Colonisation and World Wars In 1884,
Germany formally took possession of the northeast quarter of the island and it became known as
German New Guinea. In 1884, a British protectorate was proclaimed over Papua – the southern coast of New Guinea. The protectorate, called
British New Guinea, was annexed outright on 4 September 1888 and possession passed to the newly federated
Commonwealth of Australia in 1902 and British New Guinea became the Australian
Territory of Papua, with Australian administration beginning in 1906. At the 1919
Paris Peace Conference following the war, Australian Prime Minister
Billy Hughes sought to secure possession of New Guinea from the defeated German Empire: telling the Conference: "Strategically the northern islands (such as New Guinea) encompass Australia like fortresses. They are as necessary to Australia as water to a city." Article 22 of the
Treaty of Versailles provided for the division of Germany and the
Central Powers' imperial possessions among the victorious
Allies of World War I and German New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago and Nauru were assigned to Australia as
League of Nations Mandates: territories "formerly governed [by the Central Powers] and which are inhabited by peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world". Shortly after the start of the
Pacific War, the island of New Guinea was invaded by the Japanese. Most of
West Papua, at that time known as
Dutch New Guinea, was occupied, as were large parts of the Territory of New Guinea. The
New Guinea campaign was a major campaign of the Pacific War. In all, some 200,000 Japanese soldiers, sailors and airmen died during the campaign against approximately 7,000 Australian and 7,000 American service personnel. Major battles included the
Battle of Kokoda Trail,
Battle of Buna-Gona and
Battle of Milne Bay. The offensives in Papua and New Guinea of 1943–44 were the single largest series of connected operations ever mounted by the Australian armed forces. Bitter fighting continued in New Guinea between the Allies and the Japanese
18th Army based in New Guinea until the
Japanese surrender in 1945. ==Establishment of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea==