the UN supervised the vote.
Traps that cost marks
- “The Berlin Conference created German Kamerun” - no; the July 1884 treaty did, while Berlin set the rules of partition.
- “Germany held Cameroon until 1918” - German forces surrendered in 1916, and partition followed.
- “Northern Cameroons joined Cameroon” - it joined Nigeria.
- “Cameroon became independent in 1961” - French Cameroun became independent in 1960; Southern Cameroons joined in 1961.
- “The 1972 referendum created the federation” - it ended federalism.