Description

In 1884 the explorer Gustav Nachtigal signed a treaty with the chiefs of Duala on behalf of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany in which, in return for trade advantages, the chiefs accepted the establishment of a German protectorate. In 1885, the new German colony of Kamerun came into being. A number of influential Germans determined that the colony’s economic potential could be realized only through the construction of a railroad. They established a Cameroon railroad syndicate in 1900, which in 1902 obtained a concession from the German government to ...