With its official acknowledgment of a war in Cameroon, France has effectively torn up the old textbooks that told a sanitized story of its colonial past. The admission signals that the era of “polished fiction” is over, paving the way for a more honest, if more painful, national narrative.
For generations, French students learned about the “Oeuvre Civilisatrice” (Civilizing Mission), a narrative that emphasized the infrastructure, education, and medicine brought by the French empire. The extreme violence, mass killings, and political assassinations were largely left out.
President Macron’s letter, confirming a war that killed tens of thousands in Cameroon, makes this sanitized version of history untenable. It validates the work of critical historians and aligns the state’s position with the grim reality of the archives and oral histories.
The next challenge, as highlighted by activists, is to write the new textbooks. Integrating this difficult history into the national curriculum is essential to ensure that future generations of French citizens have a complete and honest understanding of their country’s imperial legacy.