An outline, era by era

Pacific War battlegrounds; Pacific Island independence

20th Century · 1914 – 2000

The Pacific War (1941 to 1945) was the part of the Second World War fought between Japan and the Allies across the western and central Pacific, Southeast Asia and China. Many of its hardest battles took place on small islands and atolls, among them Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Islanders who had little say in the war lived through bombing, occupation, forced labour and the building of airfields and bases on their land.

After 1945 the islands moved, at different speeds, away from colonial rule. Samoa became independent in 1962, followed by Nauru, Fiji, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati and Vanuatu, mostly between 1968 and 1980. Others chose free association or integration with a larger state, and some remain territories. The war and decolonisation together reshaped the region, and the effects of wartime damage and nuclear testing are still felt.

Things happened, and the rest is history

  1. Pearl Harbor and the Japanese advance

    Event

    What happened

    On 7 December 1941 Japanese aircraft attack the United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In the following weeks Japan attacks the Philippines, Guam, Wake Island, Hong Kong and Malaya. In early 1942 it takes Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, and parts of New Guinea, New Britain and the Gilbert Islands.

    The rest is history

    By mid-1942 Japan held a huge arc of territory reaching into Melanesia, and Pacific islands became front lines. The Allies' defence of Australia and its supply lines depended on holding places such as Port Moresby and the Solomon Islands. Japanese expansion therefore brought the war to island peoples who had never been consulted about it. It also shaped the next phase of fighting.

    Sources

    1. BookPrange, Gordon W. At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981.
    2. BookWillmott, H. P. Empires in the Balance: Japanese and Allied Pacific Strategies to April 1942. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1982.

  2. Coral Sea and Midway

    Event

    What happened

    In May 1942 American and Japanese carrier forces fight the Battle of the Coral Sea, the first naval battle in which the opposing ships never sighted each other. It halts a Japanese seaborne move on Port Moresby. In June 1942 at Midway, American aircraft sink four Japanese fleet carriers.

    The rest is history

    Midway cost Japan much of its best carrier strength and aircrew, and is widely seen as a turning point in the Pacific. Japan lost the ability to keep attacking and shifted to defence. The Allies could now plan limited offensives, beginning in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea.

    Sources

    1. BookParshall, Jonathan, and Anthony Tully. Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway. Washington, DC: Potomac Books, 2005.

  3. Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands campaign

    Event

    What happened

    In August 1942 United States Marines land on Guadalcanal and capture an airfield the Japanese were building. Six months of land, sea and air fighting follow, and Japan evacuates its remaining troops in February 1943. Solomon Islanders serve as scouts, coastwatchers and labourers.

    The rest is history

    The campaign was the first major Allied offensive on land in the Pacific, and it drew down Japanese resources heavily. Islanders' local knowledge was important to the Allied side. The wartime airfield, Henderson Field, became the site of the modern international airport at Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, which became independent in 1978.

    Sources

    1. BookFrank, Richard B. Guadalcanal. New York: Random House, 1990.
    2. BookWhite, Geoffrey M., and Lamont Lindstrom, eds. The Pacific Theater: Island Representations of World War II. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1989.

  4. The Kokoda Track and the New Guinea campaign

    Event

    What happened

    From July to November 1942 Australian and Papua New Guinean forces fight Japanese troops along the Kokoda Track across the Owen Stanley Range. Thousands of Papuan and New Guinean carriers move supplies and wounded men over the mountains. Allied forces then push the Japanese back along the north coast of New Guinea through 1943 and 1944.

    The rest is history

    The Japanese advance on Port Moresby was stopped, and New Guinea remained a major theatre until 1945. Tens of thousands of local people served as carriers and labourers, and many villages were badly affected. The experience is often cited as one influence on later political awareness, but historians differ over how far. Papua New Guinea became independent from Australia on 16 September 1975.

    Sources

    1. BookMcCarthy, Dudley. South-West Pacific Area: First Year, Kokoda to Wau. Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1959.
    2. BookNelson, Hank. Black, White and Gold: Goldmining in Papua New Guinea 1878-1930. Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1976.

  5. Island hopping: Tarawa to Okinawa

    Event

    What happened

    From November 1943 American forces take the Gilbert Islands, beginning with Tarawa, then the Marshall and Mariana Islands in 1944. In 1945 they capture Iwo Jima (February to March) and Okinawa (April to June). Fighting on these small islands is intense and civilian suffering is heavy, particularly on Okinawa.

    The rest is history

    These campaigns brought American air bases within range of Japan. Saipan and Tinian supplied the bombers that attacked Japanese cities, including the Hiroshima and Nagasaki missions in August 1945. Many islands were devastated, and former Japanese-held territories came under American administration after the war.

    Sources

    1. BookSpector, Ronald H. Eagle Against the Sun: The American War with Japan. New York: Free Press, 1985.

  6. The Pacific Islands under UN trusteeship

    Event

    What happened

    After Japan's surrender in 1945, the former Japanese-mandated Marshall, Caroline and Mariana Islands are placed under United States administration. In 1947 the United Nations creates the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, with the United States as administering authority. Nauru, New Guinea and Western Samoa are also made trust territories, run by Australia, New Zealand and others.

    The rest is history

    Trusteeship obliged administering powers to prepare peoples for self-government, which shaped later political change. Western Samoa became the first Pacific island state to be independent, on 1 January 1962. The Micronesian territories later chose different statuses: the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau entered free association with the United States, while the Northern Marianas became a commonwealth.

    Sources

    1. BookHezel, Francis X. Strangers in Their Own Land: A Century of Colonial Rule in the Caroline and Marshall Islands. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1995.
    2. BookHowe, K. R. Where the Waves Fall: A New South Sea Islands History from First Settlement to Colonial Rule. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1984.

  7. Nuclear testing in the Pacific

    Event

    What happened

    From 1946 the United States tests nuclear weapons at Bikini and Enewetak atolls in the Marshall Islands, and the Bravo test in 1954 spreads fallout over nearby islands. Britain tests at Maralinga in Australia and on Christmas Island (Kiritimati), and France tests in French Polynesia from 1966 to 1996. Residents of several islands are displaced or exposed to radiation.

    The rest is history

    The tests became a focus of Pacific protest and of calls for a nuclear-free region. In 1985 the South Pacific Forum adopted the Treaty of Rarotonga, creating a nuclear-free zone. Compensation claims by Marshall Islanders and others have continued for decades.

    Sources

    1. BookFirth, Stewart. Nuclear Playground. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1987.

  8. The wave of independence, 1962 to 1980

    Event

    What happened

    Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand in 1962, Nauru in 1968, and Tonga regains full sovereignty in 1970. Fiji follows in 1970, Papua New Guinea in 1975, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu in 1978, Kiribati in 1979 and Vanuatu in 1980. Britain, Australia, New Zealand and France withdraw from most of these territories by negotiation, though Vanuatu's path involved tension.

    The rest is history

    These states joined the UN and the regional Pacific Islands Forum, founded in 1971. Many faced problems of small size, distance and reliance on aid. Some places, such as New Caledonia and French Polynesia, remain linked to France, and New Caledonia held independence referendums in 2018, 2020 and 2021.

    Sources

    1. BookDenoon, Donald, et al., eds. The Cambridge History of the Pacific Islanders. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
    2. BookHowe, K. R. Where the Waves Fall: A New South Sea Islands History from First Settlement to Colonial Rule. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1984.

  9. Cargo cults and John Frum

    Popular belief

    The legend

    Islanders who saw American ships and planes unload huge quantities of goods are said to have built fake runways and radios of wood, hoping the cargo would come again. On Tanna in Vanuatu, followers of a figure called John Frum are said to await the return of an American saviour.

    The rest is history

    The wartime arrival of vast Allied supplies did influence movements in Melanesia, but the term 'cargo cult' has been criticised by anthropologists as a simplification. Such movements began before the war in some places, and were responses to colonial rule, missions and inequality. The John Frum movement emerged on Tanna around 1940 and grew into a church and political force, and it still holds an annual celebration on 15 February. Some followers took part in the push for Vanuatu's independence.

    Sources

    1. BookLindstrom, Lamont. Cargo Cult: Strange Stories of Desire from Melanesia and Beyond. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1993.
    2. BookWorsley, Peter. The Trumpet Shall Sound: A Study of Cargo Cults in Melanesia. London: MacGibbon & Kee, 1957.

  10. The Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels

    Popular belief

    The legend

    Papuan carriers who helped wounded Australian soldiers along the Kokoda Track are remembered as the 'Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels', devoted helpers who saved lives out of loyalty.

    The rest is history

    Carriers did save many lives, and the nickname was used in wartime reports and in a famous poem by Bert Beros. Historians note the name belittles the men, who were not all volunteers: many were recruited under wartime labour regulations and some were poorly paid. Their work was crucial to the campaign. Later recognition, including commemorations in Australia and Papua New Guinea, has treated them as partners in the defence of the territory.

    Sources

    1. BookNelson, Hank. Prisoners of War: Australians under Nippon. Sydney: Australian Broadcasting Commission, 1985.
    2. BookKeating, Paul. Kokoda Track commemorative materials. Canberra: Australian Government, 1992.

  11. Ghost soldiers on the battlefields

    Folk tale

    The legend

    On Guadalcanal and in the jungles of New Guinea, locals and visitors tell of the ghosts of soldiers still wandering the old battlefields. Villagers say the spirits of the unburied dead haunt wartime wrecks and ridges.

    The rest is history

    The stories are told in many places, but they are not documented as a single tradition and are hard to trace in written sources. What is well established is that many war dead remain on the islands. Recovery of remains and unexploded bombs still continues, and in the Solomon Islands unexploded ordnance continues to be found.

    Sources

    1. BookWhite, Geoffrey M., and Lamont Lindstrom, eds. The Pacific Theater: Island Representations of World War II. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1989.

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