Bikini Atoll - Recent History

Recent History

During World War I, many of these German possessions were conquered by Japan, an ally of the British Empire at the time, and would remain under the control of the Japanese Empire as the South Pacific Mandate under the League of Nations until after World War II when the United States took control.

Along with the rest of the Marshalls, Bikini was captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1914 during World War I and mandated to the Empire of Japan by the League of Nations in 1920. The Japanese administered the island under the South Pacific Mandate, but mostly left local affairs in hands of traditional local leaders until the start of World War II.

Following the end of World War II, Bikini came under the control of the United States as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands until the independence of the Marshall Islands in 1986.