Pacific Islands Trust Territory

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Flag of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands 1965–1972
Map of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands dated July 1, 1962

The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands ( English Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands , TTPI ) was a trust territory that on 18 July 1947 by the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations the United States has been sent to the administration. The trust area was previously a mandate area assigned by the League of Nations to the Japanese Empire , the Japanese South Sea Mandate .

The Federated States of Micronesia left the area on November 3, 1986 , the Republic of Marshall Islands on December 22, 1990 and Palau on October 1, 1994 . The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands became one of the Outlying Territories of the United States in 1978 .

An association agreement exists between the United States and the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and Palau. Among other things, the treaty stipulates that the Pacific states hand over their military defense to the United States.

history

Until the establishment of the trust area, the islands conquered by the United States were ruled by military governors . These were the following admirals of the Pacific Fleet :

  • Chester W. Nimitz , Military Governor of the Mariana Islands since June 19, 1944
  • Raymond A. Spruance , Military Governor of the Marshall Islands, Caroline Islands and the Mariana Islands since February 3, 1946.
  • Louis E. Denfeld , Military Governor of the Marshall Islands, the Carolines and the Mariana Islands since February 28, 1947.

After the trust area was established in July 1947, responsibility changed from the United States Department of the Navy to the Home Office and Louis E. Denfeld was appointed the first High Commissioner of the Trust Territory on July 18, 1947. He was followed by other High Commissioners until the end of the term of office of the last High Commissioner, Janet J. McCoy, on July 10, 1987, with responsibilities alternating between the two ministries several times.

The headquarters was first located in Fort Ruger in Honolulu , moved to Guam in 1954 and finally came to Saipan in 1963 .

economy

The state Board of Economic Warfare , which was supposed to ensure the supply of the Allies with raw materials important for the war, promoted the economy in the trust area through its sub-organization, the United States Commercial Company (USCC). The latter bought products from the region, such as copra , phosphates and handicrafts, and in return offered imported goods. In 1947 the USCC was replaced by the Island Trading Company (ITC). From 1954 local companies were responsible for the exchange of goods with foreign countries.

traffic

With the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, civil air traffic in the entire Western Pacific came to a standstill. In 1949, the assigned United States Department of the Interior , the Transocean Air Lines with the reconstruction of an air transport network that the Caroline Islands , Micronesia , Marshall Islands and Palau to Guam should connect. Flight operations began on July 1, 1951 with amphibious aircraft . In addition to a line from Guam via Yap to Koror , a weekly circuit from Guam via Truk and Ponape to Majuro and Kwajalein was set up. Passengers, freight and mail were transported. After the Transocean Air Lines had to file for bankruptcy on July 11, 1960 , Pan American World Airways continued the scheduled flights in the trust areas. Air Micronesia took over this task from 1968 .

Web links

literature

  • Volume 1: The Wartime Military Government Period 1942–1945.
  • Volume 2: The Postwar Military Government Era 1945-1947.
  • Volume 3: The Trusteeship Period 1947–1951.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rulers.org: High Commissioner of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
  2. ↑ Dan MacMeekin: The Northern Mariana Islands: A Political-Legal Chronology (to 1990)
  3. ↑ libweb.hawaii.edu: Pictures of the headquarters in Saipan
  4. ^ Francis X. Hezel: A Brief Economic History of Micronesia
  5. ^ Transocean Air Lines - Guam & The Trust Territory
  6. ↑ Airline Executives and Federal Regulation, Case Studies in American Enterprise from the Airmail Era to the Dawn of The Jet Age, W. David Lewis, 2000