The German Colonial Administration and the Traditional Powers Duala and Bamum. An Analysis of Cameroon's Political History

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2023 in the subject History of Europe - Colonialism, grade: Très Honorable, University of Douala (Political Science), course: Histoire des institutions et des faits sociaux du Cameroun, language: English, abstract: From 1884 to 1916, the traditional powers Duala and Bamum were subject to the influence of the German colonial administration. This was manifested in the profound restructuring of their political, economic and socio-cultural organizations. In this perspective, we went further by demonstrating that the German colonial administration has also undergone significant changes as a result of their exchanges with Sultan NJOYA and Duala chiefs. We have also being interested in this socio-political phenomenon under the theme: 'The German colonial administration and the traditional powers Duala and Bamum: Analysis of Cameroon's political history'. The interest of our work demands that the degree of mutual influence between the German colonial administration and the traditional political powers Duala and Bamum be gradually shown. This work proposes to analyze the dynamics and the logics of implantation and domination that the German colonial administration had on these two traditional political entities. Moreover, this same German colonial administration had to adapt to the local realities of the traditional Duala and Bamum political powers. It is on this basis that our work was built in two parts. The first part is entitled: 'The domination of the German colonial administration over the traditional political powers of Duala and Bamum' and the second part is entitled: 'The relative influence of the traditional political powers of Bamum and Duala on the German colonial administration'.

ETONDE NJAYOU Winnie Patricia est une Docteure (PH.D.) en Science Politique, spécialisée en socio-anthropologie dont les travaux portent sur les adaptations des chefferies traditionnelles à la gouvernance coloniale et néo-coloniale à travers le temps, l'espace et les rapports de force qui en découlent. Ses recherches et ses écrits sont enracinés dans les changements survenus au sein des sociétés traditionnelles camerounaises et traversent les domaines de l'anthropologie, de la sociologie, des études autochtones ainsi que de l'administration publique. Ses recherches récentes portent sur l'administration coloniale allemande et les pouvoirs politiques traditionnels Duala et Bamun au Cameroun. Ses publications portent sur : - Les chefferies traditionnelles entre tradition et modernité au Cameroun : Le cas du Royaume Bamoun (Thèse de Master - 2017). - La continuité du colonialisme occidental au Cameroun sous le prisme des pouvoirs politiques traditionnels Bamoun et Duala ( Revue Internationale de Droit et Science Politique (R.I.D.S.P.), Vol. 2, N.11 - Novembre 2022). - L'administration coloniale allemande et les pouvoirs politiques traditionnels Duala et Bamun (1884-1916) : Une analyse de l'histoire politique du Cameroun (Thèse de Doctorat - 2023).