Prior to the first World War, European empires were at the top of their game. The British’s various colonies, with their intricate mercantile trade network spanning both the Old and New World as well as the Spaniard’s various extraction operations in the Americas, often come to mind. However, one of the most forgotten players in this worldwide scramble was the German Empire.
Under the leadership of Otto von Bismarck, the Germans obtained several colonies in not only Africa, but also the Pacific. Among these claims in the Pacific, was the northern region of what is now Papua New Guinea. Along with this holding, the colony also included the nearby island of Boguanville, which was later incorporated into German New Guinea proper.
For a long while, Boguanville was left to its own devices, as its occupiers saw little purpose in maintaining a small island so far away from the mainland. As a result, the community within it was relatively undisturbed
This all changed during the first World War, when Australia, a British protectorate at the time, conquered Papua New Guinea and its surrounding territories from the Germans in 1914. Following the war, the British obtained a mandate from the U.N. allowing Australia, which was still their colony at the time, to govern the country under direct administration.
Under this governance, Bouganville continued to maintain the same degree of autonomy it had enjoyed during German rule, up until it was invaded by the Japanese in the second World War. During the occupation, the island morphed into a logistics hub for the Pacific Theater, thanks in part to the rapid construction of military infrastructure on the island by their new colonizers. After the recapturing of the island by Allied forces in 1945, Bouganville served the same instrumental purpose, though, under a different flag.
That September, the war ended, officially resuming Australian administration in the territory. With its strategic importance minimized, the government sought new ways to keep the island relevant to the British crown. Eventually, it was decided that the land would be surveyed for resource deposits, as the Commonwealth itself was in desperate need of materials which could aid the post-war reconstruction effort. From this survey, expeditionaries found that the island contained a monumental wealth of copper and gold reserves, culminating in the creation of Bougainville Copper Limited mining company and construction of the Panguna Mine, the world’s largest open pit mine at the time.
In 1975, Papua New Guinea, which included the island of Boguanville, declared independence from the British. Islanders, furious with the lack of independence from this new regime, called for secession, doing so shortly after. This new self-declared republic, however, failed to gain international recognition. In the latter half of the 1980s, a civil war ensued between Papua New Guinea’s and rebel forces, resulting in tens of thousands of casualties and the closure of the Panguna Mine as per the Bougainville Peace Agreement which was signed in 2001, ending the conflict.
The post-conflict period has been surprisingly peaceful on the island, resulting in a higher degree of governmental autonomy from Papua New Guinea, and the ascension of its first democratically-elected president of the autonomous region, Joseph Kabui, into office in 2005.
Following the end of Kabui’s second five-year term in 2015, a second president, John Momis, was elected to office, marking the first peaceful transition of power in the region since its administration by the Australian government.
In 2020, Morris and his government passed an independence referendum for the island by a 97.7% majority, so Boguanville is expected to separate from Papua New Guinea some time in the mid-2020’s.
