Caroline Islands

:Do not confuse the Caroline Islands with Caroline Island, part of Kiribati (Southern Line Islands), also in the central Pacific Ocean.

History

The Portuguese Diego da Rocha, the first European explorer of the Carolines, named them the Sequeira Islands in 1527. Though early Spanish navigators in the area (from 1543) called them the New Philippines (Nueva Filipinas), Admiral Francisco Lazeano named them the Carolines after the Spanish King Charles II in 1686.

Related Topics:
Philippines - Charles II

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Some few Western travellers subsequently visited the islands, but an early visit of missionaries (1731) resulted in one of several murderous attacks on the interlopers; and only in 1875 did Spain, claiming the group, make some attempt to assert her rights. Germany, which had occupied Yap, disputed the Spanish claim, and the matter went to the arbitration of Pope Leo XIII in 1885. He decided in favor of Spain, but gave Germany free trading rights. The Spanish did not occupy any island formally until 1886.

Related Topics:
Leo XIII - 1886

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Then in 1899, after the Spanish-American War of 1899, Spain sold the islands to Germany for 25,000,000 pesetas (nearly 1,000,000 pounds sterling). Japan occupied the islands in 1914 and received a League of Nations mandate over them in 1920, but after World War II the islands became trust territories of the United States, eventually gaining independence (1986 / 1994).

Related Topics:
Spanish-American War - 1899 - Germany - Japan - 1914 - League of Nations - 1920 - World War II - United States

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