United Nations Trust Territories

Palau District Police greet the UN Visiting Mission to the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (1973)

United Nations trust territories were the successors of the remaining League of Nations mandates and came into being when the League of Nations ceased to exist in 1946. All of the trust territories were administered through the United Nations Trusteeship Council. The concept is distinct from a territory temporarily and directly governed by the United Nations.

The one League of Nation mandate not succeeded by a trust territory was South-West Africa, at South Africa's insistence. South Africa's apartheid regime refused to commit to preparing the territory for independence and majority rule, as required by the trust territory guidelines, among other objections. South-West Africa eventually gained independence in 1990 as Namibia.

All trust territories have either attained self-government or independence. The last was Palau, formerly part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, which became a member state of the United Nations in December 1994.

Trust territories (and administering powers)

UN trust territories by trustee

Modern successor states of UN trust territories

 Modern states composed solely of former trust territories

 Modern states composed partially of former trust territories

Former German Schutzgebiete

All these territories previously were League of Nations mandates.

• The Trust Territory of the Cameroons under French administration (French Cameroons): Achieved independence as the Republic of Cameroon in 1960.
• The Trust Territory of the Cameroons under British administration (British Cameroons): Somewhat smaller than the French Cameroons, this territory was administered in two parts (Northern Cameroons and Southern Cameroons). Following a plebiscite, Northern Cameroons became part of Nigeria in May 1961 and Southern Cameroons joined the Republic of Cameroon in October 1961.
• The Territory of New Guinea (Australia): The north-eastern section of this island had been a League of Nations mandate, the south-eastern section had been Australian before World War I; after World War II, the two were combined into a unified entity for administrative purposes, although the legal distinction between the Territory of Papua and the Territory of New Guinea was maintained. In 1975, the two entities were legally unified and granted independence as Papua New Guinea. The western half of the island, formerly Dutch and now part of Indonesia, was never part of either territory.
• The Trust Territory of Ruanda-Urundi (Belgium, effectively linked to the Belgian Congo): Separately gained independence in 1962 as Rwanda and Burundi.
• The Trust Territory of Tanganyika (United Kingdom): Granted independence in 1961. Federated with the former British protectorate Zanzibar in 1964 to form Tanzania.
• The Trust Territory of Togoland under French administration (French Togoland): Became independent as Togo in 1960.
• The Trust Territory of Togoland under British administration (British Togoland): This territory was merged in 1956 with the British colony of the Gold Coast, which was granted independence as Ghana in 1957.
• The Trust Territory of Western Samoa (New Zealand): Granted independence in 1962, known since 1997 simply as Samoa.

Former German and Japanese colonies

Arrival of UN Visiting Mission in Majuro, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (1978). The sign reads "Please release us from the bondage of your trusteeship agreement."

These territories were also former League of Nations mandates.

• The Trust Territory of Nauru (Australia (in effective administrative control), New Zealand and United Kingdom): Granted independence in 1968.
• The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (United States) split into:
  • The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (1978): Became an American commonwealth in 1986.
  • The Republic of the Marshall Islands (1979): Became an associated state of America after signing a Compact of Free Association in 1986.
  • The Federated States of Micronesia (1979): Became an associated state of America after signing a Compact of Free Association in 1986.
  • The Republic of Palau (1981): Became an associated state of America after signing and ratifying a Compact of Free Association going into effect in 1994.

Former Italian possessions

• The Trust Territory of Somaliland under Italian administration: Italy was appointed U.N. trustee of the former Italian Somaliland in 1950. In 1960, the Trust Territory merged with the former British Somaliland protectorate to form the Somali Republic (Somalia).

Proposed trust territories

• Korea: In wartime talks, Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed that Korea be placed under an American–Soviet trust administration. The plan was eclipsed after Roosevelt's death on 12 April 1945, although it was expressed in the December Moscow Conference, and caused considerable civil unrest in Korea.^[1]
• Italian Libya: Between 1945 and 1947 the Soviet Union made various proposals that Tripolitania be placed under Soviet trusteeship for ten years, or a joint trusteeship with the United Kingdom and the United States, or that Libya as a whole become an Italian trusteeship.^[2]
• Mandatory Palestine: United States government under Harry Truman proposed a UN trusteeship status for the Mandatory Palestine in 1948.^[3][4]
• Ryukyu Islands and Bonin Islands: the Treaty of San Francisco included provisions which provided the United States the right to convert its administration over the Ryukyu and Bonin Islands into a trust territory, but it never did so before sovereignty was voluntarily reverted to Japan.^[5]

References

Bibliography

• The United Nations and Decolonization: Trust Territories that Have Achieved Self-Determination
• WorldStatesmen – Index of Possessions and Colonies

External links

• Media related to United Nations Trust Territories at Wikimedia Commons