Palau
Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...
was initially settled around 1000 BC.
For the first time, Palau was probably sighted by Europeans early as 1522, when the Spanish mission of the Trinidad, the flagship of
Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the East ...
's voyage of circumnavigation, sighted two small islands around the 5th parallel north, naming them "San Juan" without visiting them.
Palau was discovered by the Europeans on 28 December 1696 when the first map of Palau was drawn by the
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
missionary
Paul Klein based on a description given by a group of
Palauans
The Micronesians or Micronesian peoples are various closely related ethnic groups native to Micronesia, a region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. They are a part of the Austronesian ethnolinguistic group, which has an Urheimat in Taiwan.
Ethn ...
shipwrecked on the Philippine coast on
Samar
Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...
. This map and a letter sent to Europe by Klein in June 1697 had a vast impact on the surge of interest in Palau. It resulted in the first and failed Jesuit attempts to travel to the islands from the Philippines in 1700, 1708 and 1709. The islands were first visited by the Jesuit expedition led by
Francisco Padilla
Francisco Montecillo Padilla (born 17 September 1953) is a Philippine prelate of the Catholic Church who has worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See since 1985. He represented the Holy See, either as Apostolic Nuncio or Apostolic Delega ...
on 30 November 1710, only to leave 2 stranded priests
Jacques Du Beron and
Joseph Cortyl on the coast of
Sonsorol
Sonsorol is one of the sixteen states of Palau. The inhabitants speak Sonsorolese, a local Chuukic language, and Palauan.
The islands of the state of Sonsorol, together with the islands of Hatohobei, form the Southwest Islands of Palau.
His ...
, while the mother ship Santissima Trinidad was being swept away by a storm. Subsequent attempts to save Du Beron and Cortyl learned that they were killed and eaten by the locals.
After further attempts, Palau islands were made part of the
Spanish East Indies
The Spanish East Indies ( es , Indias orientales españolas ; fil, Silangang Indiyas ng Espanya) were the overseas territories of the Spanish Empire in Asia-Pacific, Asia and Oceania from 1565 to 1898, governed for the Spanish Crown from Mexico C ...
in 1885. Following Spain's defeat in the
Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (clock ...
in 1898, the islands were sold to
Imperial Germany
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
in 1899 under the terms of the
German–Spanish Treaty, where they were administered as part of
German New Guinea
German New Guinea (german: Deutsch-Neu-Guinea) consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups and was the first part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , ...
. British traders became prominent visitors in the 18th century, followed by expanding Spanish influence in the 19th century. Following its defeat in the Spanish–American War, Spain sold Palau and most of the rest of the
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the centra ...
to Germany in 1899. Control passed to Japan in 1919 and during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
the islands were taken by the United States in 1944, with the costly
Battle of Peleliu
The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II by the US military, was fought between the United States and Japan during the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign of World War II, from September 15 to November 27, 1944, on the island of P ...
between September 15 and November 25 with more than 2,000 Americans and 10,000 Japanese killed. The islands passed formally to the United States under United Nations auspices in 1947 as part of the
Trust Territory
United Nations trust territories were the successors of the remaining League of Nations mandates and came into being when the League of Nations ceased to exist in 1946. All of the trust territories were administered through the United Natio ...
of the
Pacific Islands
Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...
.
Four of the Trust Territory districts formed a single federated
Micronesia
Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and ...
n state in 1979, but the districts of Palau and the
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...
declined to participate. Palau, the westernmost cluster of the Caroline Islands, instead opted for independent status in 1978, approved a new constitution and became the Republic of Palau in 1981, and signed a
Compact of Free Association
The Compact of Free Association (COFA) is an international agreement establishing and governing the relationships of free association between the United States and the three Pacific Island sovereign states of the Federated States of Micronesia (F ...
with the United States in 1982. After eight referendums and an amendment to the Palauan constitution, the Compact was ratified in 1993 and went into effect on October 1, 1994, marking Palau independent
de jure
In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...
(after Palau was independent
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
since May 25, 1994, when the trusteeship cancelled).
Legislation making Palau an "offshore" financial center was passed by the Senate in 1998. In 2001, Palau passed its first
bank regulation
Bank regulation is a form of government regulation which subjects banks to certain requirements, restrictions and guidelines, designed to create market transparency between banking institutions and the individuals and corporations with whom they ...
and anti-money laundering laws.
Archaeology
Carbon dating
Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon.
The method was dev ...
of cave burials show a
pygmy
In anthropology, pygmy peoples are ethnic groups whose average height is unusually short. The term pygmyism is used to describe the phenotype of endemic short stature (as opposed to disproportionate dwarfism occurring in isolated cases in a pop ...
population, presumably the result of
insular dwarfism
Insular dwarfism, a form of phyletic dwarfism, is the process and condition of large animals evolving or having a reduced body size when their population's range is limited to a small environment, primarily islands. This natural process is disti ...
, from at least 3,000, and perhaps as long as 4,500 years ago until about 900 years ago (1000–2500 BCE until ca. 1100 CE).
Evidence for early occupation in Palau comes from several loci scattered across the archipelago . Unfortunately, the earliest radiocarbon dates are not from clear contexts and thus provide little data on the early occupations. The earliest acceptable dates for Palau are from the 1st century and 2nd century A. D. Dates from the 1st and 5th century come from
midden
A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...
deposits on
Kayangel
Kayangel (Ngcheangel) is the northernmost state of Palau north of Koror. The land area is about . The population is 54 (2015 census).
History
The state was colonized by Spain from the end of the 16th century until 1899 when the territory was s ...
. The earlier date is from
tridacna
''Tridacna'' is a genus of large saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the subfamily Tridacninae, the giant clams. They have heavy shells, fluted with 4 to 6 folds. The mantle is brightly coloured. They inhabit shallow waters of coral re ...
shell from a deposit which may lie beneath the lowest cultural deposit. The shell is not associated with other artifacts and it is not clear if nearby artifacts are from a permanent occupation of the atoll. The 5th century date is associated with other artifacts, but it is still not clear if this part of the midden derives from a permanent occupation. In another study, Osborne obtained a date of A. D. 161 from excavations at the
Badrulchau Site. The date is from a composite charcoal sample in a level under the stone pillar structure and apparently underlying the terracing on the hillside.
The construction and maintenance of
terraces on the volcanic islands appears to precede the formation of the formal,
nucleated
The cell nucleus (pl. nuclei; from Latin or , meaning ''kernel'' or ''seed'') is a membrane-bound organelle found in eukaryotic cells. Eukaryotic cells usually have a single nucleus, but a few cell types, such as mammalian red blood cells, ...
, settlements observed at European contact in 1783. Furthermore, there is evidence of an intensification in the construction of terraces at the start of the second millennium. At about the same time as intensification of terrace construction on the volcanic islands, evidence from the rock islands suggests an increasing nucleation of settlements.
Although many terrace systems are found on the hills ringing the volcanic islands, and possibly even some terraces in the rock islands, it has proven difficult to obtain solid chronological data on these. The variety of different forms of terraces and special features associated with terraces such as “crown and brim " elaborations ” suggest that the terraces functioned in different ways. The location and organizational characteristics of habitations associated with terraces appear to have been, to some extent, different than that of the historic pattern of traditional villages in coastal areas. At present, information on associations between the terraces and earlier habitation sites is lacking. Radiocarbon dates associated with terracing range from 491 to 1810. Most of the dates associated with terraces fall between 895 and 1165. The most recent date, 1810 , is from a shell
midden
A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...
eroding out of the face of a terrace; the midden was apparently buried in the continuing building of the terrace.
The earliest date associated with cultural material from the rock islands is 620 from the
Uchu larois Cave Site, followed by three dates in the 630s from the Mariar Site on
Ngeruktabel
Ngeruktabel is an island of the Koror state of Palau in the South Pacific.
Geography and history
Ngeruktabel is the second largest island of Palau and the largest one of the Rock Islands. Like other Rock Islands, Ngeruktabel is uninhabited
tod ...
Island and the Ngidech Beach Site on
Ulebsechel Island. Some of these middens, especially from the Uchularois Cave Site, contain large quantities of artifacts, suggesting that they are the result of the intensive exploitation of marine resources,
shellfish
Shellfish is a colloquial and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater envir ...
in particular.
Later data from rock island sites suggest important changes in the settlement system with the development of nucleated villages. Evidence from legends and the tight clustering of the radiocarbon dates suggests that the villages were abandoned abruptly early in the 15th century. However, there is evidence of continued exploitation of resources in the rock islands after the abandonment of the villages. There are five dates from rock island sites in clear association with structures, and these dates range from 1200 to 1420 . These dates , together with the size and complexity of village sites in the rock islands, suggest that these villages were permanently occupied during this time. It is probable that permanently occupied villages developed before 1200. There are four dates from middens in rock island sites ranging from 1345 until 1950. These latter four dates are not in association with structures, however.
The formation of the village systems observed historically appears to reflect a major transformation in Palauan society. The archaeological village sites on the volcanic islands are organized the same as the villages recorded historically by Keate (1789),
Semper (1873), Kubary (1889), and
Krämer (1919) . The recorded village sites consist of clusters of features indicating the integration of domestic and community activities. The large stone features recorded in village sites have specific historic references in the oral tradition of Palau. These facts suggest that the village organization we see today evolved in the 14th and 15th centuries. By the end of the 16th century, the social system we see reflected in modern villages was largely in place.
Pre-contact
The
Palauan language
Palauan () is a Malayo-Polynesian language native to the Republic of Palau, where it is one of the two official languages, alongside English. It is widely used in day-to-day life in the country. Palauan is not closely related to other Malayo-Po ...
is an outlier among the Austronesian languages, and so does not shed much light on the origins of the modern population. However, there are some indications that it may derive from the
Sunda Islands
The Sunda Islands ( id, Kepulauan Sunda) are a group of islands in the Malay Archipelago.Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Sunda Islands" . ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. They consist of the Greater Sunda ...
(modern Indonesia).
Migration to and colonization of the islands took place sometime around 2,000 years ago, but no later than the first centuries A. D. By A.D. 600 settlements were established throughout the archipelago.
For thousands of years, Palauans have had a well established matrilineal society, believed to have descended from Javanese precedents. Traditionally land, money, and titles passed through the female line. High Chiefs were chosen by Queens (high-ranking women) only. Clan lands continue to be passed through titled women and first daughters but there is also a modern patrilineal sentiment introduced by imperial
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. The Japanese government attempted to confiscate and redistribute tribal land into personal ownership during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and there has been little attempt to restore the old order. Legal entanglements continue amongst the various clans.
European contact and discovery in 1696
![Reception of the Manila Galleon by the Chamorro in the Ladrones Islands, ca](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Reception_of_the_Manila_Galleon_by_the_Chamorro_in_the_Ladrones_Islands%2C_ca._1590.jpg)
There still is a debate whether the islands were or were not seen by some of the early European discoverers in the 16th century. Historians take note of the early navigational routes of European explorers in the Pacific. There is disagreement as to whether Spaniard
Ruy López de Villalobos
Ruy López de Villalobos (; ca. 1500 – April 4, 1546) was a Spanish explorer who sailed the Pacific from Mexico to establish a permanent foothold for Spain in the East Indies, which was near the Line of Demarcation between Spain and Portugal a ...
, who landed in several
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the centra ...
, spotted the Palau archipelago in 1543. No conclusive evidence exists, but some believe he could have seen the tip of a southernmost island in the group.
![View of part of the town of Pelew cph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/View_of_part_of_the_town_of_Pelew_cph.3b32619.jpg)
Nevertheless, the true and conscious discovery of Palau came a century later in December 1696, when a group of islanders shipwrecked on the Philippines island of Samar. They were interviewed by the
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
missionary
Paul Klein on 28 December 1696. Klein was not only able to draw the first map of Palau based on a drawing and a set of pebbles on the beach but also to send an important letter in June 1697 to Europe. This map and the letter caused a vast interest in the new islands and resulted in the first and failed Jesuit attempts to travel to Palau from the Philippines in 1700, 1708 and 1709.
The islands were first visited by the Jesuit expedition led by
Francisco Padilla
Francisco Montecillo Padilla (born 17 September 1953) is a Philippine prelate of the Catholic Church who has worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See since 1985. He represented the Holy See, either as Apostolic Nuncio or Apostolic Delega ...
on 30 November 1710, only to leave two stranded priests Jacques Du Beron and Joseph Cortyl on the coast of Sonsorol, while the mother ship ''Santissima Trinidad'' was being swept away by a storm.
Spain later started to dominate the islands.
Palau had also limited relations with the exterior before the 18th century, mainly with
Yap
Yap ( yap, Waqaab) traditionally refers to an island group located in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, a part of Yap State. The name "Yap" in recent years has come to also refer to the state within the Federated States of Micr ...
and
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
. Had it not been for shipwrecked islanders who took refuge in the Philippines in 1696, Europeans likely would not have found Palau until much later.
Englishman
Henry Wilson
Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath; February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was an American politician who was the 18th vice president of the United States from 1873 until his death in 1875 and a senator from Massachusetts from 1855 to ...
, captain of the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
's
packet ship
Packet boats were medium-sized boats designed for domestic mail, passenger, and freight transportation in European countries and in North American rivers and canals, some of them steam driven. They were used extensively during the 18th and 19th ...
''Antelope'', was shipwrecked off the island of Ulong in 1783. The
High Chief of (Koror) Palau allowed Captain Wilson to take his son,
Prince Lee Boo
Prince Lee Boo or Lebu (1764 – 27 December 1784) was the second son of Abba Thulle (Ibedul), the ruler of Koror in the Pelew Islands, now called Palau. Prince Lee Boo was one of the first people from the Pacific Islands to visit Great Britain. W ...
, to England, where he arrived in 1784. However, the prince died soon after of smallpox. The East India Company erected a monument over his grave in
St Mary's Churchyard,
Rotherhithe
Rotherhithe () is a district of south-east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, as well as the Isle of Dogs ...
. It was Wilson who gave the archipelago the name "Pelew Islands". The wreck of the Antelope began European intervention in Palauan affairs and marked the beginning of nearly two centuries of colonial domination of the islands .
Spanish rule
![Islas Marianas Palaos y Carolinas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Islas_Marianas_Palaos_y_Carolinas.JPG)
In the late 19th century, possession of the islands was claimed by Britain, Spain, and
Imperial Germany
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
. In 1885, the matter was brought to
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...
for a decision. The Pope recognized the Spanish claim, but granted economic concessions to Britain and Germany. Palau then became part of the
Spanish East Indies
The Spanish East Indies ( es , Indias orientales españolas ; fil, Silangang Indiyas ng Espanya) were the overseas territories of the Spanish Empire in Asia-Pacific, Asia and Oceania from 1565 to 1898, governed for the Spanish Crown from Mexico C ...
, along with the
Mariana Islands
The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...
, the
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...
. and the rest of the
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the centra ...
. They were all administered from the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
.
In 1885 the Spanish gained administrative control of the islands. By this time the focus of
trepang production had shifted to the Philippines and Indonesia, and Palau no longer played an important role. Like the British, the Spanish did little to develop the islands, but they did establish Catholic missions in Koror and Melekeok.
After being defeated in 1898 in the
Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (clock ...
and losing possession of the Philippine Islands, Spain sold the Palau archipelago to Imperial Germany in the
1899 German–Spanish Treaty.
German era
![Koror chiefs in 1915](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Koror_chiefs_in_1915.jpg)
In 1898 Spain sold its rights in Palau to Germany. Palau was administered from
German New Guinea
German New Guinea (german: Deutsch-Neu-Guinea) consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups and was the first part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , ...
, and a period of economic development began. German engineers began exploiting the islands' deposits of
bauxite
Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...
and
phosphate
In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid .
The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phospho ...
, and a rich harvest in
copra
Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from copr ...
was made.
The German Administration established and operated several mining companies and several copra plantations. Also, perhaps as important as the economic development, the German Administration began pushing for social reforms which included the relocation of people into larger villages and a large number of public works projects such as the construction of piers and navigation beacons. Young men were forced to work in the phosphate mines on
Angaur
, or in Palauan, is an island and state in the island nation of Palau.
History
Angaur was traditionally divided among some eight clans. Traditional features within clan areas represent important symbols giving identity to families, clans an ...
and
Beliliou Islands, on the copra plantations, and on a never completed ditch across the most narrow part of
Babeldaob
Babeldaob (also Babelthuap) is the largest island in the island nation of the Republic of Palau. It is in the western Caroline Islands, and the second largest island (after Guam) in the Micronesia region of Oceania. Palau's capital, Ngerulmud, is ...
Island in what is today the state of
Ngaraard.
Japanese mandate
![The Headquarters of the South Pacific Mandate](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/The_Headquarters_of_the_South_Pacific_Mandate.JPG)
Under the terms of the
Anglo-Japanese Alliance
The first was an alliance between Britain and Japan, signed in January 1902. The alliance was signed in London at Lansdowne House on 30 January 1902 by Lord Lansdowne, British Foreign Secretary, and Hayashi Tadasu, Japanese diplomat. A dip ...
, the
Empire of Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...
declared war on the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
in 1914 and invaded
German colonial empire
The German colonial empire (german: Deutsches Kolonialreich) constituted the overseas colonies, dependencies and territories of the German Empire. Unified in the early 1870s, the chancellor of this time period was Otto von Bismarck. Short-li ...
in the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
. Palau was seized by ships of the
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...
. After the war, the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
awarded Palau to Japan as a Class C
League of Nations Mandate
A League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administ ...
.
During World War I, the Japanese administration continued many of the programs already established by the German administration . A Japanese military government ruled the islands during the war years , but was replaced by a civilian one which existed until the start of World War II. Whereas the Germans wanted to foster certain mercantile enterprises with a minimum of personnel and resources, the Japanese administration had very different aims . The Japanese sought to create in Micronesia an extension of Japanese culture and economy . Large numbers of Japanese (especially Okinawans ) were encouraged to emigrate to Micronesia to work on plantations or in other economic enterprises , resulting in Palau becoming a major colonial center. By 1938 , there were approximately 15,000 Japanese in Palau as opposed to about 6,000 Palauans and Koror had expanded into a substantial all-Japanese city.
Japan incorporated the islands as an integral part of its empire, establishing the
Nanyo-cho government with Koror Island as the capital. From 1914 to 1922, the Japanese Imperial Navy had been in control. Civilian control was introduced from 1922, and Palau was one of six administrative districts within the Mandate. Japan mounted an aggressive
economic development
In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and o ...
program and promoted large scale immigration by
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
,
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
ns and
Koreans
Koreans ( South Korean: , , North Korean: , ; see names of Korea) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula.
Koreans mainly live in the two Korean nation states: North Korea and South Korea (collectively and simply refe ...
. Native Palauans soon became a small minority in their own homeland. The Japanese continued the German mining activities, and also established
bonito
Bonitos are a tribe of medium-sized, ray-finned predatory fish in the family Scombridae – a family it shares with the mackerel, tuna, and Spanish mackerel tribes, and also the butterfly kingfish. Also called the tribe Sardini, it consists of ...
(skipjack tuna) canning and
copra
Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from copr ...
processing plants in Palau.
Japanese trading companies were quick to establish operations to exploit the economic potential of the islands, especially the abundant fish resources and pearl harvesting. The Japanese established a commercial center in
Koror
Koror is the state comprising the main commercial centre of the Republic of Palau. It consists of several islands, the most prominent being Koror Island (also ''Oreor Island''). It is Palau’s most populous state.
History
In the oral tradition ...
, and began developing a series of agricultural plantations on Babeldaob Island. Following World War I, the civilian government instituted a series of major changes in Palauan life. The changes included establishing primary schools for Palauans and constructing modern water and electrical systems. Elderly informants remember the Japanese administration as a time of order when things worked well. Despite the substantial improvements made in social services for the Palauans, the Japanese were quite clear on the role and status of the native peoples in Micronesia .Native peoples were to be second class citizens and serve as a source of cheap labor for the various agricultural and mercantile enterprises.
World War II
Life was especially hard for Palauans during World War II . By the late 1930s the Japanese military build-up was well underway and some restrictions were already being applied to Palauans. When the war began to turn against the Japanese in 1942, the restrictions on Palauans were increased and shortages became common. Palauans were forced into labor gangs to help build island defenses. The Japanese began to relocate large numbers of Palauans from the larger towns on Orcor and
Beliliou to villages on
Babeldaob
Babeldaob (also Babelthuap) is the largest island in the island nation of the Republic of Palau. It is in the western Caroline Islands, and the second largest island (after Guam) in the Micronesia region of Oceania. Palau's capital, Ngerulmud, is ...
Island. Palauan villages were expected to increase food production to help feed the large number of Japanese troops.
In 1944, American forces took the islands of Beliliou and Angaur in a bitter and bloody battle. Making use of the large number of natural openings in the coralline limestone formations, the Japanese had created a defensive fortress of interlocking tunnels ,bunkers, and hardened gun positions where more than 10,000 defenders could safely wait out the naval bombardment. As the Americans made their way to the beaches, they were met with withering fire from numerous undamaged gun emplacements. It would take more than 66 days and cost the better part of one entire Marine
division
Division or divider may refer to:
Mathematics
*Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication
*Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division
Military
*Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...
to secure the island. Key defensive positions had to be taken one at a time at appalling cost. Following the bloody experience on Beliliou, U. S .military planners were content to bypass the 30,000 or so Japanese troops remaining in Koror and Babeldaob. Aircraft based on Beliliou and Angaur conducted daily harassment raids over the northern islands.
The final months of the war were grim. U. S. aircraft roamed over the skies looking for targets to bomb and strafe. The large garrison of Japanese soldiers ran out of food and became desperate. Informants remember the terror of aerial attacks and Japanese soldiers taking food supplies that were already short. Starvation and disease began to take a toll prior to the surrender and repatriation of Japanese forces.
At the end of the Pacific War, less than five thousand Palauans were left alive with many Palauan families adopting Japanese children into their midst (those refused passage back to Japan, as they were too young to make the dangerous journey). All surviving Japanese were repatriated after the end of the war. There are still about 100 American servicemen listed as
Missing In Action
Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been killed, wounded, captured, ex ...
in Palau. Starting in 1993, a small group of American volunteers called The
BentProp Project has searched the waters and jungles of Palau for information that could lead to the identification and recovery of these remains. The Palauan people, in recognition of the basic human hospitality that is unique to all people of the islands all over the planet, allowed the Japanese and US governments to search for their missing soldiers as well as bringing back their remains.
Post-war development
![Vote No sign, Micronesian constitutional referendum in Palau](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Vote_No_sign%2C_Micronesian_constitutional_referendum_in_Palau.jpg)
In 1947, the United States, as the post-World War II occupying power, agreed to administer Palau as part of the U.N.-created
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1994.
History
Spain initially claimed the islands that later composed the territory of the Trus ...
(TTPI). In the 1960s, many U.S. federal government programs were extended to the trust territory. In the 1970s, the U.S. undertook a major capital improvement program, upgrading facilities for such things as transportation, water, and sewage. After many years of talks on a post-trust status for Palau, the U.S. Congress in 1986 approved a
Compact of Free Association
The Compact of Free Association (COFA) is an international agreement establishing and governing the relationships of free association between the United States and the three Pacific Island sovereign states of the Federated States of Micronesia (F ...
agreed to by U.S. and Palauan negotiators. While supported by a majority of Palauan voters in each of seven referendums, compact proponents failed to gain the 75% majority required by Palau's constitution to approve issues with possible nuclear implications. After adoption of a constitutional amendment and a long period of transition, including the violent deaths of two presidents (
Haruo Remeliik
Haruo Ignacio Remeliik (1 June 1933 – 30 June 1985) was a politician from Palau. He served as the first President of Palau from 2 March 1981 until his assassination on 30 June 1985. He is buried at Kloulklubed in his home state of Peleliu. R ...
in 1985 and
Lazarus Salii
Lazarus Eitaro Salii (17 November 1936 – 20 August 1988) was a politician from Palau. He served as the second elected President of Palau from 25 October 1985 until he committed suicide on 20 August 1988, amid bribery allegations.
Salii was e ...
in 1988), Palau's courts ruled that the 68% pro-compact vote in an eighth referendum—held November 9, 1993—was sufficient to approve the compact.
On October 1, 1994, following a proclamation by President
Clinton, Palau began its independence in free association with the U.S. Under the compact, the U.S. remains responsible for Palau's defense for 50 years. The U.S. must approve the entry into Palauan territory of any foreign military, may establish military bases there, and is permitted to operate nuclear-capable warships there. For 15 years, Palau receives financial assistance from the U.S. and is eligible to participate in some 40 federal programs. It is estimated that the value of U.S. financial and program assistance will exceed $500 million during this period.
In November 2020,
Surangel Whipps Jr was elected as the new
President of Palau
The president of the Republic of Palau is the head of state and head of government of Palau. The president is directly elected to a four-year term, and can be reelected once in a consecutive manner.
List of presidents
Latest election
...
to succeed President
Tommy Remengesau
Thomas Esang "Tommy" Remengesau Jr. (born 28 February 1956) is a Palauan politician; in 2013 he was elected the ninth president of Palau and was re-elected to that office in 2016. Previously he served as the seventh president of the island nat ...
.
See also
*
Imeong Conservation Area
The Imeong Conservation Area is an area of roughly 1,250 sq m located in western Palau.
Site Description
The area includes multiple ecosystems types including rain forest, savanna, and mangrove wetlands. It also contains the island's highest po ...
References
External links
U.S. State Department Background Note: Palau
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Palau