Explanation/When Gustave Nachtigal, German explorer and special envoy of Otto Von Bismarck (1815 -1898) to defend the interests of the empire in Africa raised the flag of his country on the Joss plateau in Kamerun and more precisely at “comeroons town” which subsequently took the name of duala on January 1, 1901, he officially showed it to the eyes of the world on July 14, 1884 that Kamerun became a property of the German Empire, which took the pretext of the treaty to impose its sovereignty over the entire Territory.
Just like the multiple imperialist nations or advanced civilizations which had high self-esteem, Germany, which according to researchers had engaged a little later than the others in the exploration of new lands to be privatized, also had the intention of occupying a Territory and claiming paternity of it. This means that the fact that the Territory and its territories were inhabited by natives was of no importance to these empires which crisscrossed the African coasts. The fact that the Kamerun Territory was officially recognized on the international scene at the time, after the flag was raised in Joss, is formal proof of the beginning of the existence of this Territory at that precise moment. Advanced civilizations enjoyed the power and the right to give legitimacy to a Territory which before its discovery and privatization by an imperialist power was not one.
The Republic of Cameroon that we currently know, and which is the result of the processes of independence and reunification, was truly born on Monday July 14, 1884 under the name of Kamerun. A privatization of space which has given rise to an appropriation of this space through cartographic representations because it's not just about having a Territory and give it a name. We still have to make it our own through cartographic representations which give a simplified view of the Territory on several aspects. This is one of the reasons why, for geographers in particular, geography is not just a science of description, but above all of appropriation and mastery of space thank to educational and practical tools that allow you to solve problems or achieve specific objectives. And like any advanced civilization in the fields of science and cartography in particular, the German Empire gave this responsibility to a cartographer who already had 20 years of experience in the profession, so that he could develop a set of thematic maps of the Territory, to be able to better know the potential and characteristics of a Territory which was now theirs.
The cartographic representations were published between 1910 and 1914; it was not a particular map, but a set of thematic maps including the map of the Territory itself in terms of area and limit with the territories of other powers, which was produced in 1912.
Cameroonian geographer’s use the term “Moisel” to designate all the representations made by this author in Cameroon because it must be said, he made others in Africa. Through this legacy that he left in Cameroon in particular, we have an approximate vision of what the Territory was like at that time. According to the researchers, there were in total thirty-one (31) sheets, 3 annexes made in colour at 1/300,000 (if it is in cm, 1 cm on the map represented 300,000 cm in reality or on the ground; i.e. 3000m or 3km in reality) and composed of a set of thematic maps on the climate, vegetation, and communication routes on scales which varied between 1/100,000 and 1/5,000,000.
A long-term task that requires a range of expertise because, just like other sciences, geography and cartography in particular need the help of related sciences in order to represent the characteristics of space as accurately as possible. This is the reason why he benefited from the expertise of Eugen Zintgraff (1858 – 1897), a Prussian (German) explorer who had knowledge of the entire North of the country, geodetic studies or studies of the shape and dimensions of the earth by Ersnt Ersch (1897-1899) in the South-East, and finally among others, the work of Carl Ludwig Lederman (1875 – 1958), a botanist and explorer who arrived in Cameroon in 1908 to inventory the country’s flora. And it is also necessary to note the collaboration of populations and local leaders because according to certain geographer’s and researchers, in the Noun department and more precisely in Foumban in the West of the Territory, many more route records were recorded compared to other territories or administrative districts because Sultan Njoya (birth: 1876; reign: 1889 – 1933) had already initiated a process of creating a cartographic representation.
“La Moisel du Cameroun” is a heritage that reflects what the Cameroonian Territory was before, and what the many twists and turns in the country’s history have made it today. It is a decision-making tool which was not only useful at the time, particularly during the struggle for influence which required work to appropriate the space respecting the rules defined by the Berlin conference, but which was also useful in resolving the conflict between Cameroon and Nigeria over the Bakassi Peninsula. Indeed, in March 1913, before the start of the first global shame, a treaty was signed in London between the United Kingdom and Germany relating to the line of the border between Kamerun and Nigeria which integrates the Bakassi peninsula into Kamerun. And even if Germany later lost its possessions following the first shameful episode between 1914 and 1918, Southern Cameroon which was attached to the Republic of Cameroon is indeed a Cameroonian territory even if for selfish ambitions, we can mock this reality and continue a bloody conflict that the heads of State of the time, namely October 2002, made the choice to stop.
After the first world disaster which also occurred in Cameroon, Germany lost its Territory which was under an international protectorate regime to the benefit of the Franco-British under the supervision of the League of Nations before, and United Nations Organisation after. It was not a story that took place elsewhere, and which had consequences in Cameroon. There were also bloody clashes in Cameroon between the Allies and the Germans. According to researchers, the French, British and Belgians did not have a precise map of the interior of the country. It was the discovery of “Cameroonian Moisel” or the complete collection of several of its leaves which allowed them to calmly pursue their project after having seized the German commercial company of South Cameroon (Gesellschaft Süd Kamerun) in the surroundings of Mulundu (Current district of the Boumba-et-Ngoko Department in the East region – Cameroon). It is in this sense that the map is also a tool for defining strategies in the context of war. Without knowledge of space, we advance blindly towards unknown destinations. If "the Cameroonian Moisel" allowed the Germans to appropriate the Territory, it also allowed the allies to know it better in order to seize it, in order to bring a certain calm which was certainly beneficial to them, but which was also beneficial for Germany and Cameroon to the extent that the unfortunate incidents of the past orchestrated by Mens who have a clear vision of what they want, and which they manifest in particular by the realization of the means that they implemented to achieve their objectives, are lessons for generations who have their part to play in the preservation of peace in the world, and the continual defence of a set of ecosystems constantly undermined by wars of sovereignty and influence motivated in part by the existence of natural resources on a set of highly coveted territories.
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