Five prior colonial powers, in turn, controlled parts of Micronesia through the centuries.  Spain, Germany, and Japan were forced out in wars, whereas Britain and Austria left voluntarily. 

     In 1898 The Spanish-American war shattered Spain's colonial empire.  The United States annexed Guam and the Philippines.  The Japanese took control of the northern Marinas and much of the Central Pacific. 

     During the start of WWII Japan took Guam from the United States.  In 1944 we retook the islands of Micronesia from the Japanese.  After the war the United States administered the area.

     Today Guam remains an US territory; the Northern Marianas are a part of the American Commonwealth; and the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau, although independent--by "Compacts of Free Association"--have a special relationship to the United States continues to provide certain services and controls security in these "Freely Associated States" (FAS).