trust territory

 

system of UN control for territories that were not self-governing. It replaced the mandates of the League of Nations. Provided for under chapters 12 and 13 of the Charter of the United Nations, the trusteeship system was intended to promote the welfare of the native inhabitants and to advance them toward self-government. Trust territories were created out of former mandate territories of the League of Nations (with the exception of South West Africa, which remained under mandate until it achieved independence as Namibia in 1990) and former possessions of the Axis powers. Other dependent territories (colonies) remained outside the trusteeship system but came under the jurisdiction of chapter 11 of the Charter of the United Nations, obligating members responsible for dependencies to promote the welfare of their inhabitants.

The trusteeship system was supervised by the UN Trusteeship Council, members of the United Nations administering trust territories and an equal number of other member nations, including all permanent members of the Security Council not administering such territories. Each territory was governed by the provisions of a trusteeship agreement. Agreements covering nonstrategic areas were approved by the General Assembly and strategic areas were approved by the Security Council. Unlike territories under mandate, trusteeship territories could be fortified. The powers of the administering state included full legislative, administrative, and judicial authority and, in certain cases, the right to treat the territory as if it were part of the administering state. Each year the Trusteeship Council submitted to the responsible state a detailed questionnaire concerning each territory, with special emphasis on measures taken to increase self-government and educational opportunities. The council considered petitions from inhabitants of the territories and periodically made inspection tours. It met at least once a year and by majority vote (not subject to veto) adopted recommendations.

In 1949 the General Assembly, by virtue of the League of Nations mandate over Palestine, declared Jerusalem a trust territory under the administration of the whole United Nations. Because of the opposition of Israel and Jordan, the two occupying states, the implementation of this recommendation had to be postponed indefinitely. With the independence in 1994 of Palau (in free association with the United States), the self-governing status of all territories was established and the trusteeship agreements for those territories terminated. Of the earlier trusteeships, Italian Somaliland joined British Somaliland, becoming Somalia (1960); British Togoland joined Ghana (1956), and French Togoland became Togo (1960); French Cameroons became Cameroon (1960), joined by the southern British Cameroons (1961); and the northern British Cameroons joined Nigeria (1961). Tanganyika (now part of Tanzania) gained its independence in 1961, Samoa in 1962 (as Western Samoa, 1962–97), and Ruanda-Urundi became the states Rwanda and Burundi in 1962. Nauru became independent in 1968, New Guinea joined with Papua to become Papua New Guinea in 1975, and the Pacific Islands territory (Palau excepted) achieved commonwealth status (Northern Mariana Islands) or a independence under a compact of free association (Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia) with the United States in 1986.

Bibliography

See J. N. Murray, Jr., The United Nations Trusteeship System (1957); C. E. Toussaint, The Trusteeship System of the United Nations (1957); A. G. Mezerik, ed., Colonialism and the United Nations (1964).

United Nations Trust Territories were the successors of the remaining League of Nations mandates and came into being when the League of Nations ceased to exist in 1946. All of the trust territories were administered through the UN Trusteeship Council. The one territory not turned over was South West Africa, which South Africa insisted remained under the League of Nations Mandate, and which eventually gained independence in 1990 as Namibia. The main objection was that the trust territory guidelines required that the lands be prepared for independence and majority rule.

Trust territories (and administering powers)

Former German Schutzgebiete

• Cameroun (France) and Cameroons (United Kingdom): The French portion achieved independence as the Republic of Cameroon in 1960. The somewhat smaller British portion had been administered in two parts (Northern Cameroons and Southern Cameroons). Following a plebiscite, Northern Cameroons became part of Nigeria in May 1961 and Southern Cameroons joined the Republic of Cameroon in October 1961.
• New Guinea (Australia): The north-eastern section of this island had been a League of Nations mandate, the south-eastern section had been Australian before World War I; after World War II, the two were combined into a unified entity for administrative purposes, although the legal distinction between the Territory of Papua and the Territory of New Guinea was maintained. In 1975, the two entities were legally unified and granted independence as Papua New Guinea. The western half of the island, formerly Dutch and now part of Indonesia, was never part of either territory.
• Ruanda-Urundi (Belgium, effectively linked to the Belgian Congo): Separately gained independence in 1962 as Rwanda and Burundi.
• Tanganyika (United Kingdom): Granted independence in 1961. Federated with the former British (originally shortly German) protectorate Zanzibar in 1964 to form Tanzania.
• Togoland (United Kingdom and France): The French portion became independent as Togo in 1960. The much smaller British portion was merged in 1956 with the British colony of the Gold Coast, which was granted independence as Ghana in 1957.
• Western Samoa (New Zealand): Granted independence in 1962, now known simply as Samoa.

Former (German and/or) Japanese colonies

• Nauru (Australia (in effective administrative control), New Zealand and United Kingdom): Granted independence in 1968.
• Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (United States): Split into the Republic of the Marshall Islands (1979), the Federated States of Micronesia (1979), the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (1978) and the Republic of Palau (1981). With the exception of the Northern Mariana Islands, which is an American commonwealth, these are all Associated States of the United States.

Former Italian possessions

• Libya (Tripolitania and Cyrenaica administered by United Kingdom; Fezzan administered by France since 1946, cfr. Resident) till its independence as United Libyan Kingdom on 24 December 1951; only on 10 December 1949 a UN Commissioner was appointed for all Libya, Adrian Pelt (Netherlands; arrived in Tripoli 18 January 1950) to supervise the transition to independence as a single monarchy.
• Somalia (Italy): Granted independence and merged with former British Somaliland, in 1960.

Sources and References

(incomplete)

• WorldStatesmen- links to each present nation

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