Bougainville, by Robert A. M. Stephens


The island that would later be called Bougainville was first sighted in 1768 by the French explorer Louis de Bougainville who gave the island its name. The German New Guinea Company as a part of their holdings that included the islands of New Guinea, New Britain, New Ireland and all of the Solomon Islands later annexed the island.

By agreement of 1899 between Germany and Great Britain, Bougainville was separated from the other Solomon Islands and remained under German control while the Solomon Islands went to Great Britain. Bougainvilleans objected to their separation from the Solomon Islands. At the beginning of WW I in 1914 Bougainville was occupied by Australian and after the defeat of Germany, the German territories, collectively called New Guinea, became Mandate territories of the League of Nations and, in 1920, were placed under Australian administration. During WW II Bougainville was the scene of fierce fighting. The Japanese occupied the island early in 1942. US troops had overtaken the island of Bougainville by March 1944. After the war, Bougainville was again put under Australian administration, this time as a United Nations Trust territory.

In 1960, Australian geologists found copper in Naisioi land, Bougainville. The transnational company Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL), a joint venture of the Australian based companies Conzinc Rio Tinto and Broken Hill Corporation, began prospecting in 1963. No environmental impact study was carried out. In 1968 elections were held throughout Papua New Guinea. Bougainville called for a referendum on secession, but the Papua New Guinea government did not honour this request. Self-government was given to Papua New Guinea on December 1973 and full independence from Australia on September 1975. On the first of December 1975, two weeks before Papua New Guinea gained its independence; Bougainville unilaterally declared its independence emphasising its wish to remain separate from the new state of Papua New Guinea. Bougainville appealed to the United Nations, but without success. A year later, negotiations with the Papua New Guinea government resulted in an agreement for limited autonomy as a province of Papua New Guinea. Bougainville was to have its own Provincial government. Many people complained that the people did not democratically elect the Bougainvilleans on the delegation that signed the 1976 agreement.

Done in Carrara, Bryce 3D, RenderMan.

In the Collection of Ted Turner.

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