Editing Marshall Islands (section)

====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>