a policy of genocide: france’s neocolonial war against Cameroon

french president charles de gaulle (right) speaking with Cameroonian “president” Ahmadou Ahidjo (left) in june of 1967. france employed gratuitous violence to install neocolonial figureheads like Ahidjo at the height of African anti-colonial militancy in the mid-20th century. jacques foccart (center) would continue to play a key role in upholding the system & crushing resistance in the decades following de gaulle’s death in 1970.

included here are links to resources giving background on the counterinsurgency efforts — including razing of entire villages, public executions with decapitated heads posted as warnings, and the liberal use of concentration camps—led by the [neo]colonial french government against the Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC) and Armée de libération nationale Kamerounaise (ANLK).

France’s Dirty War in Cameroon by Dibussi Tande

France’s Dirty War in Cameroon: The Assassination of Félix-Roland Moumié (I) - https://www.dibussi.com/2006/10/frances_dirty_w.html

France’s Dirty War in Cameroon (II): The Assassination of Félix-Roland Moumié - https://www.dibussi.com/2006/10/frances_dirty_w_1.html

France’s Dirty War in Cameroon (III): The UPC and the French “Pacification” Campaign - https://www.dibussi.com/2006/11/frances_dirty_w.html

France’s Dirty War in Cameroon (IV): The UPC Communist Boogeyman - https://www.dibussi.com/2006/11/frances_dirty_w_1.html

France’s Dirty War in Cameroon (V): The “Pacification” of the Sanaga Maritime - https://www.dibussi.com/2006/11/frances_dirty_w_2.html

France’s Dirty War in Cameroon (VI): The French Expeditionary Force - https://www.dibussi.com/2006/11/frances_dirty_w_3.html

Mainstream left articles

Ghosts of Kamerum

The Forgotten Cameroon War