South Pacific Mandate 1739695 223286804 2008-07-03T12:08:29Z MChew 222511 rv incorrect statement (see talk) {{Infobox Former Country |native_name = ''Nanyo'' |conventional_long_name = South Pacific Mandate<br> South Seas Island Mandate</br> |common_name = South Seas Mandate |continent = Oceania |region = Micronesia |status=Mandate |empire=Japan |year_start = 1919 |year_end = 1947 |date_start = June 28 |date_end = July 18 |event_start = [[Treaty of Versailles]] |event_end= [[Pacific Islands Trust Territory|Pacific Islands Trusteeship]] |p1 = German New Guinea |flag_p1 = Flag of the German Empire.svg |s1 = Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands |flag_s1 = Flag of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.svg |image_flag = Flag of Japan - variant.svg |flag = Flag of Japan |flag_type = Civil and state flag and ensign of the Empire of Japan |image_map = TTPI-locatormap.png |image_map_caption = Location of the South Pacific Mandate in the Pacific |capital = [[Koror]] |common_languages = [[Japanese language|Japanese]] (official), [[Austronesian languages]] |title_leader = [[Emperor of Japan|Emperor]] |leader1 = [[List of emperors of Japan]] |era = [[Empire of Japan]] |currency = [[Japanese yen|Yen]] }} The {{nihongo|'''South Sea Mandate'''|南洋庁|Nanyo cho}} was the Japanese [[League of Nations]] [[Mandated territory|Mandate]] consisting of several groups of islands in the [[Pacific Ocean]] which came under the administration of [[Japan]] after the defeat of the [[German Empire]] in [[World War I]]. ==History== ===Early history=== Under the terms of the [[Anglo-Japanese Alliance]], after the start of World War I, Japan declared war on [[Germany]] on [[23 August]] [[1914]] and participated in a joint operation with British forces in the [[Battle of Tsingtao]] to capture the Germany settlement in [[Shandong Province]] of China. The [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] was tasked with pursuing and destroying the [[German East Asiatic Squadron]] and protection of the shipping lanes for [[Allies of World War I|Allied commerce]] in the Pacific and [[Indian Ocean]]s. During the course of this operation, the Japanese navy seized the German possessions in the [[Mariana Islands|Marianas]], [[Caroline Islands|Carolines]], and [[Marshall Islands]], and [[Palau]] groups mostly without resistance by October 1914 After the end of World War I, as per negotiations in the [[Treaty of Versailles]], Japanese occupation of former-German colonies in [[Micronesia]] north of the [[Equator]] was formally recognized, and Japan was given a [[League of Nations mandate#Class C mandates|League of Nations Mandate]]. As Class C Mandate suggested, Japan sought to incorporate the islands as an integral part of its empire. Japan mounted an aggressive [[economic development]] program and promoted immigration. [[Japanese people|Japanese]], [[Okinawan]] and [[Korean people|Korean]] immigrants eventually came to outnumber islanders by as much as two to one. === Pacific War=== During the 1930s, the Japanese Navy began construction of airfields, fortifications, ports, and other military projects in the islands controlled under the South Seas Mandate. This work was done in secret, as it was a direct violation of the [[Washington Naval Treaty]]. The Japanese Navy viewed the islands as "[[unsinkable aircraft carrier]]s" with a critical role to play in the defense of the Japanese home islands against American invasion, and later, as important staging grounds for Japanese air and naval offensives in the [[Pacific War]].. *[[Kwajalein]] was a major base supporting the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] and the [[Battle of Wake Island]]. * Palau supported the [[Battle of the Philippines]] * [[Saipan]] supported the [[Battle of Guam]] * [[Truk]] became the base for amphibious landings on [[Tarawa Atoll|Tarawa]] and [[Makin (islands)|Makin]] in the [[Gilbert Islands|Gilberts]] * [[Majuro]], was used in air strikes against [[Howland Island]] * [[Jaluit Atoll]] was the base from which the Japanese Navy seized [[Nauru]] and [[Banaba Island|Ocean Island]]. Although the islands' naval importance is unquestionable, the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese Army]] was able to utilize many of the natural topographic characteristics of the islands to support air and land detachments as well. As a result of the outbreak of the "island hopping" strategy employed by the United States military, the Japanese Empire gradually lost control of its Pacific possessions in bitter fighting between 1943 and 1945. The League of Nations Mandate was formally revoked by the [[United Nations]] in July 1947, and Japan formally recognized [[United States]] sovereignty over the islands in 1952. For subsequent history, see [[Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands]]. ==Administration== [[Saipan]], in the Marianas archipelago was the most important island militarily and economically in the South Pacific Mandate, and became the center of subsequent Japanese settlement. Another important island was [[Chuuk|Truk]] in the Carolines archipelago, which was fortified into a major navy base by the Imperial Japanese Navy. [[Image:The Headquarters of the South Pacific Mandate.JPG|right|275px|thumb|HQ of the South Pacific Mandate in Saipan]] The administration of South Pacific Mandate was managed by the Imperial Japanese Navy, which divided the region into six administrative districts reporting to naval headquarters in Truk. Later, in April 1922, civilian government was established in the form of a Civil Administration Department, but still reporting to the local Naval Garrison commander in each of the six administrative districts: *Saipan *Palau *Yap *Truk *Ponape * Jaluit Atoll Later the headquarters of the South Pacific Mandate was transferred from Truk to [[Koror]], Palau, and the Governor of the South Pacific Mandate reported directly to the [[Prime Minister of Japan]]. However, after the establishment of the [[Ministry of Colonial Affairs]], the Governor of the South Pacific Mandate was ordered to report to the Colonial Minister in June 1929. When the Ministry of Colonial Affairs was absorbed into the [[Ministry of Greater East Asia]] in November 1942, the primacy of the Imperial Japanese Navy was again recognized by appointing an admiral as Governor. Furthermore, the six administrative districts were reduced to three in November 1943: *Marianas *Truk *Palau ==Significance== The population of the South Seas Mandate was too small to provide interesting markets and the indigenous people had very limited financial resources for the purchase of imported goods. The major significance of the South Seas Mandate to the Empire of Japan was its strategic location dominating sea lanes across the Pacific Ocean and providing convenient provisioning locations for sailing vessels in need of water and provisions of fresh fruit, vegetables and meat. Later the islands became important [[coaling station]]s for [[steamship|steam-powered vessels]]. ==Population== The initial population figures for the territories of the South Seas Mandate included around 50,000 [[Indigenous peoples of Oceania|indigenous]] Islanders. The total grew to 70,000 inhabitants in 1930, and more than 80,000 in 1933, with the arrival of Japanese settlers. In the census of December 1939, the total population was 129,104, of which 77,257 were Japanese (including ethnic Taiwanese and Koreans), 51,723 indigenous islanders and 124 foreigners. ==Economy== The South Pacific Mandate produced significant quantities of [[sugar cane]], [[bananas]], [[pineapples]], [[taro]], [[coconuts]], and other tropical farming products on par with [[Taiwan]]. The islands also provided bases for the Japanese fishing fleet. In terms of mineral products, many islands yielded [[phosphates]] for farming, especially from [[Angaur]] island, which produced some 60,000 tonnes per year. [[Bauxite]] was another segment of the colonial economic structure, although the mineral was only present in the Palau group. Large quantities of pearls, both natural and cultured, were also extracted from the islands. The islands of the South Pacific Mandate also allowed for regular flight links for long range [[seaplane]]s such as the [[Kawanishi H6K2-L]] ("Mavis") of [[Dai Nippon Koku KK]]. ==Archaeological finds== During Japanese occupation of the islands, the Japanese Navy ordered archaeologists and anthropological experts to explore areas (including [[Pohnpei|Ponape]] and [[Lele]] in [[Kosrae]] in the Carolines group) on the suspicion that they would find evidence of the southern ancestors of the Japanese race.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} ==See also== {{Commonscat|South Pacific Mandate}} *[[Nanshin-ron]] Doctrine *[[Boshiro Hosogaya]] *[[Structure of Japanese Forces in South Pacific Mandate]] *[[Organization of Imperial Japanese Army forces in the Pacific]] ==References== *{{cite book | last = Beasley | first = W.G. | coauthors = | year = 1991 | title = Japanese Imperialism 1894-1945 | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = London | id = ISBN 0198221681 }} * {{cite book | last = Nish | first = Ian | coauthors = | year = 1991 | title = Japanese Foreign Policy in the Interwar Period | publisher = Praeger Publishers | location = | id = ISBN 0275947912 }} * {{cite book | last = Howe | first = Christopher | coauthors = | year = 1999 | title = The Origins of Japanese Trade Supremacy: Development and Technology in Asia from 1540 to the Pacific War | publisher = University Of Chicago Press | location = | id = ISBN 0226354865 }} *{{cite book | last = Peattie | first = Mark | coauthors = | year = 1992 | title = Nan'Yo: The Rise and Fall of the Japanese in Micronesia, 1885-1945 (Pacific Islands Monograph Series) | publisher = University of Hawaii Press | id = ISBN 0824814800 }} ==Other Bibliography== *Herbert Rittlinger,"Der Masslose Ozean",Stuttgart, Germany,1939 *Cressey George B."Asia's Lands and Peoples",X Chapter :"Natural Basis of Japan"(P.196-285), section "South Seas"(p.276-277).,1946 *Sion, Jules."Asie des Moussons",Paris Librarie Armand Colin, (1928)I,189-266,Chapter X "The Nature of Japan",section XIII "Japanese Colonial Empire"(p.294-324), and section IV."Formosa and Southern Islands"(p.314-320) *Book "Asia",Chapter X "Japanese Empire"(p.633-716), section "The Japanese islands in South Seas". *Childress, David Hatcher,"The Lost City of Lemuria& The Pacific",1988. Chapter 10 "The Pohnpei Island, in finding of sunken city"(p.204-229) {{Gaichi}} [[Category:Settlements established in 1919]] [[Category:1947 disestablishments]] [[Category:Micronesia]] [[Category:League of Nations mandates]] [[Category:Empire of Japan]] [[de:Japanisches Südseemandat]] [[fr:Mandat des îles du Pacifique]] [[ko:남양 군도]] [[ja:南洋庁]] [[sv:Japanska Stillahavsmandatet]]