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The First Battle of Guam was an engagement during the Pacific War in World War II, and took place on 8 December 1941 on Guam in the Mariana Islands between the Empire of Japan and the United States. The American garrison was defeated by Japanese forces, which resulted in an occupation until the Second Battle of Guam in 1944. ==Background== Guam is the southernmost part of the Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It is the largest of the islands, with an area of 225 square miles. Guam's interior is rugged, with heavy tropical forest in the north of the island and wooded hills in the south. Much of the island's coastline is edged with coral reefs and cliffs, though beaches suitable for landing troops exist in the center of the west coast.〔Rottman (2004), p. 14〕 Guam has a tropical climate, though December forms part of the dry season.〔Rottman (2004), p. 13〕 The United States captured Guam from the Kingdom of Spain on 21 June 1898 during the Spanish–American War.〔 The next year Spain sold the other islands in the Marianas chain to Germany.〔Rottman (2004), p. 12〕 The United States Navy established a facility near the village of Piti on Guam in 1899, and the United States Marine Corps (USMC) opened a barracks at Sumay in 1901. A naval coaling station was established on the island in 1905, and a battery of six guns was emplaced to strengthen Guam's defenses in 1909. A U.S. Navy captain served as both the Governor and commander of the naval base from 1899 onwards, though there were some elements of a civilian government on the island.〔 During World War I, Japanese forces captured the German islands in the Marianas during October 1914 and established a garrison which was designated the South Seas Defense Force. Japan gained a mandate over the islands from the League of Nations in December 1920, and they were administered by the South Seas Bureau which formed part of the Ministry of Overseas Affairs. Japanese colonists were permitted to settle in the Marianas, and by the late 1930s there were more colonists than natives in the Japanese islands.〔Rottman (2004), p. 12〕 In 1935 the Japanese Government banned westerners from entering its mandated islands in the Pacific, and in 1939 established the 4th Fleet to defend the region.〔Rottman (2004), pp. 12–13〕 While the United States considered increasing Guam's defenses during and after World War I, no action was taken other than to deploy a USMC seaplane unit to the island in 1921. The outcomes of the 1922 Washington Naval Conference included an agreement by both the United States and Japanese governments that they would not fortify the islands they administered in the western Pacific, including the Marianas. As a result, no further improvements were made to Guam's defenses during the 1920s and 1930s, and the island's coastal artillery battery was removed by 1930. The USMC seaplane unit also departed the next year.〔 The Navy sought permission to build fortifications on the island in 1938, but this proposal was rejected.〔 In 1941 Guam had a population of 23,394, most of whom lived in or within of the island's capital of Agana. The island had about of improved roads and Apra Harbor was considered the best in the Marianas, but did not have an airfield.〔Rottman (2004), p. 15〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Guam (1941)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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