Neukamerun was the name of

Central Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Co ...

n territories ceded by the

Third French Republic The French Third Republic (french: Troisième République, 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 194 ...

to the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

in 1911. Upon taking office in 1907,

Theodor Seitz Theodor Seitz ( Mannheim, 12 September 1863 – Baden-Baden, 28 March 1949) was a German colonial governor. He studied law at the University of Heidelberg. He entered in the service of the Foreign Office and became on 9 May 1907 Imperial Governor ...

, governor of Kamerun, advocated the acquisition of territories from the

French Congo The French Congo (french: Congo français) or Middle Congo (french: Moyen-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 ...

. Germany's only major river outlet from its Central African possessions was the

Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharg ...

, and more territories to the east of Kamerun would allow for better access to that waterway. France and Germany were rivals for

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

, and in 1911, the Agadir Crisis broke out over the question of possession of that kingdom. France and Germany agreed to negotiate on 9 July 1911, and on 4 November, they signed the Treaty of Fez. France agreed to cede part of the French Congo to Germany in exchange for German recognition of France's rights to MoroccoDeLancey and DeLancey 200. and a strip of land in northeastern Kamerun between the Logone and

Chari Chari may refer to: Places * Chari River, in Central Africa * Chari-Baguirmi (disambiguation), in Chad * Chari Department, in Chad, one of three departments making up the region of Chari-Baguirmi * Moyen-Chari (disambiguation), in Chad * Chari ...

rivers. 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 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 (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

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

Cameroun Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the ...

as a

League of Nations mandate A League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administ ...

(although it was not integrated into

French Equatorial Africa French Equatorial Africa (french: link=no, Afrique-Équatoriale française), or the AEF, was the federation of French colonial possessions in Equatorial Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River into the Sahel, and comprising what are ...

). The boundary was placed back at its pre-1911 line and Neukamerun ceased to exist. The territory today forms part of

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

, the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

, and

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...

.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. * 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
{{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