The civilian population, culture and infrastructure of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia (Pacific Islands) were completely changed between 1941 and 1945 because of the logistical requirements of the Allies in their war against Japan (taemfaet and daidowa in Micronesian or sahaya kana tuta in Melanesian). [1] [2] At the start of the war some of the islands had experienced up to 200 years of colonialism from Europe and its colonies, some on the verge of being fully annexed, others close to independence. The early Japanese expansion through the western Pacific then introduced a new colonial system to many islands. The Japanese occupation subjected the indigenous people of Guam and other Pacific Islands to forced labor, family separation, incarceration, execution, concentration camps, and forced prostitution. [3] [4]
The Pacific Islands then experienced military action, massive troop movements, and limited resource extraction and building projects as the Allies pushed the Japanese back to their home islands. [5] The juxtaposition of all these cultures led to a new understanding among the indigenous Pacific Islanders of their relationship with the colonial powers.
By 1941 the Pacific Islands had been on the periphery of many wars between the great powers of Europe and America. Japan too had been slowly extending its influence along the edge of the western Pacific for much of the 20th century leading up to World War II. After the initial scramble for positions by the Spanish, Dutch, English and French, Guam had been ceded to America and German-Samoa had changed hands in the First World War. [6]
Christianity had been spread to every inhabited island and had been adopted to varying extents. The interior of New Guinea was largely unexplored by Europeans. However, the rest of the Pacific was fully in the control of colonial powers, as the Pacific Islands were comparatively slow in the creation of independence movements. [7]
Because of the vast amount of information recorded by the Allied armies in comparison with the local populations of the Pacific, many of the events of the time are seen from their perspective. [8] It had been decided that Britain and its colonies would have a secondary role in the Pacific, so it was mostly Americans that passed through the islands on their way to war. [9] They appeared in the Pacific largely unannounced because of security concerns. In the view of one French colonist "if Martians had landed among us we would not have been more surprised". [10]
Most of the military personnel from the continental U.S. had never before left their homeland or experienced any culture other than their own. Americans experienced the Pacific Islands including the U.S. organized incorporated territory of Hawaii through cinema and books which divided the inhabitants into submissive hula dancers or cannibals. [11] Also the American military was segregated at this time, further leading to the culture shock that awaited many in the Pacific Islands. American views on race also led to disagreements among the Allies, as New Zealand officers would have dinner with their Fijian counterparts, while Americans would not. [12] Similar racial tension lead to a riot in Wellington, New Zealand when American soldiers would not allow Māori into the Allied Services Club. [13]
Once the servicemen arrived they quibbled about their disillusionment with local women and never fully changed their preconceptions of local men. [14] [15] As John F. Kennedy reported from the Solomon Islands "Have a lot of natives around and am getting hold of grass skirts, war clubs, etc. We had one in today who told us about the last man he ate". [16] In the Solomon Islands by this stage of the war, the missionaries had been evacuated, which would have only increased misunderstandings between the Methodist locals and the new arrivals. While some foreign servicemen respected the locals for their fitness, friendliness and work ethic, most viewed the indigenous people as culturally and biologically inferior. However, as the American men were ordered to treat the locals fairly, and the visitors provided many economic opportunities, relations were almost always peaceful. [12]
In order to prevent the spread of diseases such as malaria to the American troops in Melanesia, efforts were made to separate the two groups. Treatment was also given to locals for a variety of ailments in order to protect the servicemen. This, along with the perceived positive treatment of African Americans, led to a generally positive view of Americans among the populace of the Solomon Islands. This good opinion was only marred by infrequent theft of local goods, unwanted advances towards women and at least one instance of bestiality by American servicemen. [17]
Generally the effect of informal interactions between the visiting armies and the local inhabitants had a far more lasting effect than the formal military activities. The sharp distinction between colonizer and colonized once broken, particularly by shared military service were hard to restore. [18]
The home comforts the American military brought to the Pacific changed the aspirations of many local peoples. This included the eating habits of those in the Solomon Islands through to the fashion choices of women in New Zealand. [19] [20] In those societies like New Zealand, where a portion of the young men enlisted, as well as working in the fields and factories, women volunteered for Red Cross work and took up the professional positions left vacant by the men. [21] In communities that had very little contact with Europeans before the war, the sudden arrival—and rapid departure—of such an unfathomable mass of men and machines had lasting religious effects, such as the so-called "cargo cults". [22] [23]
In New Caledonia employment by the military represented the first introduction to currency (46 cents per day) for many. This was accompanied with health care and training in many tasks including driving. This was seen as inappropriate and leading to arrogant behavior by some French colonists. Uniforms were also given to local workers as a way of creating discipline and a hierarchy. [24]
The indigenous New Caledonians (Kanak) noted with interest that the African American soldiers, while segregated, could outrank white Americans. They judged this system as superior to the one they lived under during French rule. [24] Asian indentured servants in New Caledonia could not officially be employed by the Americans, however, they were heavily involved in the black market supply of goods and labor that developed. Their absence put pressure on the efficiency of the local nickel mines. [25]
Advanced education on a level not previously seen in the territories Japan had colonized became readily accessible to their general populace during occupation, most notably in the region of Micronesia, where from 1922 to 1936 the amount of primary schools increased from 3 to 23. [26] The island of Bougainville and several local communities lying on the north coast of New Guinea saw their first elementary education during the early years of Japanese settlement. Michael Somare, the first prime minister of Papua New Guinea, claimed that he spent his first year of primary education being taught in a Japanese-language school. [4]
The deforestation, dumping of ordnance and spread of invasive species throughout the Pacific all affected the environment. [27] [28] On some small atolls, runways were built covering most of the available land. This along with the introduction of rats destroyed the breeding locations for many sea birds. [29] The war in the Pacific was partly one for resources, the nickel in New Caledonia made the island a target attracting a U.S. occupation force. [9]
During the war, resources that could be reused in America were often sent back for recycling. However, at the end of the war an estimated nine million metric tonnes of American equipment still needed to be returned from the Pacific. Most of it was sold to the colonial governments or abandoned. In New Guinea reselling this scrap would be the only profitable business until the 1950s. [30]
Location | Military | Arrival | Departure | Population | Troop numbers | % | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fiji | New Zealand, United States of America | 259,638 | 12,000 | 5 | [31] | ||
Guam | Japan | December 1941 | August 1944 | 22,290 | 18,000 | 81 | [32] [33] |
Hawaii | United States of America | Before 1939 | After 1945 | 423,330 | 253,000 | 60 | [32] [34] |
New Caledonia | United States of America | March 1942 | June 1944 | 53,000 | 100,000 | 187 | [25] [35] [36] |
New Zealand | United States of America | June 1942 | July 1944 | 1,600,000 | 45,000 | 3 | [20] [37] |
Cargo cult new guinea.
The history of Oceania includes the history of Australia, Easter Island, Fiji, Hawaii, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Western New Guinea, and other Pacific island nations.
Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Polynesia to the east, and Melanesia to the south—as well as with the wider community of Austronesian peoples.
Oceania is a geographical region comprising Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Australia is regarded as an island or a continental landmass contained inside of the larger continent of Oceania. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, at the center of the water hemisphere, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of about 9,000,000 square kilometres (3,500,000 sq mi) and a population of around 44.4 million as of 2022. When compared to the other continents, Oceania is the smallest in land area and the second-least populated after Antarctica.
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Oceania.
This is a list of hospitals in Oceania for each sovereign state, associated states of New Zealand, and dependencies, and territories. Links to lists of hospitals in countries are used when there are more than a few hospitals in the country. Oceania has an area of 8,525,989 km2 and population of 41,570,842 (2018). The World Health Organization surveys of healthcare in smaller countries are used to identify hospitals in smaller countries.
USS Arided (AK-73), a Crater-class cargo ship, is the only ship of the US Navy to have this name. She was named after Arided, the other name of Deneb, the alpha star of constellation Cygnus.
Polynesian outliers are a number of culturally Polynesian societies that geographically lie outside the main region of Polynesian influence, known as the Polynesian Triangle; instead, Polynesian outliers are scattered in the two other Pacific subregions: Melanesia and Micronesia. Based on archaeological and linguistic analysis, these islands are considered to have been colonized by seafaring Polynesians, mostly from the area of Tonga, Samoa and Tuvalu.
Leapfrogging, also known as island hopping, was an amphibious military strategy employed by the Allies in the Pacific War against the Empire of Japan during World War II. The key idea was to bypass heavily fortified enemy islands instead of trying to capture every island in sequence en route to a final target. The reasoning was that those islands could simply be cut off from their supply chains rather than needing to be overwhelmed by superior force, thus speeding up progress and reducing losses of troops and material.
The indigenous peoples of Oceania are Aboriginal Australians, Papuans, and Austronesians. These indigenous peoples have a historical continuity with pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories. With the notable exceptions of Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, New Caledonia, Guam, and Northern Mariana Islands, indigenous peoples make up the majority of the populations of Oceania.
The Solomon Islands campaign was a major campaign of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign began with Japanese landings and capture of several areas in the British Solomon Islands and Bougainville, in the Territory of New Guinea, during the first six months of 1942. The Japanese occupied these locations and began the construction of several naval and air bases with the goals of protecting the flank of the Japanese offensive in New Guinea, establishing a security barrier for the major Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain, and providing bases for interdicting supply lines between the Allied powers of the United States and Australia and New Zealand.
The USS Alnitah (AK-127) was a Crater-class cargo ship in the service of the US Navy in World War II. Named a spelling variation of the star Alnitak in the constellation Orion, it was the only ship of the Navy to bear this name.
Koreans in Micronesia used to form a significant population before World War II, when most of the region was ruled as the South Seas Mandate of the Empire of Japan; for example, they formed 7.3% of the population of Palau in 1943. However, after the area came under the control of the United States as the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, most Koreans returned to their homeland. As of 2013, about seven thousand South Korean expatriates & immigrants and Korean Americans reside in the Marianas, which have remained under U.S. control, while only around two hundred South Korean expatriates reside in the independent countries of Micronesia.
The following outline is provided as an overview and topical guide to Oceania.
USS President Adams (AP-38/APA-19) was a President Jackson-class attack transport of the United States Navy, named for Founding Father John Adams and his son, John Quincy Adams, the second and sixth Presidents of the United States.
The Oceania Table Tennis Federation (OTTF) is a table tennis organization founded on 1 June 1977, recognized by International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) as its continental federation in Oceania. Discussions began at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships held in Melbourne, 1975. Seven foundation members were New Zealand, Australia, Guam, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, New Caledonia and Tahiti.
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania vary, with it being defined in various ways, often geopolitically or geographically. In the geopolitical conception used by the United Nations, International Olympic Committee, and many atlases, the Oceanic region includes Australia and the nations of the Pacific from Papua New Guinea east, but not the Malay Archipelago or Indonesian New Guinea. The term is sometimes used more specifically to denote Australasia as a geographic continent, or biogeographically as a synonym for either the Australasian realm or the Oceanian realm.
Pacific Partnership is an annual deployment of forces from the Pacific Fleet of the United States Navy (USN), in cooperation with regional governments and military forces, along with humanitarian and non-government organizations.