Sokehs rebellion

Last updated
Sokehs rebellion
Pohnpei map.gif
Pohnpei: Sokehs Island and tribal area
Date18 October 1910 – 22 February 1911
Location
Result Restoration of order, all 426 Sokeh tribal members exiled
Belligerents

Flag of the German Empire.svg  German Empire

Sokehs tribe
Commanders and leaders
Flag of the German Empire.svg Hermann Kersting
War Ensign of Germany 1903-1918.svg Waldemar Vollerthun
Reichskolonialflagge.svg Karl Kammerich
Samuel   Skull and Crossbones.svg
Strength
c. 200 - assault team of sailors and Melanesian police
3 light cruisers
1 survey ship/transport
<50 armed rebels
Casualties and losses

Initial Ambush: 4 Germans, 5 Melanesians killed

Later Skirmishes: 3 Germans, 2 Melanesians killed

6 Germans, 9 Melanesians wounded

6-10 killed

15 executed

The Sokehs rebellion was an uprising of the Sokehs tribe against local German rule that started on Sokehs Island off the main island of Pohnpei in the Eastern Caroline Islands (presently the Federated States of Micronesia) in 1910/1911. The German district commissioner, Gustav Boeder, three other German officials and five islanders were killed by the rebels before German naval units arrived and restored order.

Contents

History of the rebellion

Land ownership on Pohnpei was the exclusive domain of chiefs who would assign parcels of land to their indigenous tribal subjects in sharecropping fashion. Beginning in 1907 the German colonial administration began land reforms and required newly created owners to perform 15 days of labor per year for public works in lieu of taxes.

A group of Sokehs was detailed to roadwork on Sokehs Island on 17 October 1910. One young laborer refused work instructions of his overseer and was ordered flogged for his transgression, the punishment being carried out by a Melanesian policeman. That same evening, Samuel, a lower ranking section chief (Sou Madau en Sokehs [master of the ocean] [1] ), persuaded all in this work gang to refuse further labor. The next morning, 18 October 1910, when work was to commence, the Sokehs group threatened the two German overseers on the island, Otto Hollborn and Johann Häfner, who then fled to the Capuchin mission compound on Sokehs Island.

District commissioner Gustav Boeder was informed of the incident and together with his assistant Rudolf Brauckmann and two translators had his group rowed to the island by six Mortlock Islands boatmen to negotiate with the laborers. As Boeder approached the Sokehs workers, he was shot and killed by rifle fire from a concealed position. The rebels then killed Brauckmann, Häfner, Hollborn and 5 oarsmen; only the 2 translators and one oarsman escaped. After the news of the violent revolt reached the main settlement Kolonia on Pohnpei, Max Girschner, the colony's medical doctor and now senior official, requested the chiefs of the other 4 tribes on Pohnpei to provide men for defending Kolonia. The chiefs offered 600 warriors of whom several were then armed with rifles and bayonets in addition to their own weapons but no attack on Kolonia occurred. Instead the rebelling Sokehs barricaded themselves at a defensive mountain hideout.

The remaining German officials had no access to cable or radio to request assistance. It was not until 26 November 1910 when the mail steamer Germania arrived, that a report could be made to the colony's headquarters at Rabaul. The Colonial Office in Berlin received the message on 26 December 1910. [2]

The response

Police commander Karl Kammerich Deutsche Beamte in den Schutzgebieten.jpg
Police commander Karl Kammerich
Police soldier of the German New Guinea constabulary round about 1910 in campaign dress, summer. Contemporary representation Polizeisoldat der Polizeitruppe Deutsch-Neuguinea um 1910, feldmarschmassig in Sommeruniform. Zeitgenossische Darstellung.jpg
Police soldier of the German New Guinea constabulary round about 1910 in campaign dress, summer. Contemporary representation

Governor Albert Hahl at Rabaul dispatched the small cruiser Cormoran and the survey ship Planet with 163 newly hired Melanesian police recruits aboard. [3] The ships arrived by mid-December 1910. Initial skirmishing by the police recruits had little success and their commander, police lieutenant Karl Kammerich was harshly critical of their performance. [4]

The new light cruiser Emden had docked at Tsingtao at Jiaozhou Bay on 17 September 1910 after a journey from Germany and was the latest addition to the Imperial Navy's East Asia Squadron. The ship then made several show-the-flag cruises to Japan and Hong Kong and patrolled north Pacific island possessions of the German Empire. She was then scheduled for her first annual maintenance at Tsingtao. In response to the news from Pohnpei, the Berlin Admiralty ordered her commander to abandon the overhaul and proceed to the Caroline Islands. At the same time the light cruiser Nürnberg, anchored at Hong Kong, was to link up with Emden and both ships then arrived at Pohnpei on 10 January 1911. [5] As the senior naval officer at the scene, Emden's captain, Lieutenant Commander Waldemar Vollerthun on 13 January 1911 ordered the main batteries of the cruisers to fire on the rebel fortification. Under the ad hoc command of territorial commissioner Hermann Kersting, [6] an assault formation of sailors armed with rifles and 30 Melanesian police, led by naval Lieutenant Edgar von Spiegel from Cormoran [7] and junior officers from Emden captured the hideout and forced the Sokehs to flee. Many escaped to mainland Pohnpei. The rebels fought using guerrilla tactics and offered bitter and stubborn resistance, but lack of food, non-cooperation by the other Pohnpei chiefs and tribes, and continual movement and flight exhausted the Sokehs warriors. On 13 February 1911 Samuel and five followers gave up. The remaining rebels surrendered on 22 February 1911. [8] The cruisers departed the area on 1 March 1911 and arrived at their Tsingtao home base on 14 March 1911. [9]

During the mountain assault and island campaign the German side suffered one junior officer, two ratings and two Melanesian policemen killed and one officer, five sailors and nine Melanesian policemen wounded. [9] Sokehs losses are given at six killed, [10] an unknown number wounded and missing.

Trial and punishment

Immediately after cessation of fighting, a summary trial was convened for 36 rebels. The court convicted 17 for two main offenses: (a) the murder of four German officials and five island boatmen, and (b) for insurrection, and condemned them to death; 12 received multi-year sentences at hard labor, seven were acquitted and set free. On 24 February 1911, 15 rebels, including Samuel, were executed by a Melanesian police firing squad. Two of the condemned men ultimately did not receive the death penalty. [10]

The colonial government banished the tribe of 426 Sokehs to Babelthuap in the German Palau Islands. [8]

Aftermath

The land reforms started by the German colonial officials were completed during the remaining years of German colonial rule, with compensation and continued superior status for the chiefs. Property borders were set by local tribal leaders and the scheme was accepted by the population. [8]

In the early months of World War I, the Empire of Japan occupied all German islands north of the equator. The Japanese began in 1917 a limited return of the Sokehs to Pohnpei, well aware of their opposition to foreign occupation. The Treaty of Versailles assigned to Japan as mandatory power the administration of Pohnpei and all German islands that Japan had occupied. The Japanese concluded the return of the remaining Sokehs by 1927. [11]

In the late 1980s, after independence, the government of the Federated States of Micronesia elevated the rebel leader, Samuel, to the status of a national hero. The anniversary of his execution, February 24th, is now a holiday; the mass grave of the fifteen insurgents in Kolonia is a national shrine. [10]

Literature

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Federated States of Micronesia</span> Historical development of the Federated States of Micronesia

The Federated States of Micronesia are located on the Caroline Islands in the western Pacific Ocean. The history of the modern Federated States of Micronesia is one of settlement by Micronesians; colonization by Spain, Germany, and Japan; United Nations trusteeship under United States-administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands; and gradual independence beginning with the ratification of a sovereign constitution in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pohnpei</span> Island in Micronesia

Pohnpei is an island of the Senyavin Islands which are part of the larger Caroline Islands group. It belongs to Pohnpei State, one of the four states in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Major population centers on Pohnpei include Palikir, the FSM's capital, and Kolonia, the capital of Pohnpei State. Pohnpei Island is the largest with an area of 334 km2 (129 sq mi), and a highest point of 782 m (2,566 ft), the most populous with 36,832 people, and the most developed single island in the FSM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palikir</span> Capital city of the Federated States of Micronesia

Palikir is the capital city of the Federated States of Micronesia located in the western Pacific Ocean. A town of slightly under 5,000 residents, it is part of the larger Sokehs municipality, which had a population of 6,647 as of 2010, out of the nation's total population of 106,487. It is situated on the northwest side of Pohnpei island, a high volcanic island surrounded by a fringing coral reef. Nearby to the northeast is the island's largest settlement, the coastal town of Kolonia. It was declared the capital of Micronesia in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline Islands</span> Archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean, part of Micronesia and Palau

The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the central and eastern parts of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end. Historically, this area was also called Nuevas Filipinas or New Philippines, because they were part of the Spanish East Indies and were governed from Manila in the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Babeldaob</span> Largest island of Palau

Babeldaob is the largest island in the island nation of the Republic of Palau. It is in the western Caroline Islands, and the second largest island in the Micronesia region of Oceania. Palau's capital, Ngerulmud, is located on Babeldaob, in Melekeok State.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Asia Squadron</span> Division of the Imperial German Navy in the Pacific Ocean (1890s-1914)

The German East Asia Squadron was an Imperial German Navy cruiser squadron which operated mainly in the Pacific Ocean between the mid-1890s until 1914, when it was destroyed at the Battle of the Falkland Islands. It was based at Germany's Jiaozhou Bay Leased Territory in China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kapingamarangi</span> Atoll of the Federated States of Micronesia

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pohnpei State</span> State in Federated States of Micronesia

Pohnpei State is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The other states are, from east to west, Kosrae State, Chuuk State, and Yap State. The state's main island is Pohnpei.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I</span> Theater of operations during World War I

Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I consisted of various military engagements that took place on the Asian continent and on Pacific islands. They include naval battles, the Allied conquest of German colonial possessions in the Pacific Ocean and China, and an anti-Russian rebellion in Russian Turkestan and an Ottoman-supported rebellion in British Malaya. The most significant military action was the careful and well-executed Siege of Qingdao in China, but smaller actions were also fought at Bita Paka and Toma in German New Guinea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kolonia</span> Place in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia

Kolonia is a coastal town and the capital of Pohnpei State in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). It’s not to be confused with the far smaller Colonia, the capital of the State of Yap. It was also the former FSM capital before being replaced by Palikir in 1989, located nearby to the southwest in the municipality of Sokehs. It has 6,074 people.

Bezirksamtmann is a German administrative title of gubernatorial or lower rank, roughly translating as equivalent to the British District Officer. It is derived from Bezirk ("district") + Amtmann ("official").

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deke Sokehs</span> Peninsula in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia

Deke Sokehs, or Sokehs Peninsula, is a mountainous peninsula on the north coast of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia. It was formerly an island, known as Sokehs Island, but it is now connected to the main island by causeway and a field of mangroves. The 1570-meter-long Dau Mwoakote Channel cuts through the mangroves, which, except in the west, is only a few meters wide.

SMS <i>Emden</i> Light cruiser of the German Imperial Navy

SMS Emden was the second and final member of the Dresden class of light cruisers built for the German Kaiserliche Marine. Named for the town of Emden, she was laid down at the Kaiserliche Werft in Danzig in 1906. The hull was launched in May 1908, and completed in July 1909. She had one sister ship, Dresden. Like the preceding Königsberg-class cruisers, Emden was armed with ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and two torpedo tubes.

SMS <i>Condor</i> Unprotected cruiser of the German Imperial Navy

SMS Condor was an unprotected cruiser of the Imperial German Navy. She was the fourth member of the Bussard class, which included five other vessels. The cruiser's keel was laid down in Hamburg in 1891, she was launched in February 1892, and was commissioned in December of that year. Intended for overseas duty, Condor was armed with a main battery of eight 10.5-centimeter (4.1 in) guns, and could steam at a speed of 15.5 knots.

SMS <i>Cormoran</i> (1892) Unprotected cruiser of the German Imperial Navy

SMS Cormoran was an unprotected cruiser of the Bussard class, the fifth member of a class of six ships. She was built for the Imperial German Navy for overseas duty. The cruiser's keel was laid down in Danzig in 1890; she was launched in May 1892 and commissioned in July 1893. Cormoran was armed with a main battery of eight 10.5-centimeter (4.1 in) guns, and could steam at a speed of 15.5 knots.

The Japanese Artillery Road and Pohndolap Area are a historic area on Sokehs Island in the Federated States of Micronesia. Sokehs has a prominent north-south ridge (known locally as "Pohndolap", overlooking the state capital Kolonia, and was fortified by the Japanese during World War II. They built a road to the summit area and emplaced anti-aircraft guns on the ridge. The ridge was also a key site in the 1910 Sokehs Rebellion against Japanese rule, and the remnants of a Pohnpeian fort are also in the area. The surviving elements of these fortifications were listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places in 1976. The old road is now part of a hiking trail, leading up to the fortifications.

The Sokehs Mass Grave Site is the location where fifteen participants of the 1910/1911 Sokehs Rebellion on the island of Pohnpei were buried by German colonial authorities. The rebellion broke out in October 1910 on Sokehs Island and was suppressed by German naval forces by early 1911. At a summary trial of 36 Sokehs rebels, 17 were convicted of murder and insurrection, and 15 subsequently executed by firing squad and buried in this mass grave. All members of the Sokehs tribe were then exiled to Babelthuap. The mass grave site is a roughly square area 16 feet (4.9 m) on each side, surrounded by a low stone wall. The site is now identified by a memorial marker.

SMS <i>Jaguar</i>

SMS Jaguar was the second member of the Iltis class of gunboats built for the German Kaiserliche Marine in the late 1890s and early 1900s, for overseas service in the German colonial empire. Other ships of the class are SMS Iltis, SMS Luchs, SMS Tiger, SMS Eber and SMS Panther.

The Imperial Japanese Navy conducted the majority of Japan's military operations during World War I. Japan entered the war on the side of the Entente, against Germany and Austria-Hungary as a consequence of the 1902 Anglo-Japanese Alliance. Japanese participation in the war was limited. Campaigns or operations included the capture of Tsingtao, the hunt for the German East Asia Squadron, the capture of German colonies in the Pacific, and operations in the Mediterranean. These were noteworthy events, but considered marginal to the outcome of the war.

References

  1. ranked in the lower half of the second tier of chiefs, see Riesenberg, S.H. The Native Polity of Ponape. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1968 (Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, Volume 10), p. 13
  2. Morlang, Thomas, "Grausame Räuber, die wir waren", in Die Zeit , No. 39, September 23, 2010. (The title is a quote from a self-critical, rueful 1912 account made by a junior naval officer at the scene: "Und grausame Räuber, die wir waren", which translates roughly as "And cruel thieves, which we were" or "And we behaved like cruel thieves".)
  3. Schultz-Naumann, Joachim. Unter Kaisers Flagge, Deutschlands Schutzgebiete im Pazifik und in China, einst und heute [Under the Kaiser's Flag, Germany's Protectorates in the Pacific and in China, then and today]. Munich: Universitas Verlag. 1985, p. 139
  4. Morlang, Thomas: http://www.traditionsverband.de/download/pdf/polizeitruppe.pdf [The police force of German New Guinea 1887-1914]
  5. Van der Vat, Dan. Gentlemen of War, The Amazing Story of Captain Karl von Müller and the SMS Emden. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc. 1984, p. 19
  6. territorial commissioner for the Caroline, Northern Mariana and Marshall islands
  7. Garzke: Der Aufstand in Ponape und seine Niederwerfung durch S.M. Schiffe Emden, Nürnberg, Cormoran, Planet, Marine Rundschau. Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift für Marinefragen. Ed. by Reichs-Marine-Amt, 1911/6, pp. 711, 717; Edgar von Spiegel: Meere, Inseln, Menschen. Vom Seekadetten zum U-Boot-Kommandanten. Berlin: August Scherl Verlag, 1934, pp. 168-197
  8. 1 2 3 Schultz-Naumann, p. 140
  9. 1 2 Van der Vat, p. 20
  10. 1 2 3 Morlang, 23 Sep 2010
  11. Micronesian Seminar: The Sokehs Rebellion