1918-1939 History of the Pacific Islands Independence, aince 1962




Western Samoa a Mandate of New Zealand, 1939-1962



In World War II, US troops used Western Samoa as a military basis, arriving on March 28th 1942. The Japanese threat waned; the US troops were withdrawn. Tutuila in American Samoa was much more important as a military basis.
After the war, in 1946 the League of Nations mandate was transferred into United Nations TRUSTEESHIP. Steps for the introduction of democracy were undertaken, such as the establishment of an assembly and a council of state (1947). In a 1961 plebiscite the Western Samoans opted for independence, which was declared on January 1st 1962.



EXTERNAL
FILES 		History, from Independent State of Western Samoa
History of Western Samoa, from Lonely Planet, from Infoplease
DOCUMENTS W II stamp issues, from The New Zealand Dependencies Website, a detailed postal history
REFERENCE



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on January 13th 2002, last revised on November 5th 2004

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