History of Micronesia: A Collection of Source Documents: Vol. 41 Japanese Occupation, 1910-1914
Levesque, Rodrigue (2007). History of Micronesia: A Collection of Source Documents: Vol. 41 Japanese Occupation, 1910-1914. 41. Gatineau, Québec: Lévesque Publications. ISBN 978-0-920201-41-1.
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Abstract: HOM.41 documents the years 1910–1914, focusing on the final phase of German colonial administration in Micronesia and the transition to Japanese occupation at the outbreak of World War I. A major portion of the volume is devoted to the Sokehs (Ponape) Rebellion of 1910–1911, including detailed accounts by German officers such as Lieutenant Peckelsheim, reports by colonial officials and missionaries, and later analyses by writers including H. Seidel. These documents describe the conflict between German colonial authorities and Sokehs leaders on Pohnpei, the military expedition mounted from the cruiser SMS Nürnberg and other vessels, and the suppression of the uprising through combined naval and colonial police operations. Reports and illustrations describe the fighting around Sokehs Island, defensive positions, military patrols, arrests of local chiefs, executions of rebel leaders, and the exile of prisoners to Saipan, providing extensive documentation of German colonial military action in the Caroline Islands.
The volume also includes scientific, missionary, and administrative reports covering conditions across Micronesia during the final years of German rule. These include oceanographic observations from the German vessel SMS Planet, ethnographic and geographic writings such as Richard Deeken’s study of the Caroline Islands, and mission reports by Catholic clergy including Father Venantius, Father Corbinian Madre, and Father Kilian Müller. Additional documents describe conditions in Yap, Palau, Truk (Chuuk), Namoluk Atoll in the Mortlock Islands, and the Marshall Islands, including census records, mission activity, and ethnographic descriptions of local societies. Reports from the Mariana Islands, especially Guam, Rota, and Saipan, provide information on population, colonial administration, and church activity during the early twentieth century.
The final section of HOM.41 records the dramatic shift in regional power during 1914, when the Imperial Japanese Navy occupied the Mariana, Caroline, and Marshall Islands following the outbreak of war between Japan and Germany. Contemporary reports describe the arrival of Japanese naval forces, the surrender of German colonial authorities, and the strategic movements of warships across Micronesian waters. Accounts of opposing naval forces in the Pacific and later historical analysis by writers such as Mark R. Peattie place the occupation within the wider context of World War I naval operations, marking the beginning of Japan’s administration of Micronesia and the end of the German colonial era in the region.
