Editing History of Kiribati (section)

==World War II==

{{further|Pacific Islands home front during World War II| Japanese occupation of the Gilbert Islands}}

[[Japan]] seized part of the islands during [[World War II]] to form part of their island defenses. On 20 November 1943, [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] forces threw themselves against Japanese positions at [[Tarawa]] and [[Butaritari|Makin]] in the Gilberts, resulting in some of the bloodiest fighting of the [[Pacific War|Pacific campaign]]. The [[Battle of Tarawa]] and the [[Battle of Makin]] (in fact Butaritari) were a major turning point in the war for the Allies, which battles were the implementation of "[[Operation Galvanic]]".<ref name="galvanic">{{cite web| title=To the Central Pacific and Tarawa, August 1943—Background to GALVANIC (Ch. 16, p. 622) |url= http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ACTC/actc-16.html | access-date=15 March 2015}}</ref>