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Example research essay topic: World War Ii Pacific Islanders - 1,165 words

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World War II came without warning or invitation for the people of the South Pacific and brought issues that few understood. The war became a period of excitement, hardship, and at the same time, of material abundance. Their islands, the place they called their homes, were abruptly exposed and used as never before to new outside influences and by uninvited guests. "Their harbours were used by fleets of warships, while onshore bases were built to house troops, and landing fields were constructed to service a suddenly created aircraft traffic, " (Howe 156). Pacific Islanders were for the most part, observers of the war and the turmoil it generated, rather than constituents. Although there were a number of them who were actively and directly entangled and played crucial roles, there are still very few published accounts of Pacific Islanders camaraderie in the war. Their involvement had gradually disappeared over the years in the record books, as so did their island paradise.

World War II cast a dark shadow in the South Pacific. The Islanders were in no doubt victims of the war, mere bystanders, innocent, and oblivious to the outside world before the invasion. It was a terrible and untamed place to fight a war. The South Pacific was home for a population that was quite large considering the lack of towns and economic development during that time. "There were perhaps 2. 5 million people living in New Guinea and the Solomons during World War II, " (Bergerud 104). Much of the Solomons was concealed paradise, although colonized for centuries before. Large areas of the inland mountains of New Guinea had no or little direct organized contact with the Western world whatsoever, until the war.

The population consisted of scores of linguistic and ethnic groups that possessed markedly different cultures in numerous ways. "A coastal villager from the Solomons might well speak English, read the Bible, and periodically work at a nearby coconut plantation. [While] a hill tribesman in the Stirling Mountains might carry a shrunken head, practice cannibalism, or engage in periodic genocidal wars against neighbors, " (Bergerud 105). There were thousands of different practices, of cultures, of diversity in languages, in religion and of beliefs. The early stages of the war touched a small percentage of the indigenous population, those who were swept up in the conflict, played vital roles. In the Marshalls, whole villages were swept for all adult males, who were then shipped from atoll to atoll to help fight in the war. With some few exceptions, some had a personal stake in the war and were concerned of the outcome it would bring to the islands. There were areas where people were barely aware that war was even taking place.

There were many who could have cared less if the Japanese came, or if the Americans left, or if the Japanese left, and the Americans came. The fighting that emitted in the Pacific spewed from the Japanese raid on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941 and infringed heavily on the Pacific Islands. At that time the Japanese were an invincible force, moving, invading island to island victory to victory. "The battle lines were clearly drawn and provided a basis on which Pacific Islanders could be classified according to the way they would experience the war, " (Howe 154). Some of the natives lived within the Japanese occupied territories, while some, luckily, were out of arms way.

Those who did were destined to difficult times while their islands were turned into battlefields. Almost everywhere the Japanese came, they found lush realms, with snow-white beaches, frond hunts, coconut palms, and dark-skinned people who wore sarongs, grass skirts or loincloths. The invaders made themselves at home and settled in with the Islanders. Many local Japanese officers tried to establish good relationships with the indigenous people and often succeeded in winning their trusts. The men went fishing in the lagoons or streams; they climbed palm trees to gathered coconuts, and exchanged cigarettes and canned goods with the Islanders for fresh fruits like bananas, papayas, and mangoes. "Until the shipping lanes were cut off in late 1943, vessels from Japan regularly brought news, letters, movies, dancers, singers, and packages filled with snacks and other amenities, " (Steinberg 8). There were also comfort women, prostitutes, who volunteered their services in the battle zones to help ease the tensions of the troops.

The war gave the Islanders opportunities to obtain imported goods, by working for money, receiving gifts and fraternizing with not only the Japanese but also with the Americans. The Japanese, aggravated with numerous losses of battles to the Allies, began mistreating the Islanders. Gradually, as the war increased pressures on the Japanese military, their hostility also grew towards the natives. The Islanders soon began to acknowledge the inequality and harshness they received from the Japanese and many started to welcome the Americans and the Allied troops with open arms. When the Japanese understood the labor supply nightmare they had initiated, they reacted with unsympathetic labor-conscription measures that made the villagers more fearful and distrustful of them. "To make matters worse, when the Japanese retreated, they murdered scores of laborers who might have gathered important military information, " (Bergerud 109).

For these reasons, the natives began to side with the United States and their Allies. Additionally, they were impressed with the Americans kindness and generosity towards them and were grateful for liberating them from the Japanese rule. However, there was more to the war than many people perceive. The harsh climate and terrain in the South Pacific was a guarantee that the men faced an extraordinary task. Yet it was not the terrain and climate alone that made the Pacific Islands the most horrible battlefield of World War II. "It was also the breeding ground for diseases so numerous, pernicious, and debilitating that they pushed three armies to the breaking point, " (Bergerud 89).

It was the primary killer during both world wars. Realizing this, all of the major armies fighting in World War II had a major medical apparatus and allocated substantial resources to educating troops in reducing diseases. Many of the men came down with malaria the worst medical problem throughout the South Pacific during the nineteenth century. Malaria is caused by a parasite transmitted through the bite of the female anopheles mosquito.

To make it worst, mosquitoes were everywhere, coming in clouds during the tropical nights. Once in the blood, the parasites travel to the liver and begin to reproduce asexually. Malaria can kill, but more commonly at that time, it caused a high and prolonged fever, making fighting difficult. There was no known cure for malaria and there was no alternative to enduring the attacks. All soldiers were inoculated against yellow fever knowing that the climate in the South Pacific was home to a bewildering host of microorganisms. However, the environment that allowed the diseases to flourish in the first place made prevention and team...


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Research essay sample on World War Ii Pacific Islanders

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