Editing Marshall Islands (section)

===Colonial period===
[[File:German colonial album 1880s img26.jpg|thumb|Offices of the Pacific Navigation Co. at Jaluit Atoll in the late 1880s]]

In 1857, [[American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions]] sent two families to establish a mission church and school at [[Ebon Atoll|Ebon]]. By 1875, the missionaries had established churches on five atolls and had baptized more than 200 islanders,<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|pp=200–209}}</ref> and one traveler noted that most women on Ebon wore western clothes and many men wore trousers by the mid-1870s.<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|pp=219–220}}</ref>

In 1859, Adolph Capelle and another merchant arrived at Ebon and set up a trading post for the German company Hoffschlaeger & Stapenhorst.<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|pp=210–211}}</ref> When the firm went bankrupt in 1863, Capelle partnered with Portuguese ex-whaler Anton Jose DeBrum to establish a [[copra]] trading firm: Capelle & Co.<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|p=214}}</ref> In 1873, the company moved its headquarters to [[Jaluit Atoll|Jaluit]], the home of [[Kabua the Great|Kabua]], a powerful [[iroijlaplap|iroij]] and disputed successor for the [[paramount chief]]tainship of the southern [[Ralik|Ralik Chain]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|p=215}}</ref> In the 1870s, various other companies from Germany, Hawaii, New Zealand, and the United States engaged in the copra trade in the Marshall Islands.<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|p=216}}</ref> By 1885, the German firms [[Hernsheim & Co]]. and Deutsche Handels- und Plantagen-Gesellschaft Der Südsee Inseln zu Hamburg controlled two-thirds of the trade.<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|2003|p=46}}</ref>

Contact between the Marshallese and westerners led to sometimes lethal outbreaks of western diseases, including [[influenza]], [[measles]], [[syphilis]], and [[typhoid fever]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|p=206}}</ref> Increased access to alcohol led to social problems in some Marshallese communities,<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|p=292}}</ref> and on several atolls conflicts erupted between rival iroij with access to firearms.<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|pp=293–303}}</ref>

====German protectorate====
[[File:German colonial album 1880s img12.jpg|thumb|German colonial administration building at Jaluit Atoll in 1886]]

In 1875, the British and German governments conducted a series of secret negotiations to divide the Western Pacific into [[Sphere of influence|spheres of influence]]. The German sphere included the Marshall Islands.<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|pp=300–301}}</ref> On November 26, 1878, the German warship [[SMS Ariadne (1871)|SMS ''Ariadne'']] anchored at Jaluit to begin treaty negotiations with the chiefs to grant the [[German Empire]] "[[Most favoured nation|most favored nation]]" status in the Ralik Chain. During the second day of negotiations, Captain {{ill|Bartholomäus von Werner|de}} ordered his men to give military demonstrations which he later said were intended to "show the islanders, who have not seen anything like it before, the power of the Europeans."<ref>{{harvnb|Fitzpatrick|2022|pp=303–304}}</ref> On November 29, Werner signed a treaty with Kabua and several other Ralik Chain iroij which secured a German [[fuelling station]] at Jaluit and free use of the atoll's harbor.<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|pp=298–299}}</ref><ref name="Hezel47">{{harvnb|Hezel|2003|p=47}}</ref>

On August 29, 1885, [[Chancellor of Germany|German Chancellor]] [[Otto von Bismarck]] authorized the annexation of the Marshall Islands as a [[protectorate]]<ref>{{harvnb|Fitzpatrick|2022|p=306}}</ref> following repeated petitions by German business interests.<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|p=304}}</ref> The German gunboat {{SMS|Nautilus|1871|2}} docked at Jaluit on October 13 to take control.<ref name="Hezel305">{{harvnb|Hezel|1983|p=305}}</ref> On October 15, iroij Kabua, Loeak, Nelu, Lagajime, and Launa signed a protection treaty in German and Marshallese at the German consulate. While the Marshallese text made no distinction of rank among the five chiefs, the German text recognized Kabua as the King of the Marshall Islands, despite an ongoing dispute between Kabua and Loeak over the [[iroijlaplap|paramount chief]]tainship.<ref>{{harvnb|Fitzpatrick|2022|pp=307–308}}</ref> A company of German marines hoisted the [[flag of the German Empire]] over Jaluit, and performed similar ceremonies at seven other atolls in the Marshalls,<ref name="Hezel305"/> though several pro-American iroij refused to recognize the German protectorate until threatened with German naval force in mid-1886.<ref>{{harvnb|Fitzpatrick|2022|p=309}}</ref> [[Nauru]] was incorporated into the German Protectorate of the Marshall Islands in 1888, following the [[Anglo-German Declarations about the Western Pacific Ocean|Anglo-German Declarations]] of April 1886.<ref>{{harvnb|Firth|1978|p=37}}</ref>

The German commercial interests formed the [[Joint-stock company|joint-stock]] [[Jaluit Company]], which was responsible for financing the colony's administration. In addition to controlling two-thirds of the Marshallese copra trade, the company had the authority to collect commercial license fees and an annual [[poll tax]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|2003|p=48}}</ref> The company also had the right to be consulted on all new laws and ordinances and nominated all colonial administrative staff.<ref>{{harvnb|Storr|2020|p=86}}</ref> The company's licensing fees and legal advantages pushed out American and British competition, creating a monopoly in the German Pacific colonies.<ref>{{harvnb|Firth|1973|p=25}}</ref> The British government protested the regulations benefiting the Jaluit Company as a violation of the Anglo-German Declarations' free-trade provision.<ref>{{harvnb|Firth|1973|p=26}}</ref> On March 31, 1906, the German government assumed direct control and reorganized the Marshall Islands and Nauru as part of the protectorate of [[German New Guinea]].<ref>{{harvnb|Firth|1978|p=39}}</ref>

====Japanese mandate====
[[File:Nan'yo-cho Jaluit Branch Office.JPG|thumb|South Seas Government branch office, Jaluit, c. 1932]]

The [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] invaded [[Enewetak Atoll|Enewetak]] on September 29, 1914, and [[Jaluit Atoll|Jaluit]] on September 30 at the beginning of [[Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I|World War I]]. An occupation force was stationed on Jaluit on October 3.<ref>{{harvnb|Peattie|1992|p=42}}</ref> At the [[Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920)|Paris Peace Conference]] in 1919, Germany's Pacific colonies north of the equator became the Japanese [[South Seas Mandate]] under the system of [[League of Nations mandate]]s.<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|2003|p=155}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Peattie|1984|p=182}}</ref> Germany ceded the Marshall Islands to Japan with the signing of the [[Treaty of Versailles]] on June 28, 1919.<ref>{{harvnb|Purcell|1976|p=195}}</ref>

The Japanese navy administered the islands from late 1914 through 1921. The civilian {{nihongo|South Seas Government|南洋廳|Nan'yō-chō}} set up its headquarters in [[Palau]] in April 1922 and administered the Marshalls until World War II.<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|2003|p=166}}</ref> Japanese surveys determined that the Marshalls' value was primarily strategic, because they could enable future [[Nanshin-ron|southward expansion]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hiery|1995|p=132}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Peattie|1984|p=183}}</ref> The Marshalls also continued to be a major producer of copra during the Japanese period, with the {{nihongo|South Seas Trading Company|南洋貿易会社|Nan'yō Bōeki Kaisha}} taking over the Jaluit Company's operations and building upon the German colonial infrastructure.<ref>{{harvnb|Purcell|1976|p=210}}</ref> Other parts of the South Seas Mandate experienced heavy Japanese settlement, shifting the population to majority Japanese in the [[Northern Mariana Islands]] and Palau, but Japanese settlers remained a minority under 1,000 people in the Marshall Islands throughout the Japanese period, because the islands were distant from Japan and had the most limited economic potential in Micronesia.<ref>{{harvnb|Hiery|1995|p=133}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Peattie|1984|p=197}}</ref>

[[File:Kwajalein-Invasion 1944.jpg|thumb|[[Battle of Kwajalein]] in 1944]]

On March 27, 1933, Japan declared its intentions to withdraw from the [[League of Nations]], officially withdrawing in 1935 but continuing to control the territory of the South Seas Mandate.<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|2003|pp=207–208}}</ref> Japanese military planners initially discounted the Marshalls as too distant and indefensible for extensive fortification, but as Japan developed long-range bombers, the islands became useful as a forward base to attack Australia, British colonies, and the United States. In 1939 and 1940, the navy built military airfields on [[Kwajalein Atoll|Kwajalein]], [[Maloelap Atoll|Maloelap]], and [[Wotje Atoll]]s as well as seaplane facilities at Jaluit.<ref>{{harvnb|Hezel|2003|p=217}}</ref>

After the outbreak of the [[Pacific War]], the [[United States Pacific Fleet]] carried out the [[Marshalls–Gilberts raids]], which struck Jaluit, Kwajalein, Maloelap, and Wotje on February 1, 1942. They were the first American air raids on Japanese territory.<ref>{{harvnb|Peattie|1984|pp=203–204}}</ref> The United States invaded the Marshall Islands on January 31, 1944, during the [[Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign]]. The Americans simultaneously invaded Majuro and Kwajalein.<ref>{{harvnb|Peattie|1984|p=205}}</ref> By autumn 1944, the Americans controlled all of the Marshall Islands, except for Jaluit, Maloelap, Mili, and Wotje.<ref>{{harvnb|Peattie|1984|p=207}}</ref> As the American campaign advanced through Micronesia and [[Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign|into the Ryukyu Islands]], the four Japanese-held atolls were cut off from supplies and subject to American bombardment. The garrisons began running out of provisions in late 1944, leading to high casualties from starvation and disease.<ref>{{harvnb|Peattie|1984|p=208}}</ref>

====U.S. Trust Territory====
[[File:Leaving-bikini.jpg|thumb|Bikini Islanders being forcibly relocated from [[Bikini Atoll]] in March 1946 before the U.S. [[Operation Crossroads]] atomic bomb testing commenced]]
[[File:Castle Bravo Blast.jpg|thumb|Mushroom cloud from the largest atmospheric [[nuclear test]] the United States ever conducted, [[Castle Bravo]]]]

In 1947, the United States entered into an agreement with the [[UN Security Council]] to administer much of [[Micronesia]], including the Marshall Islands, as the [[Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Isenberg |first=David |date=1985 |title=Reconciling Independence and Security: The Long Term Status of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/uclapblj4&id=220&div=&collection= |journal=UCLA Pacific Basin Law Journal |volume=4 |issue=1–2 |pages=210|doi=10.5070/P841-2021926 }}</ref>

From 1946 to 1958, it served as the [[Pacific Proving Grounds]] for the United States and was the site of 67 [[nuclear test]]s on various atolls.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/325643/marshall-islands-marks-71-years-since-start-of-us-nuclear-tests-on-bikini |title=Marshall Islands marks 71 years since start of U.S. nuclear tests on Bikini |date=2017-03-01 |website=Radio New Zealand |language=en-nz |access-date=2019-01-16 |archive-date=2019-01-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116201523/https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/325643/marshall-islands-marks-71-years-since-start-of-us-nuclear-tests-on-bikini |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Operation Crossroads]] atomic bomb testing began in 1946 on [[Bikini Atoll]] after some of the residents were forcibly evacuated.<ref>{{Citation |last=Goldberg |first=Walter M. |title=Domination of Pacific Islands in War and in the Nuclear Age |date=2018 |work=The Geography, Nature and History of the Tropical Pacific and its Islands |series=World Regional Geography Book Series |pages=157–180 |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-319-69532-7_7 |access-date=2024-07-25 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-69532-7_7 |isbn=978-3-319-69531-0}}</ref>

The world's first [[hydrogen bomb]], codenamed "[[Ivy Mike|Mike]]", was tested at the [[Enewetak atoll]] in the Marshall Islands on November 1 (local date) in 1952, which produced significant fallout in the region.<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=What the First H-Bomb Test Looked Like |url=https://time.com/4096424/ivy-mike-history/ |access-date=2020-08-26 |magazine=Time |archive-date=2020-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920131258/https://time.com/4096424/ivy-mike-history/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Over the years just one of over 60 islands was cleaned by the U.S. government, and the inhabitants are still waiting for the 2 billion dollars in compensation assessed by the Nuclear Claims Tribunal. Many of the islanders and their descendants still live in exile, as the islands remain contaminated with high levels of radiation.<ref name="theguardian.com">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/02/bikini-atoll-nuclear-test-60-years |title=Bikini Atoll nuclear test: 60 years later and islands still unliveable |first=Agence |last=France-Press |date=March 1, 2014 |access-date=August 22, 2017 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |archive-date=September 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170901122634/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/02/bikini-atoll-nuclear-test-60-years |url-status=live}}</ref>

A significant [[radar]] installation was constructed on [[Kwajalein]] atoll.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rising-sea-warnings-air-force-radar-site/ |title=Rising seas could threaten $1 billion Air Force radar site |website=cbsnews.com |date=October 18, 2016 |language=en-US |access-date=2019-01-16 |archive-date=2019-01-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116201049/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rising-sea-warnings-air-force-radar-site/ |url-status=live}}</ref>