ABOUT SAIPAN

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THE GERMAN PERIOD (1899 to 1914)
The islands were sold by Spain to Germany in 1899 and so remained under the German flag until the start of World War I in 1914 when the Japanese moved against the German administration in the islands and forced them out. Defeated Germany was stripped of all overseas possessions at the end of the war in 1919. The Mariana Islands were turned over to the newly created League of Nations to be administered as the Japanese Mandated Territory. Japan had become an ally of the United States, Great Britain and France shortly before the end of the war and was named as this Pacific area's administering authority. By 1919 the islands were being administered by Japan as a mandate under the League of Nations.