page_title: World War II by country
section_title: Pacific Islands
hierarchical_section_title: World War II by country / Pacific Islands
caption_attribution_description: English: U.S. Navy Grumman F6F-3 Hellcats of Fighting Squadron 40 (VF-40) on the ground at Turtle Bay fighter strip on Espiritu Santo island in February 1944. In colonial New Hebrides (present day Vanuatu) during the Solomon Islands Campaign of WWII.
context_page_description: Almost every country in the world participated in World War II. Most were neutral at the beginning, but only a few nations remained neutral to the end. The Second World War pitted two alliances against each other, the Axis powers and the Allied powers; the U.S having served 16 million men, Germany serving 13 million, the Soviet Union serving 35 million and Japan serving 6 million. With millions serving in other countries, an estimated 300 million soldiers saw combat. A total of 72 million people died with the lowest estimate being 40 million dead and the highest estimate being 120 million dead. The leading Axis powers were Nazi Germany, the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Japan; while the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and China, were the "Big Four" Allied powers.
  The countries involved or affected by World War II are listed here alphabetically, with a description of their role in the conflict.
context_section_description: The population, culture and infrastructure of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia (the Pacific Islands) were completely changed between 1941 and 1945 due to the logistical requirements of the Allies in their war against Japan. At the start of the war the islands had experienced 200 years of colonialism from Europe and its colonies; some islands were on the verge of being fully annexed while others were close to independence. The early Japanese expansion through the western Pacific then introduced a new colonial system to many islands. The Japanese occupation subjected the indigenous people of Guam and other Islands to forced labor, family separation, incarceration, execution, concentration camps, and forced prostitution, but also created opportunities for advanced education.
  The Pacific Islands then experienced military action, massive troop movements, and resource extraction and building projects as the Allies pushed the Japanese back to their home islands. The juxtaposition of all these cultures led to a new understanding among the indigenous Pacific Islanders of their relationship with the colonial powers. In communities that had very little contact with Europeans before the war, the sudden arrival and rapid departure of men and machines spurred the growth of so-called "cargo cults" in parts of Melanesia, such as the cult of John Frum that emerged in the New Hebrides (modern Vanuatu).
caption: American Hellcats on Espiritu Santo island in February 1944.
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