We’re on a roll now…so let’s visit one more island nation in Micronesia — the Marshall Islands. Until World War II the Marshall Islands followed much the same historical path as the other island nations in Micronesia; first there were people who spent a thousand or so years developing their own clan-based culture, then there was Spanish exploration, then German colonization resulting in the islands becoming part of German New Guinea, then, in 1914, absorption into the Japanese empire. The Japanese settled the Marshall Islands heavily and replaced local paramount chiefs, who had ruled the Marshall Islands for centuries, with Japanese-appointed leaders. During World War II the United States bombed the Marshall Islands extensively and then invaded in 1944. The battles were harsh and many Marshallese, Japanese, Koreans, and Americans perished there. After taking the Marshall Islands the U.S. used the nation as a staging base for more Pacific campaigns. In 1979 the Marshall Islands became independent since then the nation has signed a Compact of Free Association with the United States. The compact assures the Marshall Islands of U.S. military defense while also allowing the U.S. to maintain a missile testing facility on Kwajalein Atoll.
We are revising the AllAroundThisWorld.com site — the information you’re seeking may still be here, but a lot of links are broken and details may be out of date. We are currently using a new (better!) site — ExploreEverywhere.com — to tell you all about our class offerings, our “pen pal” program and how to become one of our teachers, and will eventually be moving all the goodies from here over to there. So, GO TO THE NEW SITE!
