History & Culture

Pre-History
Most linguistic and archaeological evidence indicates that the islands were first discovered and settled between two and three thousand years ago. The first settlers are often described as Austronesian speakers possessing horticultural skills and highly sophisticated maritime knowledge. These first settlers are thought to have migrated eastward from Southeast Asia to Yap. From there, some migrated south to Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and New Caledonia, and later to Kiribati and the Marshall Islands.

The question of Chuukese origin is still up in the air as historians, archaeologists and anthropologists don’t always agree on how the island came to be settled. However, most records indicate Malayo-Polynesian people from the Yap and Marshall island regions came to settle the lagoon in the first millennium. An advanced seafaring and fishing society flourished. Medicinal plants were used in society and celestial navigation was an integral part of life. Some segments of the society were also highly territorial and developed a form of martial arts that warriors used with great efficiency.
Chuuk was one of the last on the islands to be ruled and converted to Christianity. The Spanish and Germans tried governing the Chuuk islands until after WWI, when the islands became Japanese possessions and were heavily developed.


WWII War History
The taking of Chuuk was a strategic necessity. The U.S. and Allied forces had begun a push through the western and southern Pacific in 1943 and early 1944. If successful, the result would be a pincer movement that would push upward from Papua New Guinea and then east-to-west from Chuuk, culminating in the taking of Guam, the Marianas and the Philippines. This would provide the staging area for the movement into Japan and total defeat of the enemy. Americans simply had to fly in, neutralize the island, destroy shipping resources (thus isolating it), and then pass it by.

In the days prior to the attack, the destroyers, subs, cruisers and nine aircraft carriers of the U.S. Task Force 58 maneuvered into position. The battle plan was to neutralize the Japanese aircraft first, destroy supply facilities and then strike the helpless ships.

Two weeks earlier, a U.S. B-24 Liberator aircraft flew over Chuuk Lagoon at 20,000ft. Photos revealed that Japan’s strongest naval anchorage had one battleship, two carriers, 20 destroyers, 10 cruisers, 12 submarines and more than 50 merchant vessels at anchor. These ships were called the Japanese Combined Fleet under Admiral Koga, who took the super battleship Musashi as his flagship.
It was still dark the morning of February 17, 1944, when the Japanese detected a large group of planes approaching. Alert sounded and at sunrise, the Japanese were shocked. One hundred American planes descended on the lagoon. They were followed by nine more waves of planes, totaling 450. Japanese intelligence failed; they were completely overwhelmed by the onslaught of so many carrier-based planes. Seventy-seven Japanese planes scrambled to defend Chuuk, but 37 were lost before ever engaging in battle.

The results were devastating. Japanese attempts to find the carrier fleet and attack it were virtually useless. Runways and planes were destroyed on Eten, the main air base. Dauntlesses, Hellcats and Avenger torpedo bombers filled the skies and emptied their loads. By noon, the Japanese defenses were weakened considerably.

The raids continued against near-futile Japanese retaliation. The Americans staged a pre-dawn raid on February 18th and the attacks continued at dawn. No Japanese planes were mustered to counter because they were either damaged or unable to take off because the runways were filled with craters.

In two days, Chuuk was shaken and broken. Over four hundred planes were rendered useless, more than 50 ships were sunk or sinking, support and communications facilities were destroyed or in flames, and thousands of Japanese troops were left behind without food, support and very little ammunition. Casualties on land alone numbered around six hundred. American casualties numbered less than 30, as the U.S. submarine Tang rescued 28 downing airmen. Only 22 U.S. aircraft were lost.

Recent History
Japan began its formal administration under a League of Nations mandate in 1920. World War II brought an abrupt end to the relative prosperity experienced during Japanese civil administration. The United Nations created the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) in 1947. Pohnpei (formerly Ponape), Kosrae (formerly Kusaie, and at the time a part of Pohnpei), Chuuk (formerly Truk), Yap, Palau, the Marshall Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands, together constituted the TTPI. The United States accepted the role of Trustee of this, the only United Nations Trusteeship to be designated as a "Security Trusteeship," whose ultimate disposition was to be determined by the UN Security Council. As Trustee the US was to "promote the economic advancement and self-sufficiency of the inhabitants."

After two decades, the FSM was formed. Upon implementation of the FSM Constitution, the US recognized the establishment of the FSM national and state governments. The FSM, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau each negotiated a Compact of Free Association with the United States. The Compact was signed on October 1, 1982 and approved by voters in the FSM in 1983. After approval by the U.S. Congress, the Compact entered into force on November 3, 1986.
On September 17, 1991, the FSM became a member of the United Nations.

Legends - The Trukese Love Stick
In past years, an island man would carve his personal notches on the lovestick and let his would-be sweethearts feel it. At night, lovestick in hand, he would kneel beside the thatch wall opposite where a girl lay sleeping, poke the stick through the wall and entangle her long hair, hopefully awakening her without arousing her family. The silent language of the lovestick began when the girl put her fingers around the shaft's notches and identified the owner.