New Guinea Territory
The Territory of New Guinea ( English :. Territory of New Guinea ) was created in 1920 from the former German colony of German New Guinea . It was administered by Australia as a League of Nations mandate called the Australian Mandated Territory of New Guinea . The territory included with the provinces of Enga , Western Highlands , Simbu and Eastern Highlands ; as well as West Sepik , East Sepik , Madang and Morobe ; and Bougainville , West New Britain , East New Britain , New Ireland and Manus make up about half of what is now Papua New Guinea .
First World War
Right at the beginning of World War I , Australia occupied German New Guinea. After a brief skirmish near Bita Paka , on September 21, 1914, the “entire German armed power of the protected area” - five officers, 35 German and 110 Melanesian police soldiers - capitulated. The German plantation owners, missionaries and administrative officials remained largely unmolested for the time being. The Australian military administration intended to preserve the economic benefits of New Guinea as future Australian possessions by continuing the German plantations as unhindered as possible. 1916 requests from Great Britain to expropriate the German companies were rejected by the Australian federal government. The German settlers' claim to property remained unaffected until 1918.
On January 24, 1919, the victorious powers of World War I negotiated the future of the German colonies at the Paris Peace Conference . On May 7, 1919, the mandate powers were announced. The execution of the mandate deeds was delayed because of a dispute over the island of Yap , which has been claimed by the United States . On December 17, 1920, in Geneva, the mandate for Australia was confirmed as the so-called " C-Mandate " over New Guinea. The document reached Australia on April 6, 1921. On May 9, 1921, the military administration was replaced by a civil administration. Under international law, the German colonial rule in New Guinea ended.
Mandate management
The first civilian administrator, Brigadier-General Evan Alexander Wisdom, made Rabaul on the island of New Britain the capital of the Australian Mandate New Guinea. The German settlers in the territory of New Guinea were expropriated from 1921 and expelled to Germany, only a few Germans were allowed to stay.
The dynamic economic development of the former German colony, which occurred during the tenure of Governor Albert Hahl , stagnated because of the expropriations. Around 268 plantations, 20 larger shops, workshops and operating facilities were sold to new owners. Many of the new plantation owners, often former Australian soldiers, had little experience of farming in tropical climates.
Originally the German missionaries should also be expelled. However, thanks to the influence of American and Australian Lutherans , the Neuendettelsau missionaries were able to continue their work and were allowed to return to New Guinea from 1928. The Steyler missionaries and Steyler missionaries were also affected by the planned deportation . The Apostolic Delegate in Australia, Archbishop Bartolomeo Cattaneo (1866–1933), advocated the whereabouts of the German-speaking Catholic missionaries, from the orders of the Sacred Heart Missionaries (MSC), Marists (SM) and the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) ), who held this post in Australia from 1917 to 1933. The Archbishops of Sydney and New York also appealed to the Australian and American governments, asking that the deportation plans be withdrawn. To this day, German missionaries from the Protestant Neuendettelsauer Mission and the Catholic Sacred Heart and Steyler missionaries work in Papua New Guinea.
From 1926, after Germany joined the League of Nations , Germans could no longer be expelled from the territory of a League of Nations mandate. In the 1930s there were 4,500 foreigners in the Mandate New Guinea, four times more than in Papua , including 1,000 Chinese and 400 Germans.
In 1921 gold was found in Wau . A few years later, as a result of the gold rush , gold seekers streamed into Wau via the Salamaua harbor . In 1926 another, more productive gold field was found on Edie Creek near Wau. Since there were no roads yet and the transport over mountain paths was very difficult for the prospectors, it was necessary to fly in the heavy equipment. In 1937 and 1938, Bulolo Gold Dredging & Co and Guinea Airways moved more air freight with four Junkers G 31 cargo planes between Lae and Wau than in the rest of the world combined.
The administrator Evan Alexander Wisdom was replaced on June 13, 1933 by Brigadier General Thomas Griffiths. Griffiths Brigadier General Walter Ramsay McNicoll followed on September 13, 1934.
Second World War
After the beginning of the Second World War , the German missionaries were interned. In Rabaul, the eruptions of the volcano Mount Tavurvur and its neighboring summit Matupit on the Vulcan Island on May 29, 1937 led to extensive destruction of the infrastructure and made the city almost uninhabitable. The seat of the administration of the territory was moved to Lae on the island of New Guinea . When Lae was destroyed by a Japanese air raid on January 20, 1942 , Administrator McNicoll moved the administration to Wau . McNicoll fell ill with malaria and was forced to resign in late 1942.
Since the capture of Rabaul on January 23, 1942, Japanese invasion troops had occupied large parts of New Guinea and the islands of the Bismarck Archipelago . Rabaul was developed by the Japanese into their main supply base in the Pacific War . The recovery of New Guinea began in June 1943 with Operation Cartwheel . After the Japanese surrender in August 1945, 83,000 Japanese soldiers surrendered to the Australian forces in the Rabaul area.
post war period
The Territory of New Guinea was in 1946 as a trust territory of the UN given to Australia. In 1949 the two formerly British and German parts of the country, Territory of Papua and Territory of New Guinea, were merged to form the Territory of Papua and New Guinea .
Administrators
- William Holmes, September 12, 1914 - January 8, 1915
- Samuel Augustus Pethebridge, January 8, 1915 - October 21, 1917
- Seaforth Simpson MacKenzie (Acting) October 21, 1917 - April 21, 1918
- Johnston, George Jameson, April 21, 1918 - May 1, 1920
- Thomas Griffiths, May 1, 1920 - March 21, 1921
- Evan Alexander Wisdom, March 21, 1921 - June 13, 1933
- Thomas Griffiths (serving, second term), Jun 13, 1933 - September 12, 1934
- Walter Ramsay McNicoll, September 12, 1934 - December 1942
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The First World War and the end of German influence in the South Seas , in: Hermann Joseph Hiery (Ed.): Die Deutsche Südsee 1884-1914, Ein Handbuch . Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 2001, ISBN 3-506-73912-3
- ↑ Bob Mckillop, Michael Pearon: End of the Line: A History of Railways in Papua New Guinea, 4th Mandated Territory (PDF; 336 kB) University of Papua New Guinea Press, Port Moresby 1997 p. 2
- ^ Paul Steffen: Beginning of the mission in New Guinea. The beginnings of the Rhenish, Neuendettelsauer and Steyler missionary work in New Guinea , Steyler Verlag: Nettetal 1995, pp. 288–289, ISBN 3-8050-0351-X .
- ↑ Junkers G31go VH-UOW Guinea Airways The Airways Museum & Civil Aviation Historical Society