Stefan Haertel
Title
The Fate of a Nation
Nauru's history
By Stefan Härtel
When John Fearn, captain of the whaling ship Hunter set foot on what he would later call "Pleasant Island", he did not exactly change the history of the world. He did, however, unintentionally, yet inevitably, seal the fate of this very island.
The island is nowadays known as the Republic of Nauru, or Naoero, as it is called in Nauruan. It is 21,3 km² in size. Only Monaco and Vatican City are smaller in size, and less people live in Tuvalu and Vatican City. It is situated at 166°56' E and 0°31' S, 2,340 km northeast of New Guinea.
Nauru is a geographically isolated island. The nearest landmass is Banaba, or Ocean Island, about 360 km to the east. Like most other islands of the Southern Pacific, Nauru is surrounded by Coral Reefs; unlike the Marshall Islands, the closest island group, however, it is not flat but a sole mount, having reached about 70m in 1914. The core of the island was made up mainly of Phosphate, bird excrements, dried up in the past millenia, covered up by tropical forests, surrounded by white beaches. But that is no longer. The modern history of Nauru is closely tied to the exploitation of phosphate, the island's only mineral ressource, and it's present and future, after phosphate reserves have been completely mined after 2003, resembles the moonscape that replaced the green forest: not pretty, to say the least.
It cannot precisely be said who the first people to settle on Nauru were. It is likely that they were Melanesians, who expanded between 2000 and 1000 BC. It is almost certain that the present-day population of Nauru is of Melanesian as well as Polynesian origin; the Polynesians are thought to have arrived on Nauru in about AD 1200. Whether they were nomads of the sea intentionally landing on Nauru, or ill-fated seafarers shipwrecking nearby and making the island their new home is unknown.
It is certain that by the time of discovery, twelve tribes had come into existance, and some of these were not exactly friendly with each other.
When Fearn and his crew landed on the island, they were treated so hospitably by the natives that they named it "Pleasant Island". Nauru eventually became an infamous pirate base. The effect of this on the population was dramatic. Alcohol and firearms, which were distributed among the natives, as well as freed European prisoners proved to fuel the hostilities between the tribes, and by the latter half of the 19th century, there was true war between the people of the northern and southern parts of the island, which nearly ended with the extermination of the entire native population.
The European powers active in the South Seas were unhappy about this. They regarded it as an unpleasant obstacle to their colonial policy. By the 1870s, German merchants had set up on Nauru and started coconut plantations. When the tribal wars turned into a menace to the Germans, they put their government, and the administration of (German) New Guinea in particular, under pressure to add Nauru to the German colonial empire.
Since Nauru was situated in the midst of the German Pacific colonies -the Marianes, Marshall Islands, and Carolines to the north, Palau to the west, and the Bismarck Archipalegoe to the south- this was a more than natural option. In the end, the tribal chiefs had no other choice than to submit to the Germans (1888).
In the first ten years of their rule, the Germans pacified the population of Nauru by removing firearms and alcohol from the island and doing heavy missionary work. It was not long until the entire population of the island had converted to Christianity. The commercial importance of Nauru was next to zero; in 1895, seven merchants and one government official lived among 1,324 natives. But this was about to change.
In the final years of the 19th century, a German merchant sent a probe of Nauruan rock to Sydney, Australia, to inquire about the consistence and find out whether or not the rock was good to make toys out of.
The rock was used as a doorstop until 1900, when somebody found out that it was almost entirely made out of phosphate. It was soon found out, that Nauru was a major phosphate site. Since phosphate was a very sought-after fertilizer at that time, British authorities started negotiating with the German government about mining rights.
In 1905, the Pacific Phosphate Company, a British-German cooperation, was founded, and in 1906 they began exploiting Nauru's phosphate reserves. Natives did not do this work. Instead, coolies from Kiribati and China were recruited, laying the groundstone to a small multicultural society which still exists today.
Royalities went to Germany and Great Britain until 1914, when the British occupied Nauru in the course of the First World War. As part of a mandate of the League of Nations, which included all other islands that had previously been German colonies, Nauru was governed by the British and New Zealanders after the war. Phosphate exploitation naturally continued, and the trend of not using natives but workers from China and other Pacific Islands was continued.
In 1942, Nauru was occupied by the Japanese, who had their share of atrocities commited (for detail on this, refer to the links at the bottom of this article), until they decided to deport all 1200 natives to Truk, keeping the Chinese on Nauru. 700 Nauruans survived the war. The Japanese were of course also interested in phosphate exploitation, but an airbase was also set up, which today serves as the Nauruan airport.
After extremely heavy bombings by the Americans, the Japanese gave up their island fortress. In 1945, the surviving Nauruans returned. The island once again became a mandate, this time of the United Nations, governed by Australia, although the island became largely autonomous in 1951.
Enter Hammer deRoburt, chieftain of the 12 Nauruan tribes since 1956. DeRoburt aimed for the independence of Nauru. The latter half of the 1960s saw negotiations, polls and all that, and in 1968, Nauru was granted independence. Hammer deRoburt became president, and he reigned, with some interruptions, for 20 years.
Governmental phosphate exploitation began in 1970, and the revenues were astronomical. The per capita income of Nauru, about AU$ 7000, was one of the highest in the world. Bearing in mind that the residents did not have to work -this was still done by foreign workers, mostly Chinese-, had to pay no taxes, with water, electricity etc payed for by the government, the Nauruans could be described as the wealthiest and laziest people of the world. The average Nauruan possesses abouth three cars or motorcycles -for they do not repair them when damaged, but buy a new one- and a yacht, his favourite hobby is either doing nothing or training frigate birds to deliver messages on other parts of the island. Recently, Nauru has, however, volunteered for scientific researches for diabetes with 44% of the population over 20 years of age suffering from it.
But the future of Nauru is very dark. The phosphate is exploited entirely, failed investions, such as a national airline, have made the country bankrupt, presidents are changing at alarming rates. In 1999, Nauru joined the UN, possibly because they felt that this would be a good way to solve some of the problems. Governmental aims for new economical branches are offshore banking and tourism, but the former has attracted many illegal customers, and the latter doesn't work either, since nobody knows what or where Nauru is, and there is very little to see on the island except for a few Japanese bunkers, the moonscape in the centre of the island and perhaps some coral reefs -all to be done within less than two days.
Therefore, Nauru is left as a tragic and unrecognized monument to the results of capitalistic exploitation of natural ressources, in effect harming not only the environment, but also the people.
Sources:
http://www.nauru.de
http://www.janeresture.com/nauru_home/index.htm
http://www.usp.ac.fj/
E.v.Seydlitzsche Geographie, Handbuch der Geographie, 26. Bearbeitung, Breslau, Mai 1914
Der Fischer Weltalmanach 2003
Nauru's history
By Stefan Härtel
When John Fearn, captain of the whaling ship Hunter set foot on what he would later call "Pleasant Island", he did not exactly change the history of the world. He did, however, unintentionally, yet inevitably, seal the fate of this very island.
The island is nowadays known as the Republic of Nauru, or Naoero, as it is called in Nauruan. It is 21,3 km² in size. Only Monaco and Vatican City are smaller in size, and less people live in Tuvalu and Vatican City. It is situated at 166°56' E and 0°31' S, 2,340 km northeast of New Guinea.
Nauru is a geographically isolated island. The nearest landmass is Banaba, or Ocean Island, about 360 km to the east. Like most other islands of the Southern Pacific, Nauru is surrounded by Coral Reefs; unlike the Marshall Islands, the closest island group, however, it is not flat but a sole mount, having reached about 70m in 1914. The core of the island was made up mainly of Phosphate, bird excrements, dried up in the past millenia, covered up by tropical forests, surrounded by white beaches. But that is no longer. The modern history of Nauru is closely tied to the exploitation of phosphate, the island's only mineral ressource, and it's present and future, after phosphate reserves have been completely mined after 2003, resembles the moonscape that replaced the green forest: not pretty, to say the least.
It cannot precisely be said who the first people to settle on Nauru were. It is likely that they were Melanesians, who expanded between 2000 and 1000 BC. It is almost certain that the present-day population of Nauru is of Melanesian as well as Polynesian origin; the Polynesians are thought to have arrived on Nauru in about AD 1200. Whether they were nomads of the sea intentionally landing on Nauru, or ill-fated seafarers shipwrecking nearby and making the island their new home is unknown.
It is certain that by the time of discovery, twelve tribes had come into existance, and some of these were not exactly friendly with each other.
When Fearn and his crew landed on the island, they were treated so hospitably by the natives that they named it "Pleasant Island". Nauru eventually became an infamous pirate base. The effect of this on the population was dramatic. Alcohol and firearms, which were distributed among the natives, as well as freed European prisoners proved to fuel the hostilities between the tribes, and by the latter half of the 19th century, there was true war between the people of the northern and southern parts of the island, which nearly ended with the extermination of the entire native population.
The European powers active in the South Seas were unhappy about this. They regarded it as an unpleasant obstacle to their colonial policy. By the 1870s, German merchants had set up on Nauru and started coconut plantations. When the tribal wars turned into a menace to the Germans, they put their government, and the administration of (German) New Guinea in particular, under pressure to add Nauru to the German colonial empire.
Since Nauru was situated in the midst of the German Pacific colonies -the Marianes, Marshall Islands, and Carolines to the north, Palau to the west, and the Bismarck Archipalegoe to the south- this was a more than natural option. In the end, the tribal chiefs had no other choice than to submit to the Germans (1888).
In the first ten years of their rule, the Germans pacified the population of Nauru by removing firearms and alcohol from the island and doing heavy missionary work. It was not long until the entire population of the island had converted to Christianity. The commercial importance of Nauru was next to zero; in 1895, seven merchants and one government official lived among 1,324 natives. But this was about to change.
In the final years of the 19th century, a German merchant sent a probe of Nauruan rock to Sydney, Australia, to inquire about the consistence and find out whether or not the rock was good to make toys out of.
The rock was used as a doorstop until 1900, when somebody found out that it was almost entirely made out of phosphate. It was soon found out, that Nauru was a major phosphate site. Since phosphate was a very sought-after fertilizer at that time, British authorities started negotiating with the German government about mining rights.
In 1905, the Pacific Phosphate Company, a British-German cooperation, was founded, and in 1906 they began exploiting Nauru's phosphate reserves. Natives did not do this work. Instead, coolies from Kiribati and China were recruited, laying the groundstone to a small multicultural society which still exists today.
Royalities went to Germany and Great Britain until 1914, when the British occupied Nauru in the course of the First World War. As part of a mandate of the League of Nations, which included all other islands that had previously been German colonies, Nauru was governed by the British and New Zealanders after the war. Phosphate exploitation naturally continued, and the trend of not using natives but workers from China and other Pacific Islands was continued.
In 1942, Nauru was occupied by the Japanese, who had their share of atrocities commited (for detail on this, refer to the links at the bottom of this article), until they decided to deport all 1200 natives to Truk, keeping the Chinese on Nauru. 700 Nauruans survived the war. The Japanese were of course also interested in phosphate exploitation, but an airbase was also set up, which today serves as the Nauruan airport.
After extremely heavy bombings by the Americans, the Japanese gave up their island fortress. In 1945, the surviving Nauruans returned. The island once again became a mandate, this time of the United Nations, governed by Australia, although the island became largely autonomous in 1951.
Enter Hammer deRoburt, chieftain of the 12 Nauruan tribes since 1956. DeRoburt aimed for the independence of Nauru. The latter half of the 1960s saw negotiations, polls and all that, and in 1968, Nauru was granted independence. Hammer deRoburt became president, and he reigned, with some interruptions, for 20 years.
Governmental phosphate exploitation began in 1970, and the revenues were astronomical. The per capita income of Nauru, about AU$ 7000, was one of the highest in the world. Bearing in mind that the residents did not have to work -this was still done by foreign workers, mostly Chinese-, had to pay no taxes, with water, electricity etc payed for by the government, the Nauruans could be described as the wealthiest and laziest people of the world. The average Nauruan possesses abouth three cars or motorcycles -for they do not repair them when damaged, but buy a new one- and a yacht, his favourite hobby is either doing nothing or training frigate birds to deliver messages on other parts of the island. Recently, Nauru has, however, volunteered for scientific researches for diabetes with 44% of the population over 20 years of age suffering from it.
But the future of Nauru is very dark. The phosphate is exploited entirely, failed investions, such as a national airline, have made the country bankrupt, presidents are changing at alarming rates. In 1999, Nauru joined the UN, possibly because they felt that this would be a good way to solve some of the problems. Governmental aims for new economical branches are offshore banking and tourism, but the former has attracted many illegal customers, and the latter doesn't work either, since nobody knows what or where Nauru is, and there is very little to see on the island except for a few Japanese bunkers, the moonscape in the centre of the island and perhaps some coral reefs -all to be done within less than two days.
Therefore, Nauru is left as a tragic and unrecognized monument to the results of capitalistic exploitation of natural ressources, in effect harming not only the environment, but also the people.
Sources:
http://www.nauru.de
http://www.janeresture.com/nauru_home/index.htm
http://www.usp.ac.fj/
E.v.Seydlitzsche Geographie, Handbuch der Geographie, 26. Bearbeitung, Breslau, Mai 1914
Der Fischer Weltalmanach 2003
