French Capitalism and Nationalism in Cameroon

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between France and Cameroon under the French administration from 1946 to 1956. Such a relationship has to be seen not as a conventional one, but as a relationship between two unequal entities: a European imperial state and an African society. The period being considered in this study, 1946 to 1956, is significant. Politically, it corresponds to the years during which the political changes that led to the process of decolonization occurred. Economically, it was the period during which the French implemented a long term program for the development and modernization of their overseas territories. This program led to large investments in Cameroon by France and therefore to development of an important financial and economic relationship between the two countries. Although both political and economic aspects are important, the latter will be our main concern. Economic and financial factors will be emphasized here because in the few existing studies on the relationship between Cameroon and France, the main focus is on the political factor. It has been demonstrated that international relations are also influenced by economic and financial interests, what Pierre Renouvin has called forces profondes (underlying forces). As this French scholar wrote, “to understand the diplomatic action it is necessary to perceive the factors that directed its progress. Geographical conditions, movements of the populations, economic and financial interests, trends of the collective mentality, broad national feelings, are some of the underlying forces which shaped the framework of the relationship between human groups and which determined their character. The statesman, when making his plans and taking his decisions, cannot neglect these factors. He is subject to their influence and has to realize the limits they impose on his action” (Renouvin and Duroselle 1991, 2).