Edge of Empire. The German Period in the Mariana Islands 1899–1914

Imperial Germany’s colonial experience in Micronesia was only brief, but left a lasting impact on the communities it ruled. During a fifteen year period, between the Spanish American War of 1898 and the early days of World War I in October 1914, a handful of German colonial administrators initiated educational, economic and social policies that were to have a significant impact on the Northern Mariana Islands. Compulsory schooling with instruction in Chamorro and Carolinian, private land ownership limited to Chamorro and Carolinians (excluding even Germans!), homesteading programs and environmental protection are only some of the German initiatives that were both innovative and unique though the colonial Pacific.Edge of Empire is an in-depth study of Germany’s colonial rule in the Northern Mariana Islands. Drawing upon an extensive body of German colonial records, the book thoroughly examines the various facets of the legacy of this brief but significant chapter in the history of the Northern Mariana Islands