Solomon Islands
.svg)
Solomon Islands is today a country of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are believed to have been inhabited by Melanesian people for thousands of years.
In 1884 Germany annexed north-east New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago, and in 1886 they extended their rule over the North Solomon Islands, covering Bougainville, Buka, Choiseul, Santa Isabel, the Shortlands and Ontong Java atoll.[1] In 1886 Germany and Great Britain confirmed this arrangement, with the British gaining a "sphere of influence" over the southern Solomons.[2] Germany paid little attention to the islands, with German authorities based in New Guinea not even visiting the area until 1888.[2] The German presence prompted the British to declare a protectorate over the southern Solomons in March 1893, initially encompassing New Georgia, Malaita, Guadalcanal, Makira, Mono Island and the central Nggela Islands.[3] In April 1896, the Colonial Office appointed Charles Morris Woodford as the British Acting Deputy Commissioner and confirmed him in post the following year.[3] Woodford set up an administrative headquarters on the small island of Tulagi, and in 1898 and 1899 the Rennell and Bellona Islands, Sikaiana, the Santa Cruz Islands and outlying islands such as Anuta, Fataka, Temotu and Tikopia were added to the protectorate.[3][4] In 1900, under the terms of the Tripartite Convention of 1899, Germany ceded the Northern Solomons to Britain, minus Buka and Bougainville, the latter becoming a detached part of German New Guinea despite geographically belonging to the Solomons archipelago.
During the Second World War, there was fierce fighting between the Americans and the Japanese in the Solomon Islands campaign of 1942–45, including the Battle of Guadalcanal. Self-government was achieved in 1976 and independence two years later. The Solomon Islands is a constitutional monarchy with the King of the Solomon Islands, at present Charles III, as the head of state.
Since 1998, ethnic violence, government misconduct, and crime have undermined stability and society. In June 2003, an Australian-led multi-national force, the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), arrived to restore peace, disarm ethnic militias and improve civil governance.
Sources
- ↑ German New Guinea. Solomon Encyclopedia.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sack, Peter (2005). "German Colonial Rule in the Northern Solomons", Bougainville Before the Conflict. Stranger Journalism, 77–107. ISBN 9781921934230.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 British Solomon Islands Protectorate, Proclamation of. Solomon Encyclopedia.
- ↑ (October 2014) "Chapter 7 Expansion of the Protectorate 1898–1900", The Naturalist and his "Beautiful Islands": Charles Morris Woodford in the Western Pacific. ANU Press, 198–206. ISBN 9781925022032.
