USN Period (1945-1947)

During War in the Pacific, islands of the Marshalls, Carolines, Palaus and Marianas were either wrested from Japanese control or isolated from further effective participation in the war, effectively ending the Japanese Period and War in the Pacific in each locale.

Overview

From the termination of Japanese control until July 18, 1947, the islands were under Military Government administered by the United States Navy. On that date President Truman approved the Trusteeship Agreement between the United States and the Security Council of the United Nations for the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI). The President also delegated to the Secretary of the Navy responsibility for civil administration of the nascent Trust Territory on an interim basis and until such time as a civilian department or agency should be designated to have permanent responsibility for the government of the area. That agency would ultimately be the US Department of the Interior.

Occupation

As each island was occupied, and Japanese control ended, it became subject to United States authority in accordance with the international law of belligerent occupation. Japanese armed forces were treated in accordance with the rules of international law. At the same time, the civilian population had to be dealt with: Japanese, Koreans, and Okinawans, as well as the local islanders. The Japanese, Koreans, and Okinawans were collected in camps away from the immediate vicinity of the occupying forces, often to an adjoining islet in the case of an atoll. There they were governed, as nearly as existing conditions permitted, in accordance with international law as drafted by the Hague Convention and the Treaty of Ghent. By June of 1946 all these Japanese nationals were repatriated to their respective countries.

The local inhabitants of the islands presented a still different problem for the Americans. Though they were first regarded as having the status of Japanese subjects, a lack of clarity in the mandate definition of nationality made it possible for the United States to treat them instead, as liberated persons under American wardship. Where possible they were helped to rehabilitate themselves as soon as possible in their traditional communities, though in some places camps had to be provided temporarily for their care. Their welfare was made the responsibility of special military government units organized and trained by the United States Navy primarily for this purpose.

In the immediate postwar period, too, most of the United States military forces left the islands, and the lesser bases were put into caretaker status or abandoned. The military government type of control continued, however, until 18 July 1947, when the islands formally became a United States trust territory.

In 1946, the islands came into prominence when Bikini Atoll, an isolated unit of the northern Marshalls, was used as the experimental ground for atomic-bomb explosions. In September 1947 the United States Atomic Energy Commission announced that, in accordance with the security provisions of its trust agreement, it would make isolated Enewetak Atoll, another of the Marshalls, a closed area to be developed as an experimental center for atomic energy.

Allied Wartime Agreements

During the progress of the war, the Great Powers among the United Nations reached a series of agreements regarding the future of the Japanese mandated islands. The Cairo Declaration of 1 December 1943, signed by the United States, United Kingdom, and China (the Soviet Union not participating in the Pacific war at that time) stated that: "Japan shall be stripped of all the islands in the Pacific which she has seized or occupied since the beginning of the First World War in 1914."

This declaration was reaffirmed by the heads of the same three governments (United States, United Kingdom, and China) on 26 July 1945 at Potsdam, and was subsequently adhered to by the Soviet Union. Article 8of the Potsdam Declaration stated: "The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku, and such minor islands as are determined."

Japan accepted these terms by the instrument of surrender on 2 September 1945. The application of the surrender terms to the former Japanese mandates resulted in the United States acquiring responsibility for the administration of these islands. After long and careful consultations by the State, War, and Navy Departments, the United States developed a draft trusteeship agreement proposing to make the former Japanese mandated islands into a strategic area trusteeship to be controlled by it under the United Nations. This draft agreement was made public on 6 November 1946, and copies were circulated to other interested states.

Draft Trusteeship Agreement

Although some governments believed that this matter should await the formulation of a Japanese peace treaty, the United States submitted the draft trusteeship agreement to the Security Council of the United Nations on 17 February 1947. After deliberation by the Council, the draft agreement was approved unanimously on 2 April 1947, with several minor changes. It became effective on 18 July 1947, when President Truman approved it on behalf of the United States Government.