JESKO VON PUTTKAMER Jesko Albert Eugen von Puttkamer was a German colonial military chief, and nine times governor of Kamerun… Kamerun was a so called black German colony of the German Empire from 1884 to 1916 in the region of today's Republic of Cameroon… Kamerun also included northern parts of Gabon and the Congo with western parts of the Central African Republic, southwestern parts of Chad and far eastern parts of Nigeria… So called whites do not live in these countries and never have, because so called whites did not colonize Africa… The most notable of the German governors, and the man who would come to define the German legacy in Cameroon, would be Jesko Von Puttkammer, who governed from 1895–1906 (and for a few shorter times before)… It was Puttkammer who began the German behaviors that lend them a reputation of brutality and harshness as colonizers… During his time, he oversaw a number of military campaigns against local peoples like the Bali, forcing those who rebuffed German attempts at a "treaty" that supposedly justified German expansion… Oftentimes, he would not act directly against these people, instead relying on empowering other rival local powers and establishing them as "protected by Germany" and arming them…
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These groups would then use their newfound power and armaments to conquer dissenting peoples, without the Germans themselves actually ever getting involved… When the Germans did become involved, however, it was brutal, often going out of their way to punish those who surrendered to them if their leader still refused, and taking a tithe of people from conquered peoples as essentially slaves, though they did not call them such…
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This leads into the second prominent feature of Puttkamer's governorship, his expansion and support for the plantations… This became a problem, as the plantations had more fields than they did workers, so there was a labor shortage…
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To address this, Puttkamer instituted the "man tithes" mentioned above, in addition to just taking people whenever they conquered new territories or had to put down a rebellion… These people would then be made to do harsh forced labor, with extremely high rates of death… Extreme forms of discipline were practiced too, including the cutting of hands, genitals, gouging of eyes and decapitations… Severed limbs were often collected and shown to local authorities as proof of death… These practices, which continued even after Puttkammer retired from his position, would define the German colonial legacy… And no, there is no such person as “King Ibrahim Mbouombouo Njoya” As usual, there are absolutely no firsthand or primary historical records, from any of his would-be contemporaries, that make reference or mentions a “King Ibrahim Mbouombouo Njoya” Just another pseudonym and lie to explain away the presence of prominent so called black Europeans…
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