History of Oceania

The historical studies generally cut out the history of the Oceania in four great periods:

times first
periods of the first contacts with Europeans
the colonial period
contemporary Oceania

Like any historical cutting, this one has qualities of its defects and the defects of its qualities. Practical because making it possible to have a historical comprehensive view of the evolutions of this vast space and some chronological reference marks, it does not take into account nor the diversity of the situations and does not escape the misadventures and other stereotypes from a européo-centered vision.

Times first

First contacts

It is starting from the whole beginning of the 16th century that Europeans make intrusion in the Océanien world. This one has several characteristics:

It is slow and is spread out over nearly four century: the period of first contacts goes perdurer for certain valleys isolated from New Guinea until the middle of the XXè century
It is unequal, more intense in the east than in the west of Oceania and limited for the most imposing islands to the coastal areas. Moreover, until the any end of the XVIIIè century and the foundation of the Australian bagne, it can be regarded as a marginal phenomenon insofar as these explorers and navigators do not settle with residence and often on the spot remain only very little time. Louis Antoine de Bougainville makes for example only one eight days stopover to Tahiti. This short meeting not having prevented from inspiring a whole heap of phantasms and an abundant literature on its return of which the famous " Supplement with the voyage of Bougainville " of Diderot.
It is varied: after the passage of the navigators, the first Europeans to be settled among Océaniens are of two types. There are first of all the missionaries and those which the Anglo-Saxons name the " beachcombers " (literally " scummers of grève"), i.e. these adventurers (mutineers, convicts escaped from the Australian bagne or calédonien, santaliers, whalers, hunters of seals in New Zealand and others Pakeha-Maori) which settle among the local population

Circumnavigators and explorers

The passage of the European ships is done by waves, corresponding to the periods of domination of the seas by the various vague nations euopéenne

Spanish and portuguaise in XVIé century
vague Dutchwoman with XVIIè and part of the XVIIIè vague century
British and Frenchwoman as from the XVIIIè century
of the vague secondaries as from the XIXè century (American, Russian, German)

Navigators and explorers Spanish and Portuguese

This one lasted approximately a century to begin in 1513 with the Spaniard Vasco Núñez de Balboa, a Spanish conquistador who after having crossed the isthmus of Darien (Panama), took possession of the " Large Mar del Sur" in the name of the King of Spain, Ferdinand II of Aragon. In 1520, Fernao de Magalhes more known under not of Magellan crosses the strait which bears its name today and ventured in what it named " Pacifico" pond; on board its two ships Victoria and Trinidad. He wandered during several months without anything to see his archipelagoes if it is not the atoll of Puka Puka in the North-East of the Tuamotu then the island of Guam before being made kill with the Filipino . Its second Juan Sebastian Elcano finished circumnavigation reaching Seville on September 9th, 1522. He brought back from there spices, incentive the Spanish successive kings with Portuguese to organize new forwardings, the more so as as from the years 1520, these two countries had from now on base camps for these explorations. Indeed Mexico was conquered by the Spaniards in 1521 then Peru in 1535 while the Portuguese took officially possessions of Sumatra and of the Moluques (current Indonesia) in 1529.

Some of these forwardings :

1526: The forwarding of Garcia Jofre de Loaisa was a fiasco since on the four caravels, only one (the " San Lemes") could return to Spain
1527-1529: Alvaro de Saavedra was sent to the research of the ships disappeared from preceding forwarding. But there still two of the three ships of forwarding disappeared with broad from the Marshall Islands following a storm.
1542-1545: Ruy Lopez de Villalobos crossed in its turn the Pacific to try to install a colony in Philippines. Nevertheless it failed in its attempts. At the time of its return towards Mexico, it passed off the New Guinea which it baptized Nueva Guinea. A Spanish colony will be finally founded to Philippines by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi in 1565.

In addition to these first circumnavigations of first half of XVIè century, Oceania remained " one will terra incognita" , practically no contacts not having been able to have place between Europeans and Océaniens apart from on some islands of Micronesia. That was to change with forwardings of Spanish Álvaro de Mendaña and of the Portuguese Pedro Fernández de Quirós.

Mendaña made two forwardings, the first in 1567-1568. Its order of mission, to discover famous the Terra Australis Incognita that one thought of being located quelquepart in the south of the Pacific and which believed one abounded in spices, invaluable stones and gold. Mendaña believed it to have discovered or at least its first steps with the archipelago of Solomon whom it thus named of the remainder in reference to the mines of king Solomon. It made a stopover of several weeks with Guadalcanal and Malaita.

The second forwarding of Mendaña took place in 1595. It had this time for object to found a colony in the Solomon Islands. In way, it passed to broad from Fatu Hiva and Hiva Oa. He baptized the archipelago the Marquesas Islands in the honor of the woman of the viceroy of Peru, Don Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza de Canete. The attempt at Mendaña to install a colony in Solomon failed piteously, itself dying on the spot. It is finally its second Pedro Fernando de Quiros who brought back the fleet to Manila then to Peru.

Ten years later, this same of Quiros always installed in Peru obtained Philippe III of Spain two vessels to carry out a new forwarding and to take again the searchs for this famous southern continent. In way it passed to broad from several Atoll of Tuamotu then carried on its way, passing to the south of Solomon to arrive for an imposing ground which it baptized " Australia del Espirutu Santo" (today the island of Santo to the Vanuatu).

With this exploration of Quiros (to which we could add that of Torres of the Australian coast northern and the south of the New Guinea also in 1606), ended this wave of Iberian exploration of the Pacific, their hegemony being put at evil by another European nation, Holland

Dutch navigators and explorers

British navigators and explorers

French navigators and explorers

American navigators and explorers

Russian navigators and explorers

German navigators and explorers

Missions

Protestant missions

London Missionary Society (Congrégationaliste)
Wesleyan Missionary Society (Méthodiste)
Church Missionary Society (Anglican
American Board off Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) (Congregationaliste)
Mormon Missions presbyteriennes
Adventist

…

Catholic missions

Picpuciens
Marists

Beachcombers and adventurers

The colonial period

Contemporary Oceania

Statutory independences and evolutions

After the Latin America, Asia and Africa, Oceania is chronologically speaking the last area about the world to have known a process of decolonization. Begun in 1962 with independence from the Western Samoa, this one continued until our days:

islands Cook (associated independence), 1965
Nauru, 1968
Tonga, 1970
Fiji, 1970
Niue (associated Independence), 1974
New Guinea New Guinea, 1975
Solomon, 1978
Tuvalu, 1978
Kiribati, 1979
Vanuatu, 1980
Federated States of Micronesia, 1986
Marshall, 1986
Palau, 1994

Today if one excludes the very particular case of Hawaii, only remain under the supervision of external powers:

the American Samoa (territory nonbuilt-in American),
the Northern Mariana Islands (the American Commonwealth),
Guam (American territory),
Tokelau (autonomous territory depend on New Zealand),
the French Polynesia (Country of overseas French),
the New Caledonia (Country of overseas French),
Wallis and Futuna (Community of overseas French),
the Easter Island (Chilean territory)
Pitcairn (British territory)
the province indonésienne of Papua

These units nevertheless knew since 1945 of the significant statutory evolutions going all in the direction of a greater participation of the population in the local institutions.

International relations in Oceania

International relations in Oceania (1945-1991): a " Pond americana" in the era of the nuclear power

Regarded for a long time as a " Americana" pond; , the Pacific and more particularly the insular Pacific forever made up only one could called a frontline of the cold war. For as much, it does not have completely escaped with the international tensions. This American prevalence was based on a network of military bases, solid alliances with the countries of the area (Australia and New Zealand within the ANZUS, Japan, Philippines…) as well as the presence of traditionally allied powers like France and the United Kingdom.

If Soviet did not remain completely absent from diplomatic scene océanienne, their presence remained modest limiting itself to discreetly support the various liberation movements or in the Eighties by the negotiation of fishing rights in the ZEE of some lately independent states.

It is paradoxically between the states considered allied that will be felt the strongest tensions. The question of the French nuclear tests, the sabotage of the " Rainbow Warrior" and the business calédonienne thus deeply will affect the relations franco-néo-zélandaises and free-Australian. The crisis which could undergo the ANZUS in the Eighties following the adoption by the New Zealand government of an antinuclear legislation in is another example.

International relations in Oceania (1991-2007): the news gives océanienne and the end of the " Pacific Way"

With the Nineties, a certain number of events will modify the power struggles set up since 45. First of all with the fall of Communism, the Pacific less and less seems a strategic priority for the Americans. In parallel, the end of the French nuclear tests, the ratification of the Treated of Rarotonga in 1996 and the Pacific regulation of the calédonienne question will allow the warming of the relations between France and its partners Australian and New Zealand whose interests are done increasingly convergent.

From now on the priority for these three countries is to guarantee a regional stability, stability put at evil by the appearance of a new type of conflicts. The coups d'etat of 88,2000 and 2006 in Fiji, that of 2000 in Solomon, the assassination in 99 in the Samoa islands of a Minister for the government by two of his/her colleagues, the riots of 2006 in Tonga will put a final term at the dream of " Pacific Way" statement by Sir Ratu Kamisese Mara.

In parallel of new powers are done increasingly present in the zone that is on an economic plan or diplomatic, such as for example Japan and especially China.

Regional organizations

With independences of a growing number of States, new solidarity were woven little by little between these countries through a certain number of regional organizations with vocations economic and cultural, policy for some even military.

Forum of the Pacific Islands
the Community of the Southern Pacific
Spearhead mélanésien
Asian development bank whose twelve States océaniens are members.

Notes and references of the article

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