A series of events begin in Papeete, capital of French Polynesia, on September 22nd 2014 to remember the First World War in the Pacific.
The date marks the centenary of Papeete’s bombardment by the German Navy in 1914.
The 100th anniversary of the raid will launch commemorations, including exhibitions and educational projects, aimed at raising public awareness of this forgotten front in a global war.
The Pacific Ocean was the scene of some of the earliest naval clashes of the Great War between the Germans and the allied powers.
Papeete, on the island of Tahiti, was attacked by the German cruisers, Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, on September 22nd 1914.
The Imperial Germany Navy’s East Asia Squadron operated from colonial bases in China and the Pacific Islands but found itself outnumbered by the allies, who had the support of the increasingly powerful Japanese Navy.
Admiral von Spee’s warships defeated the Royal Navy at the Battle of Coronel, off Chile, in November 1914. A month later, most were sunk by the British off the Falkland Islands while trying to sail home across the Atlantic.
Source: Ville de Papeete
Image: Wikipedia/public domain
Posted by: Peter Alhadeff, Centenary News