News about FRANCE

[Lisa LoveParticipant]

Macron admits France waged a repressive war in Cameroon during its decolonization

In a letter, President Emmanuel Macron cited a report by a joint French-Cameroonian team of historians, which clearly demonstrated that France had waged a ‘war’ in Cameroon, characterized by ‘repressive violence.’

France waged a “war” in Cameroon marked by “repressive violence” during and after the African country’s decolonization in the late 1950s, President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged, in a letter published on Tuesday, August 12. The letter, sent to his Cameroonian counterpart last month, is the latest example of France’s efforts under Macron to come to terms with its often-bloody colonial history.

You can share an article by clicking on the share icons at the top right of it.
The total or partial reproduction of an article, without the prior written authorization of Le Monde, is strictly forbidden.
For more information, see our Terms and Conditions.
For all authorization requests, contact syndication@lemonde.fr.

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2025/08/12/macron-admits-france-waged-a-repressive-war-in-cameroon-during-its-decolonisation_6744314_4.html

The admission follows an official report, published by a historical commission in January, which said that France implemented mass forced displacement, pushed hundreds of thousands of Cameroonians into internment camps and supported brutal militias to quash the central African country’s push for sovereignty. The historical commission examined France’s role in the years both leading up to and after Cameroon gained independence from France on January 1, 1960.

“The historians of the commission made it very clear that there was a war in Cameroon, during which the colonial authorities and the French army carried out repressive violence of several kinds (…) that continued after 1960,” Macron said in the letter to Cameroonian President Paul Biya, published by the French presidency. “It is incumbent on me today to accept France’s role and responsibility in these events,” he said.

A bilateral ‘working group’

Macron announced the creation of the commission during a 2022 trip to the Cameroonian capital, Yaounde. Composed of both French and Cameroonian historians, the 14-person committee looked into France’s role in the country between 1945 and 1971, based on declassified archives, eyewitness accounts and field surveys.

Macron said that France would facilitate access to its archives so that researchers could build on the commission’s findings. He also suggested the creation of a bilateral “working group” to help monitor progress in ongoing research and education.

‘Tens of thousands of lives’

Most of Cameroon came under French rule in 1918 after the defeat of its previous colonial ruler, Germany, during World War I. Yet a brutal conflict unfolded when the country began pushing for its independence following World War II, a move France repressed violently, according to the report’s findings. Between 1956 and 1961, France’s fight against Cameroonian independence claimed “tens of thousands of lives” and left hundreds of thousands displaced, the historians said.

0

0

[Author]

Posts