User:Cruickshanks/sandbox4

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Māori war dance, New Zealand, circa 1850
1852 map of Oceania by J. G. Barbie du Bocage. Includes regions of Polynesia, Micronesia, Melanesia and Malaysia.
See also: History of Oceania and History of the Pacific Islands

The History of Oceania includes the history of Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and other Pacific island nations .

Prehistory

Polynesia theories

See also: Polynesia § History_of_the_Polynesian_people, Early history of Tonga, and Fiji
Austronesians expansion map (French)

The Polynesian people are considered to be by linguistic, archaeological and human genetic ancestry a subset of the sea-migrating

natives were thought to have arrived through South China about 8,000 years ago to the edges of western Micronesia and on into Melanesia, although they are different from the Han Chinese
who now form the majority of people in China and Taiwan.

There are three theories regarding the spread of humans across the Pacific to Polynesia. These are outlined well by Kayser et al. (2000)[4] and are as follows:

  • Express Train model: A recent (c. 3000–1000 BC) expansion out of Taiwan, via the
    linguistic
    data, and archaeological data.
  • Entangled Bank model: Emphasizes the long history of Austronesian speakers' cultural and genetic interactions with indigenous Island Southeast Asians and Melanesians along the way to becoming the first Polynesians.
  • Slow Boat model: Similar to the express-train model but with a longer hiatus in Melanesia along with admixture, both genetically, culturally and linguistically with the local population. This is supported by the Y-chromosome data of Kayser et al. (2000), which shows that all three haplotypes of Polynesian Y chromosomes can be traced back to Melanesia.[5]

In the archaeological record there are well-defined traces of this expansion which allow the path it took to be followed and dated with some certainty. It is thought that by roughly 1400 BC,

archaeology in Samoa. The site is at Mulifanua on Upolu. The Mulifanua site, where 4,288 pottery shards have been found and studied, has a "true" age of c. 1000 BC based on C14 dating.[7] A 2010 study places the beginning of the human archaeological sequences of Polynesia in Tonga at 900 B.C.,[8]
the small differences in dates with Samoa being due to differences in radiocarbon dating technologies between 1989 and 2010, the Tongan site apparently predating the Samoan site by some few decades in real time.

Within a mere three or four centuries between about 1300 and 900 BC, the Lapita archaeological culture spread 6,000 km further to the east from the Bismarck Archipelago, until it reached as far as Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa.[9][10] The area of Tonga, Fiji, and Samoa served as a gateway into the rest of the Pacific region known as Polynesia.[11] Ancient Tongan mythologies recorded by early European explorers report the islands of 'Ata and Tongatapu as the first islands being hauled to the surface from the deep ocean by Maui.[12][13]

Tuʻitātui
.

The

"Tuʻi Tonga Empire" or "Tongan Empire" in Oceania are descriptions sometimes given to Tongan expansionism and projected hegemony dating back to 950 AD, but at its peak during the period 1200–1500. While modern researchers and cultural experts attest to widespread Tongan influence and evidences of transoceanic trade and exchange of material and non-material cultural artifacts, empirical evidence of a true political empire ruled for any length of time by successive rulers is lacking.[15]

Modern archeology, anthropology and linguistic studies confirm widespread Tongan cultural influence ranging widely[16][17] through East 'Uvea, Rotuma, Futuna, Samoa and Niue, parts of Micronesia (Kiribati, Pohnpei), Vanuatu, and New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands,[18] and while some academics prefer the term "maritime chiefdom",[19] others argue that, while very different to examples elsewhere, ..."empire" is probably the most convenient term.[20]

Lapita people or the ancestors of the Polynesians settled the islands first but not much is known of what became of them after the Melanesians arrived; they may have had some influence on the new culture, and archaeological evidence shows that they would have then moved on to Tonga, Samoa
and even Hawai'i.

The first settlements in Fiji were started by voyaging traders and settlers from the west about 5000 years ago.

Lapita pottery shards have been found at numerous excavations around the country. Aspects of Fijian culture are similar to the Melanesian culture of the western Pacific
but have a stronger connection to the older Polynesian cultures. Across 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) from east to west, Fiji has been a nation of many languages. Fiji's history was one of settlement but also of mobility.

Over the centuries, a unique Fijian culture developed. Constant warfare and cannibalism between warring tribes were quite rampant and very much part of everyday life.[21] In later centuries, the ferocity of the cannibal lifestyle deterred European sailors from going near Fijian waters, giving Fiji the name Cannibal Isles; as a result, Fiji remained unknown to the rest of the world.[22]

Hotu Matu'a[23] arrived on the island in one or two large canoes with his wife and extended family.[24] They are believed to have been Polynesian. There is considerable uncertainty about the accuracy of this legend as well as the date of settlement. Published literature suggests the island was settled around 300-400 CE, or at about the time of the arrival of the earliest settlers in Hawaii
.

Some scientists say that Easter Island was not inhabited until 700-800 CE. This date range is based on glottochronological calculations and on three radiocarbon dates from charcoal that appears to have been produced during forest clearance activities.[25]

Moreover, a recent study which included radiocarbon dates from what is thought to be very early material suggests that the island was settled as recently as 1200 CE.

Chilean wine palm (Jubaea chilensis), was one of the dominant trees as attested by fossil evidence; this species, whose sole occurrence was Easter Island, became extinct due to deforestation by the early settlers.[29]

Micronesia theories

See also:
Saudeleur Dynasty

Micronesia began to be settled several millennia ago, although there are competing theories about the origin and arrival of the first settlers.

Saipan, dated to 1500 BCE or slightly before.[32]

The ancestors of the Micronesians settled there over 4,000 years ago. A decentralized chieftain-based system eventually evolved into a more centralized economic and religious Micronesian Empire centered on Yap and Pohnpei.[33] The prehistory of many Micronesian islands such as Yap are not known very well.[34]

Central Nan Madol
Nan Madol, capital of the Saudeleur Dynasty

On

Lord of Deleur, ca. 1100[35] to ca. 1628);[note 1] and Mwehin Nahnmwarki (Period of the Nahnmwarki, ca. 1628 to ca. 1885).[36][39] Pohnpeian legend recounts that the Saudeleur rulers, the first to bring government to Pohnpei, were of foreign origin. The Saudeleur centralized form of absolute rule is characterized in Pohnpeian legend as becoming increasingly oppressive over several generations. Arbitrary and onerous demands, as well as a reputation for offending Pohnpeian deities, sowed resentment among Pohnpeians. The Saudeleur Dynasty ended with the invasion of Isokelekel, another semi-mythical foreigner, who replaced the Saudeleur rule with the more decentralized nahnmwarki system in existence today.[41][42][43] Isokelekel is regarded as the creator of the modern Pohnpeian nahnmwarki social system and the father of the Pompeian people.[41][44]

Construction of

Saudeleur Dynasty that united Pohnpei's estimated 25,000 people until its centralized system collapsed amid the invasion of Isokelekel.[43] Isokelekel and his descendants initially occupied the stone city, but later abandoned it.[39]

The first people of the Northern Mariana Islands navigated to the islands at some period between 4000 BC to 2000 BC from Southeast Asia. They became known as the Chamorros, and spoke an Austronesian language called Chamorro. The ancient Chamorro left a number of megalithic ruins, including Latte stone. The Refaluwasch, or Carolinian, people came to the Marianas in the 1800s from the Caroline Islands. Micronesian colonists gradually settled the Marshall Islands during the 2nd millennium BC, with inter-island navigation made possible using traditional stick charts.[45]

Melanesia theories

Main article: Melanesians
See also: Indigenous Australians
Distribution of Melanesians

The first settlers of Australia, New Guinea, and the large islands just to the east arrived between 50,000 and 30,000 years ago, when

Neanderthals still roamed Europe.[46] The original inhabitants of the group of islands now named Melanesia were likely the ancestors of the present-day Papuan-speaking people. Migrating from Southeast Asia, they appear to have occupied these islands as far east as the main islands in the Solomon Islands, including Makira and possibly the smaller islands farther to the east.[47]

Particularly along the north coast of New Guinea and in the islands north and east of New Guinea, the

Polynesian people.[49]

Boy from Vanuatu

However, the theory is contradicted by the findings of a

Taiwanese Aborigines.[46] It appeared that, having developed their sailing outrigger canoes, the Polynesian ancestors migrated from East Asia, moved through the Melanesian area quickly on their way, and kept going to eastern areas, where they settled. They left little genetic evidence in Melanesia.[46]

The study found a high rate of genetic differentiation and diversity among the groups living within the Melanesian islands, with the peoples distinguished by island, language, topography, and geography among the islands. Such diversity developed over their tens of thousands of years of settlement before the Polynesian ancestors ever arrived at the islands. For instance, populations developed differently in coastal areas, as opposed to those in more isolated mountainous valleys.[46][50]

Additional DNA analysis has taken research into new directions, as more human species have been discovered since the late 20th century. Based on his genetic studies of the

Neanderthals; both groups are now understood to have migrated out of Africa, with the Neanderthals going into Europe, and the Denisovans heading east about 400,000 years ago. This is based on genetic evidence from a fossil found in Siberia. The evidence from Melanesia suggests their territory extended into south Asia, where ancestors of the Melanesians developed.[51]

Melanesians of some islands are one of the few non-European peoples, and the only dark-skinned group of people outside Australia, known to have blond hair.

Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands.[52] Indigenous Australians migrated from Africa to Asia around 70,000 years ago[53] and arrived in Australia around 50,000 years ago.[54][55] The Torres Strait Islanders are indigenous to the Torres Strait Islands, which are at the northernmost tip of Queensland near Papua New Guinea. The term "Aboriginal" is traditionally applied to only the indigenous inhabitants of mainland Australia and Tasmania, along with some of the adjacent islands, i.e.: the "first peoples". Indigenous Australians is an inclusive term used when referring to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders.

The earliest definite human remains found to date are that of

Mungo Man, which have been dated at about 40,000 years old, but the time of arrival of the ancestors of Indigenous Australians is a matter of debate among researchers, with estimates dating back as far as 125,000 years ago.[56] There is great diversity among different Indigenous communities and societies in Australia, each with its own unique mixture of cultures, customs and languages. In present-day Australia these groups are further divided into local communities.[57]

European contact and exploration (from 1600s)

Ferdinand Magellan.

Ferdinand Magellan and the Manila Galleons

The Magellan–Elcano voyage. Victoria, one of the original five ships, circumnavigated the globe after the death of Ferdinand Magellan.

Oceania was explored by Europeans from the 16th century onwards. In 1519 Ferdinand Magellan sailed down the east coast of South America, found and sailed through the strait that bears his name and on 28 November 1520 entered the Pacific. He then sailed north and caught the trade winds which carried him across the Pacific to the Philippines where he was killed. One surviving ship returned west across the Indian Ocean and the other went north in the hope of finding the westerlies and reaching Mexico. Unable to find the right winds, it was forced to return to the East Indies. The Ferdinand Magellan expedition achieved the first circumnavigation of the world and discovered the Mariana Islands and other islands of Oceania.

In 1565 (44 years later)

Manila Galleons crossed the Pacific from Mexico to the Philippines and back, exchanging Mexican silver for spices and porcelain. Until the time of Captain Cook these were the only large ships to regularly cross the Pacific. The route was purely commercial and there was no exploration of the areas to the north and south. In 1668 the Spanish founded a colony on Guam
as a resting place for west-bound galleons. For a long time this was the only non-coastal European settlement in the Pacific.

Abel Tasman.

Abel Tasman

The route of Abel Tasman's first and second voyage.

Abel Tasman was the first known European explorer to reach the islands of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) and New Zealand, and to sight the Fiji islands. His navigator François Visscher, and his merchant Isaack Gilsemans, mapped substantial portions of Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and the Fijian islands.

On 24 November 1642 Abel Tasman sighted the west coast of Tasmania, north of Macquarie Harbour.

Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
. then claimed formal possession of the land on 3 December 1642.

Waka taua (war canoes) at the Bay of Islands, 1827–8.

After some exploration, Tasman had intended to proceed in a northerly direction but as the wind was unfavourable he steered east. On 13 December they sighted land on the north-west coast of the

Three Kings Islands, but Kaap Pieter Boreels was renamed by Cook 125 years later to Cape Egmont
.

On route back to Batavia, Tasman came across the Tongan archipelago on 20 January 1643. While passing the Fiji Islands Tasman's ships came close to being wrecked on the dangerous reefs of the north-eastern part of the Fiji group. He charted the eastern tip of Vanua Levu and Cikobia before making his way back into the open sea. He eventually turned north-west to New Guinea, and arrived at Batavia on 15 June 1643.

For over a century after Tasman's voyages, until the era of James Cook, Tasmania and New Zealand were not visited by Europeans – mainland Australia was visited, but usually only by accident.

Map and drawings from Abel Tasman's voyages
  • The Abel Tasman map 1644.
    The Abel Tasman map 1644.
  • The first European impression of Māori, at Murderers' Bay. Drawing by Isaack Gilsemans in Abel Tasman's travel journal (1642).[62]
    The first European impression of Māori, at
    travel journal (1642).[62]
  • Tongatapu, drawing by Isaack Gilsemans
    Tongatapu, drawing by Isaack Gilsemans
  • The bay of Tongatapu with the two ships, drawing by Isaack Gilsemans
    The bay of Tongatapu with the two ships, drawing by Isaack Gilsemans
Famous official portrait of Captain James Cook.[63]

Captain James Cook voyages of exploration

First voyage (1768–71)

Main article: First voyage of James Cook
Cook's map of New Zealand

In 1766 the

observations of the Venus Transit were made. Once the observations were completed, Cook opened the sealed orders which were additional instructions from the Admiralty for the second part of his voyage: to search the south Pacific for signs of the postulated rich southern continent of Terra Australis.[65]

With the help of a Tahitian named

Stewart Island/Rakiura was a peninsula of the South Island). He also identified Cook Strait, which separates the North Island
from the South Island, and which Tasman had not seen.

Cook then voyaged west, reaching the south-eastern coast of Australia on 19 April 1770, and in doing so his expedition became the first recorded Europeans to have encountered its eastern coastline.

Kurnell Peninsula. It is here that James Cook made first contact with an aboriginal tribe known as the Gweagal.[67]

After his departure from Botany Bay he continued northwards. After a grounding mishap on the Great Barrier Reef, the voyage continued, sailing through Torres Strait before returning to England via Batavia, the Cape of Good Hope, and Saint Helena.

A Māori chief with tattoos (moko). Drawn by Sydney Parkinson, the artist on Captain Cook's 1st voyage to New Zealand in 1769.

Second voyage (1772–75)

Main article: Second voyage of James Cook

In 1772 the Royal Society commissioned Cook to search for the hypothetical Terra Australis again. On his first voyage, Cook had demonstrated by circumnavigating New Zealand that it was not attached to a larger landmass to the south. Although he charted almost the entire eastern coastline of Australia, showing it to be continental in size, the Terra Australis was believed by the Royal Society to lie further south.[68]

James Cook witnessing human sacrifice in Tahiti c. 1773

Cook commanded HMS Resolution on this voyage, while Tobias Furneaux commanded its companion ship, HMS Adventure. Cook's expedition circumnavigated the globe at an extreme southern latitude, becoming one of the first to cross the Antarctic Circle (17 January 1773). In the Antarctic fog, Resolution and Adventure became separated. Furneaux made his way to New Zealand, where he lost some of his men during an encounter with Māori, and eventually sailed back to Britain, while Cook continued to explore the Antarctic, reaching 71°10'S on 31 January 1774.[69]

Cook almost encountered the mainland of Antarctica, but turned towards Tahiti to resupply his ship. He then resumed his southward course in a second fruitless attempt to find the supposed continent. On this leg of the voyage he brought a young Tahitian named Omai, who proved to be somewhat less knowledgeable about the Pacific than Tupaia had been on the first voyage. On his return voyage to New Zealand in 1774, Cook landed at the Friendly Islands, Easter Island, Norfolk Island, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu.

Before returning to England, Cook made a final sweep across the South Atlantic from Cape Horn. He then turned north to South Africa, and from there continued back to England. His reports upon his return home put to rest the popular myth of Terra Australis.[70]

A statue of James Cook stands in Waimea, Kauai commemorating his first contact with the Hawaiian Islands at the town's harbour in January 1778

Third voyage (1776–79)

Main article: Third voyage of James Cook

On his last voyage, Cook again commanded HMS Resolution, while Captain

First Lord of the Admiralty.[72]

From the Sandwich Islands Cook sailed north and then north-east to explore the west coast of North America north of the Spanish settlements in Alta California. Cook explored and mapped the coast all the way to the Bering Strait, on the way identifying what came to be known as Cook Inlet in Alaska. In a single visit, Cook charted the majority of the North American north-west coastline on world maps for the first time, determined the extent of Alaska, and closed the gaps in Russian (from the West) and Spanish (from the South) exploratory probes of the Northern limits of the Pacific.[69]

Cook returned to Hawaii in 1779. After sailing around the archipelago for some eight weeks, he made landfall at Kealakekua Bay, on 'Hawaii Island', largest island in the Hawaiian Archipelago. Cook's arrival coincided with the Makahiki, a Hawaiian harvest festival of worship for the Polynesian god Lono. Coincidentally the form of Cook's ship, HMS Resolution, or more particularly the mast formation, sails and rigging, resembled certain significant artefacts that formed part of the season of worship.[73][74] Similarly, Cook's clockwise route around the island of Hawaii before making landfall resembled the processions that took place in a clockwise direction around the island during the Lono festivals. It has been argued (most extensively by Marshall Sahlins) that such coincidences were the reasons for Cook's (and to a limited extent, his crew's) initial deification by some Hawaiians who treated Cook as an incarnation of Lono.[75] Though this view was first suggested by members of Cook's expedition, the idea that any Hawaiians understood Cook to be Lono, and the evidence presented in support of it, were challenged in 1992.[74][76]

Johann Zoffany, circa 1795.[77]

After a month's stay, Cook resumed his exploration of the Northern Pacific. Shortly after leaving Hawaii Island, however, the Resolution's foremast broke, so the ships returned to

King of Hawaiʻi, Kalaniʻōpuʻu. The Hawaiians prevented this, and Cook's men had to retreat to the beach. As Cook turned his back to help launch the boats, he was struck on the head by the villagers and then stabbed to death as he fell on his face in the surf.[78] Hawaiian tradition says that he was killed by a chief named Kalaimanokahoʻowaha or Kanaʻina.[79]
The Hawaiians dragged his body away. Four of Cook's men were also killed and two others were wounded in the confrontation.

The esteem which the islanders nevertheless held for Cook caused them to retain his body. Following their practice of the time, they prepared his body with funerary rituals usually reserved for the chiefs and highest elders of the society. The body was disembowelled, baked to facilitate removal of the flesh, and the bones were carefully cleaned for preservation as religious icons in a fashion somewhat reminiscent of the treatment of European saints in the Middle Ages. Some of Cook's remains, thus preserved, were eventually returned to his crew for a formal burial at sea.[80]

Clerke assumed leadership of the expedition.

John Gore, a veteran of Cook's first voyage, and Captain James King.[82]
After their arrival in England, King completed Cook's account of the voyage.

The routes of Captain James Cook's voyages. The first voyage is shown in red, second voyage in green, and third voyage in blue. The route of Cook's crew following his death is shown as a dashed blue line.

Colonisation

Political Map of the Asia-Pacific Region, 1939.

British colonisation

In 1789 the

Fiji in 1872, with much of Oceania becoming part of the British Empire
.

Among the last islands in Oceania to be colonised was Niue (1900). In 1887, King Fata-a-iki, who reigned Niue from 1887 to 1896, offered to cede sovereignty to the British Empire, fearing the consequences of annexation by a less benevolent colonial power. The offer was not accepted until 1900. Niue was a British protectorate, but the UK's direct involvement ended in 1901 when New Zealand annexed the island.

French colonisation

Society Island kingdoms.

French Catholic missionaries arrived on Tahiti in 1834; their expulsion in 1836 caused France to send a gunboat in 1838. In 1842, Tahiti and

colony.[83]

On 24 September 1853, under orders from

Port-de-France (Nouméa) was founded 25 June 1854.[84] A few dozen free settlers settled on the west coast in the following years.[84] New Caledonia became a penal colony, and from the 1860s until the end of the transportations in 1897, about 22,000 criminals and political prisoners were sent to New Caledonia, among them many Communards, including Henri de Rochefort and Louise Michel.[85] Between 1873 and 1876, 4,200 political prisoners were "relegated" in New Caledonia.[84] Only forty of them settled in the colony, the rest returned to France after being granted amnesty in 1879 and 1880.[84]

In the 1880s, France claimed the

Pōmare Dynasty, without formally annexing it. Having declared a protectorate over Tahuata in 1842, the French regarded the entire Marquesas Islands as French. In 1885, France appointed a governor and established a general council, thus giving it the proper administration for a colony. The islands of Rimatara and Rūrutu unsuccessfully lobbied for British protection in 1888, so in 1889 they were annexed by France. Postage stamps were first issued in the colony in 1892. The first official name for the colony was Établissements de l'Océanie (Settlements in Oceania); in 1903 the general council was changed to an advisory council and the colony's name was changed to Établissements Français de l'Océanie (French Settlements in Oceania).[86]

Spanish colonisation

The

Thomas Gilbert in 1788, in route from Botany Bay to Canton (two ships of the First Fleet
). The Marshall Islands were claimed by Spain in 1874.

Dutch colonisation

In 1606 Luís Vaz de Torres explored the southern coast of New Guinea from Milne Bay to the Gulf of Papua including Orangerie Bay which he named Bahía de San Lorenzo. His expedition also discovered Basilaki Island naming it Tierra de San Buenaventura, which he claimed for Spain in July 1606.[87] On October 18 his expedition reached the western part of the island in present-day Indonesia, and also claimed the territory for the King of Spain.

New Guinea from 1884 to 1919. The Netherlands controlled the western half of New Guinea, Germany the north-eastern part, and Britain the south-eastern part.

A successive European claim occurred in 1828, when the Netherlands formally claimed the western half of the island as

British colony of Queensland annexed south-eastern New Guinea. However, the Queensland government's superiors in the United Kingdom revoked the claim, and (formally) assumed direct responsibility in 1884, when Germany claimed north-eastern New Guinea as the protectorate of German New Guinea (also called Kaiser-Wilhelmsland
).

The first Dutch government posts were established in 1898 and in 1902: Manokwari on the north coast, Fak-Fak in the west and Merauke in the south at the border with British New Guinea. The German, Dutch and British colonial administrators each attempted to suppress the still-widespread practices of inter-village warfare and headhunting within their respective territories.[88]

In 1905 the British government transferred some administrative responsibility over southeast New Guinea to Australia (which renamed the area "Territory of Papua"); and in 1906, transferred all remaining responsibility to Australia. During World War I, Australian forces seized German New Guinea, which in 1920 became the Territory of New Guinea, to be administered by Australia under a League of Nations mandate. The territories under Australian administration became collectively known as The Territories of Papua and New Guinea (until February 1942).

German colonisation

Germany established colonies in New Guinea in 1884, and Samoa in 1900.

Following

Iroij
(high chiefs) continued to rule under indirect colonial German administration.

American colonisation

The

Tripartite Convention of 1899
.

Samoa aligned its interests with the

Tui Manuʻa
(supreme chief of Manuʻa) on July 16, 1904, at the Crown residence of the Tuimanuʻa called the Faleula in the place called Lalopua (from Official documents of the Tuimanuʻa government, 1893; Office of the Governor, 2004).

Cession followed the

Tripartite Convention of 1899 that partitioned the eastern islands of Samoa
(including Tutuila and the Manuʻa Group) from the western islands of Samoa (including ʻUpolu and Savaiʻi).

Japanese colonisation

At the beginning of

UN Security Council to administer much of Micronesia, including the Marshall Islands, as the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
.

During World War II, Japan colonized many Oceanic colonies by wresting control from western powers.

Samoan Crisis 1887-1889

See also: Samoan Civil War, Second Samoan Civil War, Siege of Apia, and German Samoa
Wrecked vessels at Apia. 1889.
SMS Adler wrecked at Apia. 1889.

The Samoan Crisis was a confrontation standoff between the

USS Nipsic and three German warships, SMS Adler, SMS Olga, and SMS Eber, keeping each other at bay over several months in Apia harbour, which was monitored by the British warship HMS Calliope
.

The standoff ended on 15 and 16 March when a

Tripartite Convention of 1899, in the partition of the Samoan Islands into American Samoa and German Samoa.[90]

World War I

Colour map depicting the location of the Bita Paka within New Guinea
Location of Bita Paka, 1914. The highlighted area is shown in the map below.

The Asian and Pacific Theatre of World War I was a conquest of German colonial possession in the Pacific Ocean and China. The most significant military action was the Siege of Tsingtao in what is now China, but smaller actions were also fought at Battle of Bita Paka and Siege of Toma in German New Guinea.

All other German and Austrian possessions in Asia and the Pacific fell without bloodshed. Naval warfare was common; all of the colonial powers had naval squadrons stationed in the Indian or Pacific Oceans. These fleets operated by supporting the invasions of German held territories and by destroying the East Asia Squadron.

Soldiers marching through the jungle
A platoon of German reservists at Bita Paka in 1914.

One of the first land offensives in the Pacific theatre was the Occupation of German Samoa in August 1914 by New Zealand forces. The campaign to take Samoa ended without bloodshed after over 1,000 New Zealanders landed on the German colony, supported by an Australian and French naval squadron.

Australian forces attacked German New Guinea in September 1914: 500 Australians encountered 300 Germans and native policemen at the Battle of Bita Paka; the Allies won the day and the Germans retreated to Toma. A company of Australians and a British warship besieged the Germans and their colonial subjects, ending with a German surrender.[91]

After the fall of Toma, only minor German forces were left in New Guinea and these generally capitulated once met by Australian forces. In December 1914, one German officer near Angorum attempted resist the occupation with thirty native police but his force deserted him after they fired on an Australian scouting party and he was subsequently captured.[91]

German Micronesia, the Marianas, the Carolines and the Marshall Islands
also fell to Allied forces during the war.

World War II

Main articles: Attack on Pearl Harbor and Pacific War
Photograph from a Japanese plane of Battleship Row at the beginning of the attack. The explosion in the center is a torpedo strike on the USS Oklahoma. Two attacking Japanese planes can be seen: one over the USS Neosho and one over the Naval Yard.

The

Second World War
, mainly between the belligerents Japan and the United States.

The attack on Pearl Harbor[note 3] was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941 (December 8 in Japan). The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II.

The attack was intended as a

U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. There were simultaneous Japanese attacks on the U.S.-held Philippines and on the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong
.

The Japanese subsequently invaded New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and other Pacific islands. The Japanese were turned back at the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Kokoda Track campaign before they were finally defeated in 1945.

Some of the most prominent Oceanic battlegrounds were the Solomon Islands campaign, the Air raids on Darwin, the Kokada Track, and the Borneo campaign.

In 1940 the administration of French Polynesia recognised the Free French Forces and many Polynesians served in World War II. Unknown at the time to French and Polynesians, the Konoe Cabinet in Imperial Japan on 16 September 1940 included French Polynesia among the many territories which were to become Japanese possessions in the post-war world – though in the course of the war in the Pacific the Japanese were not able to launch an actual invasion of the French islands.

The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) under aerial attack during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons.
Guadalcanal Campaign in 1942. (modern day Solomon Islands
)

Solomon Islands campaign

Main articles:
Battle of Guadalcanal

Some of the most intense fighting of the Second World War occurred in the Solomons. The most significant of the Allied Forces' operations against the

Florida Islands at Tulagi[96] and Red Beach on Guadalcanal
.

The

Battle of Guadalcanal became an important and bloody campaign fought in the Pacific War as the Allies began to repulse Japanese expansion. Of strategic importance during the war were the coastwatchers operating in remote locations, often on Japanese held islands, providing early warning and intelligence of Japanese naval, army and aircraft movements during the campaign.[97]

"The Slot" was a name for New Georgia Sound, when it was used by the Tokyo Express to supply the Japanese garrison on Guadalcanal. Of more than 36,000 Japanese on Guadalcanal, about 26,000 were killed or missing, 9,000 died of disease, and 1,000 were captured.[98]

Papuan men in native dress carry a wounded soldier on a stretcher up a steep track surrounded by dense jungle
Papuan carriers evacuate Australian casualties on 30 August 1942

Kokoda Track campaign

The Kokoda Track campaign was a campaign consisting of a series of battles fought between July and November 1942 between

South Seas Force clashed with under strength Australian forces at Awala, forcing them back to Kokoda. A number of Japanese attacks were subsequently fought off by the Australian Militia, yet they began to withdraw over the Owen Stanley Range, down the Kokoda Track
.

In sight of Port Moresby itself, the Japanese began to run out of momentum against the Australians who began to receive further reinforcements. Having outrun their supply lines and following the reverses suffered by the Japanese at

United States forces assaulted the Japanese beachheads, in what later became known as the Battle of Buna–Gona
.

Post-war period

A 21 kiloton underwater nuclear weapons effects test, known as Operation CROSSROADS (Event Baker), conducted at Bikini Atoll (1946).

In 1946, Polynesians were granted French citizenship and the islands' status was changed to an overseas territory; the islands' name was changed in 1957 to Polynésie Française (French Polynesia).

From 1946 to 1958, the Marshall Islands served as the

Enewetak atoll in the Marshall Islands
on November 1 (local date) in 1952, by the United States.

Australia and New Zealand became

dominions in the 20th century, adopting the Statute of Westminster Act in 1942 and 1947 respectively, marking their legislative independence from the United Kingdom
. Hawaii became a U.S. state in 1959.

Modern age

In 1962, France's early nuclear testing ground of Algeria became independent and the Maruroa atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago was selected as the new testing site; tests were conducted underground after 1974.

Fiji and Tonga became independent in 1970, with many other nations following in the 1970s and 1980s. The South Pacific Forum was founded in 1971, which became the Pacific Islands Forum in 2000. Bougainville Island, geographically part of the Solomon Islands but politically part of Papua New Guinea, tried unsuccessfully to become independent in 1975, and a civil war followed in the early 1990s, with it later being granted autonomy.

On May 1, 1979, in recognition of the evolving political status of the Marshall Islands, the United States recognized the constitution of the Marshall Islands and the establishment of the Government of the

Republic of the Marshall Islands
. The constitution incorporates both American and British constitutional concepts.

In 1852, French Polynesia was granted partial internal autonomy; in 1984, the autonomy was extended. French Polynesia became a full overseas collectivity of France in 2004.

French

nuclear testing in the Pacific was controversial in the 1980s, in 1985 French agents caused the Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland to prevent it from arriving at the test site in Moruroa
. In September 1995, France stirred up widespread protests by resuming nuclear testing at Fangataufa atoll after a three-year moratorium. The last test was on 27 January 1996. On 29 January 1996, France announced that it would accede to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and no longer test nuclear weapons.

East Timor declared independence from Portugal in 1975, but was invaded by Indonesia, before it was granted full independence in 2002.

Fiji has had a troubled recent history with coups in 1987, 2000 and 2006.

Between 2001 and 2007 Australia's

Nauru detention centre. Australia, New Zealand and other nations took part in the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands
from 2003 after a request for aid.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The Saudeleur era lasted around 500 years.[36] Legend generally dates their downfall to the 1500s,[37] however archaeologists date Saudeleur ruins to ca. 1628.[38][39][40]
  2. ^ At this time, the International Date Line had yet to be established, so the dates in Cook's journal are a day earlier than those accepted today.
  3. ^ Also known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor,[92] the Hawaii Operation or Operation AI by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters,[93][94] and Operation Z during planning.[95]

References

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  8. ^ Burley, David V.; Barton, Andrew; Dickinson, William R.; Connaughton, Sean P.; Taché, Karine (2010). "Nukuleka as a Founder Colony for West Polynesian Settlement: New Insights from Recent Excavations". Journal of Pacific Archaeology. 1 (2): 128–144.
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  10. ^ PV Kirch. 1997. The Lapita Peoples. Cambridge: Blackwell Publisher
  11. ^ see DV Burley. 1998. Tongan Archaeology and the Tongan Past, 2850-150 B.P. In: Journal of World Prehistory 12:337–392
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  13. ^ John Martin. 2005 (reprint). William Mariner: An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. Vol. 1. Elibron Classics
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  45. ^ The History of Mankind by Professor Friedrich Ratzel, Book II, Section A, The Races of Oceania page 165, picture of a stick chart from the Marshall Islands. MacMillan and Co., published 1896.
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Bibliography
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