Editing Oceania (section)

===Modern history===
{{Main|Pacific War|Military history of Oceania|Military history of New Zealand|Military history of Australia during World War I|Military history of Australia during World War II|History of Guam|History of Australia (1901–1945)|Decolonisation of Oceania}}
[[File:NZ 3rd Division (USMC photo).jpg|thumb|New Zealand troops land on [[Vella Lavella]], in [[Solomon Islands]]]]

One of the first land offensives in Oceania was the [[Occupation of German Samoa]] in August 1914 by [[New Zealand Defence Force|New Zealand forces]]. The campaign to take Samoa ended without bloodshed after over 1,000 New Zealanders landed on the German colony. Australian forces attacked [[German New Guinea]] in September 1914. A company of Australians and a British warship besieged the Germans and their colonial subjects, ending with a German surrender.<ref name="awm.gov.au" />

The [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] by the Japanese [[Imperial General Headquarters]],<ref name="pearl17ff" /><ref name="operat1315" /> was a surprise [[military strike]] conducted by the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] against the United States [[naval base]] at [[Pearl Harbor]], Hawaii, on the morning of 7 December 1941. The attack led to the [[Military history of the United States during World War II|United States' entry into World War II]]. The Japanese subsequently invaded New Guinea, Solomon Islands and other Pacific islands. The Japanese were turned back at the [[Battle of the Coral Sea]] and the [[Kokoda Track campaign]] before they were finally defeated in 1945. Some of the most prominent Oceanic battlegrounds were the [[Battle of Bita Paka]], the [[Solomon Islands campaign]], the [[Bombing of Darwin|Air raids on Darwin]], the [[Kokoda Track campaign|Kokoda Track]], and the [[Borneo campaign]].<ref name="decode32" /><ref name="reconcil7" /> The United States fought the [[Battle of Guam (1944)|Battle of Guam]] from 21 July to 10 August 1944, to recapture the island from [[Japanese military]] occupation.<ref name="nyt1997" />

Australia and New Zealand became [[British Dominions|dominions]] in the 20th century, adopting the [[Statute of Westminster 1931|Statute of Westminster Act]] in 1942 and 1947 respectively. In 1946, Polynesians were granted French citizenship and the islands' status was changed to an [[overseas administrative territorial entity|overseas territory]]; the islands' name was changed in 1957 to ''Polynésie Française'' ([[French Polynesia]]). Hawaii became a [[U.S. state]] in 1959. [[Fiji]] and [[Tonga]] became independent in 1970. On 1 May 1979, in recognition of the evolving political status of the [[Marshall Islands]], the United States recognised the constitution of the Marshall Islands and the establishment of the government of the [[Republic of the Marshall Islands]]. The South Pacific Forum was founded in 1971, which became the [[Pacific Islands Forum]] in 2000.<ref name="awm.gov.au" />