Author: George Ndakwena Njung, Interdisciplinary Core Program, Baylor University

Abstract: »The dissertation reconstructs two sidelined aspects of the Cameroon campaign of the Great War; it examines the campaign in its own right, and it provides a peopled account of the campaign by evaluating both the collective and individual performances and experiences of West African soldiers in the campaign. Existing accounts of the African campaigns, treating them as ‘sideshows,' and leaving African soldiers nameless and faceless, have been effective erasures of Africans and their history. “Soldiers of their Own” investigates named Africans who fought in the Cameroon campaign: why, how, and where they fought.
Germany colonized Cameroon in 1884, and until the outbreak of war in 1914, unleashed spectacles of colonial violence. Colonial violence, gendered in nature, mainly targeted women, in addition to men and children. The violence was internalized by Cameroonians, who then responded with wars of resistance. When the 1914 war broke out, both the Allies who invaded Cameroon and the Germans mobilized and recruited Africans for military services. Africans were attracted by some material and intangible factors to fight in the campaign, but the majority were conscripted. Among the many factors responsible for German defeat was the increasing support that Cameroonians gave to the Allies.
The social costs of fighting the Great War in Cameroon included the intentional killing of civilians by the occupying German army and their African soldiers, as well as the unprecedented refugee crisis that wartime activities generated. War atrocities in Cameroon must be understood within the context of the ones elsewhere in Europe, and in line with the military cultures of the Allies and the Germans which led to their conflicting interpretations of the international laws of war.
Although Africans fought and determined the outcomes of the Cameroon campaign on the battlefield, their attempts to influence the form of the partition of their post-war territory came to naught, as Britain and France undertook an arbitrary and self-serving interest partition of post-war Cameroon. Once again, the war had provided an opportunity for the second European partition of Africa, in much the same way as the first partition.« (Source: Thesis)

Contents:

	Dedication (p. ii)
	Acknowledgments (p. iii)
	List of Figures (p. xi)
	List of Acronyms (p. xii)
	Abstract (p. xiii)
	Chapter 1: Introduction: Sidelined Histories, Histories of Colonial Africans. Situating African World War 1 Campaigns in the Historiographies of the Great War (p. 1)
		Study Objectives and Significance (p. 13)
		Sources and Methods (p. 36)
		Organization (p. 44)
	Chapter 2: Violent Encounters (p. 48)
		Introduction (p. 48)
		Understanding Colonial Violence and Anti-colonial Wars (p. 50)
		Colonization and Perception (p. 54)
		The Violence and the Anti-Colonial Wars, 1884-1914 (p. 59)
		Violence on the Bakoko (p. 60)
		Violence on Women (p. 62)
		Violence on Buea (p. 70)
		Violence on the Cross River Peoples (p. 76)
		War with the Kom or the Kom Resistance (p. 78)
		The Northern Resistance and Conquest (p. 82)
		The Duala Resistance, 1910-1914 (p. 87)
		Reaction from Germany (p. 92)
		On African Complicity (p. 94)
		Conclusion (p. 104)
	Chapter 3: Soldiers of Honor: War Conscripts and Preparation for War (p. 106)
		Introduction (p. 106)
		The Great War Comes to Africa (p. 107)
		Cameroon's Significance in the War (p. 109)
		Mobilization, Recruitment and Conscription (p. 115)
		Cameroonians for Germany (p. 116)
		West Africans for the Allies (p. 132)
		Cameroonians Respond to Allied Recruitment Efforts (p. 152)
		Conclusion (p. 158)
	Chaptr 4: Soldiers of their Own: Fighting in the North, Northwest, South, Southeast and Southwest Regions (p. 159)
		Introduction (p. 159)
		Some Historical Realities of the Cameroon Campaign (p. 160)
		Cross border Fighting (p. 169)
		The Cross River Column (p. 170)
		The Yola and Maiduguri Columns (p. 174)
		Final operations of the Cross River Column and other Forces (p. 191)
		Fighting in the South and Southeast (p. 196)
		Conclusion (p. 214)
	Chapter 5: Soldiers of their Own: Fighting from Douala to Yaounde, and the Northern Railway (p. 220)
		Introduction (p. 220)
		Joint Anglo-French Invasion of the Cameroons (p. 220)
		The Invasion of Douala (p. 221)
		Easterly Military Operations (p. 226)
		The Advance on Edea (p. 228)
		The First (abortive) Advance on Yaounde (p. 231)
		Combat Activities along the Northern Railway (p. 239)
		The taking of Buea, Muyuka and Victoria (p. 241)
		Further Fighting up the Northern Railway (p. 243)
		Marching on Dschang (p. 247)
		The Final Advance on and fall of Yaounde (p. 257)
		Beyond Yaounde (p. 266)
		Mora, the end. (p. 267)
		How an achievable aim became unachievable (p. 270)
		Conclusion (p. 279)
	Chapter 6: War Atrocities (p. 290)
		Introduction (p. 290)
		On Sources (p. 292)
		Understanding the Atrocities (p. 294)
		Background of Wartime Violence on Civilians (p. 300)
		The Atrocities (p. 304)
		The Allies were also guilty? (p. 319)
		The Refugee Problem (p. 320)
		The International Laws of War and Diplomatic Concerns and exchanges Over the Atrocities and other Forms of Wartime Misconduct (p. 327)
		Conclusion (p. 335)
	Chapter 7: Partition (p. 337)
		Introduction (p. 337)
		On the European Re/partition of Africa (Cameroon) (p. 338)
		Prelude to the 1916 Partition: Position of Colonial Office and Admiralty Officials (p. 340)
		The Partition (p. 346)
		Opposition to the Content of the Partition, Foreign and Local (p. 353)
		Justifications (p. 375)
		Conclusion (p. 376)
	Chapter 8: Conclusions (p. 379)
		What is Left? (p. 388)
		Looking Back (p. 391)
	Bibliography (p. 394)
		Archives (p. 394)
		News Papers / Magazines (p. 395)
		Published and/or Printed Primary Sources; Official Works, Regimental, and Biographical Works (p. 395)
		Secondary Sources (p. 397)

Wikipedia: History of Africa: History of Cameroon / Kamerun | History of Europe: History of Germany / German Empire | Sex and the law: Wartime sexual violence / Sexual violence in World War I | War: World War I / Kamerun campaign