Since the Marshall Islands are so narrow, land control has always been an important issue. The Marshallese often entered into marriages for land or fought over land. Also, since the islands are so spread out, the Marshallese were very adept at building and navigating canoes.
The islands were named after John Marshall. He was an English sea captain who spotted several of the islands in the late 1700's. Other early sea-goers also saw or visited the islands. In 1525, a Spaniard names Alonso de Salazar became the first European to spot the islands. Also, the first detailed maps were drawn up by the Russian explorer Otto von Kotzebue in the early 1800's.
Also in the early 1800's, whalers and traders began to avoid the islands after several meetings with the islanders became violent and deadly. Often, scouting parties would not return to their ships. It is believed that some of the fighting was a result of the foreigners stealing the Marshallese women.
The first missionaries arrived in the late 1850's. They were tolerated by the chiefs and little hostility was shown.
Germany annexed the islands in 1885. The islands were run by the Jaluit Gesellschaft which was a powerful German trading company. The Germans did not place government officials on the islands until 1906.
The Japanese took control in 1914. They colonized the islands extensively and built large military bases.
During World War II, the islands fell into the hands of the United States. The Americans staged attacks on the islands and won them from the Japanese.
Once the U.S. had control of the islands (in 1946), it immediately began to experiment with atomic bombs on the islands. This atomic testing left many islanders dead from radiation poisoning. The U.S. even moved the islanders off of Bikini Atoll with the assurance that the islanders could return once the testing was completed. In 1970, the Bikinians were told that they could return to their home. However, they were removed again in 1978 when it was shown that they had accumulated high levels of radioactivity in their bodies. The U.S. is currently involved in a clean-up effort to make the island hospitable.
There are two documentary films on Bikini. They are Radio Bikini and Bikini: Forbidden Paradise.
