The Samoan Crisis: The History of the Military Standoff Between the United States, Germany, and Great Britain over the Samoan Islands

Samoa is a group of about 20 islands in the South Pacific Ocean, totaling slightly over 1,100 square miles, about a fifth the size of Hawai’i. The ancestors of the Samoans arrived there many centuries ago. Archaeological artifacts suggest Polynesians arrived perhaps three thousand years before the present, or perhaps even earlier (O’Connor, 2017).

Samoans remained part of an isolated Pacific Ocean region for a very long time, with trade and social links with the people of the Fiji and Tonga islands. That inter-island world was not “discovered” by European explorers until 1722, when a Dutch ship, captained by Joseph Roggeveen, visited. The next European view of the Samoan islands was in 1778 by a French expedition, commanded by Louis-Antoine de Bougainville. A later French expedition under La Perouse found the islands far from congenial; a fight erupted and the French lost 12 men (O’Connor, 2017).

The pace of contact with the outside world quickened by the end of the 1700s. Explorers visited, naval expeditions checked out Samoa and other islands, a few European beachcombers arrived, and so did missionaries. Samoa, like many other Pacific Island groups, attracted outside interest for several reasons. Missionaries found souls to save. Whaling ships found places to resupply themselves with food, water, sometimes crew, and for rest and recreation. As navies converted to steam, islands became useful as coaling stations, and as the Industrial Revolution spread, islands offered raw materials and goods for potential profit. The Pacific Islands also became pawns in what is best described as a global imperial competition.

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