157:
114:
333:. The war was still going on, although by this time it appeared that many of the islanders had had enough. Through his conversations with the natives, Moss noted that none of them wished to continue fighting, but no tribal group trusted the others to lay down their arms if it did so first. They wished for universal disarmament of the island. Moss received another report from Harris, who still lived on the island. Harris said that two of his family members had already been shot and that he wished a
354:
632:
274:, one of the attendees fired a pistol and fatally shot the son of a clan chief. In the context of Nauruan culture, the obligation to avenge the man's death was considered unequivocal. Former feuds had their origins in similar incidents; however, this incident was the first recorded example following the introduction of firearms that had become commonplace. The conflict saw the island divided into a north and a south.
388:. German authorities declared that unless all firearms and munitions were turned over to the German government in one day, the chiefs would be executed; the next morning, the natives of the island turned over 765 weapons and several thousand rounds of ammunition, ending the bloodiest tribal war in Nauruan history.
369:
plantations and other agricultural enterprises. Because the political instability affected the German holdings directly, German authorities recommended that
Germany take over the administration of the island. Germany annexed the island on April 16, 1888, banning both alcohol and firearms. On October
498:
The conflict, which was fuelled by equal parts locally-made palm wine and
European armaments, broke out during a wedding feast on the three-kilometre-wide island in 1878. A disagreement between two guests over the finer points of dining etiquette grew hostile, at which point one of the debaters
209:
intervened by restoring Aweida to the throne and confiscating combatants' firearms; by the time they finished, the German soldiers had confiscated 791 rifles from both belligerents, nearly one gun for every remaining living adult inhabitant of the island. By historical estimates, Nauru had a
448:
He described how two factions battled ceaselessly for control — one group was headed by Aweida, the king of the island. The other was an opposing rebel clan led by a white chief who claimed the throne for himself. The
British fleet noted the situation, took Harris aboard and sailed
499:
produced a pistol and began blazing away. A stray bullet struck the son of a clan chief killing him. The island's factions, who were already nursing old grudges, used the occasion to attack one another. The fighting escalated from there.
346:
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202:, as a whole. For the majority of the war, the loyalists and the rebels found themselves in a stalemate, with one side controlling the northern and the other the southern part of the island.
40:
380:, with 87 men, anchored off the coast of Nauru. The armed German seamen met with Harris and returned with the first European settlers, as well as a Christian missionary from the
1086:
396:
The annexation of Nauru by the German Empire brought about a lasting ceasefire. After the annexation, King Aweida nominally retook the throne, and Nauru became part of
241:. Nevertheless, in the 19th century, the immigration of Europeans, often lawbreakers, steadily increased. Traditional life had been disrupted by the introduction of
286:
anchored off the coast of Nauru on
September 21, 1881, and the squadron's flagship approached the island, to appraise the local situation. An
325:. He reported that the inhabitants of Nauru were friendly and of good humor, although most of the boys and all of the men were armed with
529:
This pervasive influence ended, in 1878, with a full scale war which broke out between the people of the
Northern and Southern districts.
384:. The next morning saw the arrest of the remaining tribal chiefs and the German annexation ceremony, complete with the hoisting of the
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365:
The war helped neither the island's copra production nor the interests and security of the German merchants, who had established
566:
213:
Having effectively been put under German control with the civil war's ceasefire, Nauru was shortly thereafter annexed into the
270:
The conflict began during a marriage festival following a verbal altercation regarding tradition. While discussing a point of
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that evening, saying that a tribal war was raging, that all of the islanders were drunk, that the actual king of the island,
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and those seeking to depose him in favour of a rival claimant. The war was preceded by the introduction of
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Photo of a
Nauruan warrior in the Nauruan Civil War around 1880 wearing traditional battle armour.
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population of approximately 1,400 in 1848; by the end of war, there were about 900 inhabitants.
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in 1798, the island had been avoided by sailors, due to its notoriety as a station for
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Nauruan population reduced from 1400 to 900, a 36% decrease in the population.
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The
Nauruans: Nature and Supernature in an Island of the Central Pacific
302:, wished to have missionaries come to the island to help stop the war.
294:, boarded the British ship, which summoned the rest of the squadron by
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was fought from 1878 to 1888, between forces loyal to incumbent King
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Wars of succession involving the states and peoples of
Oceania
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234:
191:
467:. U.S. Department of State. March 13, 2012. Archived from
433:"The Nauru War - The Smallest Armed Conflict in History"
321:
landing on Nauru while his ship was being reloaded with
253:
unknown to
Nauruans, although the Nauruans had consumed
340:
1087:
Civil wars involving the states and peoples of
Oceania
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would come to the island to restore peace once again.
540:
Military History – The Smallest Conflict in History
483:"The Nauru War - The Smallest Conflict in History"
504:
1078:
349:Annexation ceremony in Nauru on October 3, 1888
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425:
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38:
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352:
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14:
1079:
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341:German annexation and end of the war
309:-dwelling British sea captain named
198:to the island and its inhabitants,
24:
574:
25:
1138:
1022:Nauru Regional Processing Centre
630:
155:
112:
511:Petit-Skinner, Solange (1981).
1092:Civil wars of the 19th century
475:
277:
13:
1:
517:. MacDuff Press. p. 29.
415:
224:
27:Civil war in Nauru, 1878–1888
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257:for several thousand years.
84:Nauru is annexed as part of
7:
403:
370:1 of that year, the German
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74:Loyalist and German victory
10:
1143:
908:Effects of mining in Nauru
282:A squadron of the British
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816:
755:
672:
649:
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229:When the British captain
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129:
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48:
37:
32:
465:"Background Note: Nauru"
1127:Wars involving Germany
1027:Nauru Secondary School
487:MilitaryHistoryNow.com
437:MilitaryHistoryNow.com
362:
350:
215:German colonial empire
142:Unknown rival claimant
130:Commanders and leaders
356:
348:
171:Casualties and losses
1102:Wars involving Nauru
471:on October 17, 2012.
305:Six years later, an
961:Indigenous religion
664:Navigational system
616:Japanese occupation
290:local beachcomber,
56:1878 – October 1888
915:Telecommunications
606:Colonial governors
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125:Anti-Aweida rebels
18:Nauruan Tribal War
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867:Political parties
840:Foreign relations
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621:COVID-19 pandemic
398:German New Guinea
335:Christian mission
219:German New Guinea
184:Nauruan Civil War
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86:German New Guinea
33:Nauruan Civil War
16:(Redirected from
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976:Nauruan language
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903:Phosphate mining
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857:Pacific Solution
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410:History of Nauru
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292:William Harris
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217:, as part of
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207:German Empire
205:In 1888, the
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120:German Empire
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90:German Empire
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60:
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55:
52:
51:
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41:
36:
31:
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956:Demographics
845:Human rights
830:Constitution
600:
528:
513:
506:
497:
491:. Retrieved
489:. 2013-02-18
486:
477:
469:the original
447:
441:. Retrieved
439:. 2013-02-18
436:
395:
376:
364:
358:
318:
313:came in his
304:
288:acculturated
281:
269:
249:, a form of
228:
212:
204:
183:
181:
100:Belligerents
757:Settlements
386:German flag
278:War reports
79:Territorial
1081:Categories
862:Parliament
717:Denigomodu
596:Head Chief
493:2022-01-03
443:2019-08-05
416:References
284:Royal Navy
231:John Fearn
225:Background
1010:Landmarks
946:Angam Day
920:Transport
898:Companies
872:President
835:Elections
674:Districts
642:Geography
601:Civil War
392:Aftermath
296:semaphore
272:etiquette
255:palm wine
152:Loyalists
109:loyalists
1066:Category
818:Politics
580:articles
404:See also
331:carbines
315:schooner
307:Auckland
266:Outbreak
261:Timeline
243:firearms
233:came to
200:Nauruans
196:firearms
162:SMS Eber
139:of Nauru
61:Location
1050:Outline
1001:Tourism
986:Obesity
951:Culture
934:Society
886:Economy
795:Ubenide
697:Anibare
588:History
372:gunboat
361:in 1887
319:Buster,
247:spirits
239:pirates
88:by the
81:changes
790:Meneng
775:Anetan
770:Anabar
732:Meneng
702:Baitsi
692:Anetan
687:Anabar
654:Canals
578:
521:
327:rifles
317:, the
300:Aweida
188:Aweida
166:Rebels
137:Aweida
122:(1888)
117:
107:Aweida
71:Result
1057:Index
996:Sport
981:Music
800:Yaren
785:Buada
747:Yaren
742:Uaboe
737:Nibok
712:Buada
576:Nauru
449:away.
367:cacao
323:copra
235:Nauru
192:Nauru
135:King
105:King
65:Nauru
850:LGBT
765:Aiwo
727:Ijuw
682:Aiwo
519:ISBN
377:Eber
375:SMS
359:Eber
357:SMS
329:and
245:and
182:The
53:Date
780:Boe
722:Ewa
707:Boe
190:of
1083::
527:.
496:.
485:.
456:^
446:.
435:.
424:^
400:.
221:.
568:e
561:t
554:v
20:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
