The Second World War in Wallis and Futuna was a period of significant upheaval for this French protectorate territory in the Pacific.

The islands were not the scene of fighting, but suffered complete isolation for seventeen months, from January 1, 1941 to May 27, 1942. Following France's surrender to Germany on June 22, 1940, Bishop Alexandre Poncet and French Resident Léon Vrignaud chose to remain loyal to the Vichy regime, while all the other French possessions in Oceania (New Hebrides, New Caledonia, French Oceania Establishments) joined the Free France; neighboring islands (Tonga, Western and American Samoa, Tokelau, Gilbert and Ellice Islands) are administered by Allied powers. Supplies ceased and distant French Indochina was unable to provide support. An initial recapture of Wallis and Futuna was ordered by General de Gaulle in February 1941, but was postponed when it became known to the residents. The Japanese advance in the Pacific and the entry into the war of the United States after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 8, 1941 changed the situation: the Pacific war broke out and Wallis became a strategic point for the Americans against Japan. The capture of Wallis was organized jointly by the Allies.

On May 27, 1942, the island of Wallis was taken over by the Free France and the American army the following day. The United States set up a military base on the island. In all, more than 4,000 American troops were stationed on Wallis, doubling the island's population. Numerous infrastructures were built, including an airfield, roads, a port and a hospital. The Americans also brought with them many material goods and money: Wallisians were discovering consumer society, and traditional religious and customary structures were undermined by these changes. The French authorities were also losing prestige in the face of American power. At first, the Americans had a rather negative view of the Wallisians, although relations improved over time; some women even had the children of American soldiers, much to the dismay of the Catholic mission, which sought to control the morals of the faithful. Futuna, on the other hand, is much more isolated, unoccupied by the Americans and largely unaffected by these changes. The Futunian population relies on subsistence farming to cope with the shortage of basic necessities.

By February 1944, Wallis' strategic importance had waned and the United States began repatriating its troops. By June 1944, only a dozen soldiers remained: the American dream came to an end, leaving Wallisian society in turmoil. An economic crisis began, as the population had to return to work on the plantations. The political authorities were also very weakened, and the following years were marked by great instability. In 1946, an American lieutenant even tried to claim annexation of Wallis by the United States, before the last troops left. During this period, Wallisians and Futunians began to emigrate to New Caledonia, a phenomenon that intensified after the war and led to the establishment of a large community in New Caledonia. The protectorate of Wallis and Futuna became less and less adapted to the new realities of the territory, and after a referendum in 1959, Wallis and Futuna became an overseas territory in 1961.

Geographical and historical context

Political, economic and social organization

The islands of Wallis and Futuna (and the neighboring island of Alofi) are located in Central Polynesia, in the Pacific Ocean. They had a population of around 6,775 in the late 1930s, including 2,000 on Futuna. Converted to Catholicism by French Marist missionaries in the 1840s, the islands came under French protection as the protectorate of Wallis and Futuna in 1888. Alongside the French administration (whose presence was limited to a and his chancellor) and the powerful Catholic mission, the islands were governed by customary kings : the Lavelua in Uvea (Wallis), and the Tu'i Sigave and Tu'i Agaifo in the two kingdoms of Futuna. However, from 1934 to 1941, the kingdom of Uvea no longer had a sovereign, and it was the customary prime minister (kalae kivalu) who had the highest role in the Wallisian chiefdom. Futuna is more isolated and independent of French administration.

The local Polynesian inhabitants (who make up the vast majority of the population) live from fishing and subsistence farming in a network of exchanges organized around gifts and counter-gifts, punctuated by major customary ceremonies. Copra exports were the only commercial activity on both islands, but collapsed in the 1930s due to a pest. The European presence was limited to the resident of France and his family, a chancellor, a few merchants and several missionaries.

Geographical situation The nearest islands are Tonga to the south (British protectorate from 1900 to 1970), Fiji (British colony from 1874 to 1970) to the southwest, and the Ellice Islands and Gilbert Islands (British protectorates from 1892 to the 1970s, now Tuvalu and Kiribati) to the north, Tokelau (British protectorate, included in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands in 1916) to the northeast, and Samoa to the east, divided between German Samoa (1900–1914), which came under New Zealand sovereignty in 1920, and American Samoa (1899–present). The French protectorate was thus surrounded by British and American possessions. The copra trade with Fiji and other British-influenced territories came to an end in the 1930s, and Wallis and Futuna turned more towards New Caledonia. In 1935, the creation of the apostolic vicariate of Wallis and Futuna further isolated the territory from the Anglo-Saxon world and brought it closer to Nouméa.

The closest French possessions are the New Hebrides (a Franco-British condominium from 1907 to 1980) and New Caledonia, a colony conquered in 1853 and made an overseas territory in 1944. The French establishments in Oceania (now French Polynesia), a colony from 1880 to 1946, are even further removed from Wallis and Futuna.

Wallis and Futuna, the last French Pacific territory loyal to Vichy On September 3, 1939, France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany, following the invasion of Poland: the start of the Second World War. After several months of "Phoney war", the Battle of France began on May 10, largely to the advantage of the Third Reich. Marshal Pétain became President of the Council on June 16, 1940, and called a halt to the fighting, while on June 18 General de Gaulle called for resistance against the enemy and created Free France from the United Kingdom.

Refusal of Free France

Following the armistice signed between France and Germany on June 22, 1940, the French territories in the Pacific rallied to General de Gaulle: the New Hebrides on July 20, 1940, the French establishments in Oceania n September 1 and New Caledonia on September 19. Henri Sautot, appointed governor of New Caledonia by de Gaulle, announced in October that Wallis and Futuna would come under his authority, but this was refused by Alexandre Poncet, bishop of Wallis and Futuna. Poncet was an anti-Republican and a staunch Petainist: he categorically refused to join the Free France. This position was shared by other Catholic bishops in the region.

Following the declaration of war in 1939, French resident Lamy left Wallis. His successor, Léon Vrignaud, arrived in Wallis in July 1940 and sought above all to preserve the territory's interests. A former resident of Port-Vila, he had witnessed the rallying of the New Hebrides and initially adopted a wait-and-see attitude. He had to reconcile the opposing positions of the Vichy mission and an influential merchant on the island, a supporter of General de Gaulle. He also wanted to obtain supplies as quickly as possible. Although it is impossible to determine whether he did so out of a concern for good relations with the bishop, or out of conviction, Vrignaud also refused to rally to the Free France. This position was passed on to Henri Sautot in early October 1941.

Historian Jean-Marc Regnault believes that the refusal of the Free France was essentially the work of the few Europeans resident on the island: the bishop, resident Vrignaud and chancellor Alexis Bernast, "without taking into account the opinion or interest of the local population". Regnault explains the bishop's categorical refusal: "For Catholic leaders, the problem of supplies is secondary to ideology. If the islanders lack imported products, they'll go back to farming and fishing". Moreover, a radio message sent from French Indochina on April 16, 1941 congratulated "the French of Wallis for having accepted famine rather than the flour they could easily have obtained from Nouméa if they had rallied to dissent".

While some Wallisian chiefs may have been sympathetic to General de Gaulle, "for the natives, France remained an abstraction, and the London-Vichy quarrels were of no concern to them", writes Regnault. The Wallisians' rallying to the Gaullist cause is therefore, for Regnault, a "legend".

Isolation Wallis and Futuna found themselves very isolated: the territory was the last French possession in the Pacific to remain loyal to the Vichy regime. Wallis became cut off from its neighbors (Tonga, Samoa, Fiji), who had joined the Allied camp. Telegraph communications between Futuna and Wallis were also cut off. No more ships landed on the island for 17 months from January 1, 1941, after the last Polynésien ship had passed through on December 27.

The only way to obtain supplies was to call on the French colonies in Asia (French Indochina), thousands of kilometers away; it was only after several months that a telegraph link was established, in March 1941. Bishop Alexandre Poncet then announced to Admiral Jean Decoux Wallis-et-Futuna's loyalty to the Vichy regime. The protectorate's financial situation was "disastrous" and the coffers were almost empty. The resident asked for a subsidy for 1941, which would enable him to buy supplies from the Americans in Samoa. Following repeated requests from Vichy, the Americans finally agreed in principle to this supply, before withdrawing after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which brought the United States into the war. Supplies of goods, gasoline and oil diminish.

In this context, religious commemorations are being held to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of Pierre Chanel, a missionary who came to evangelize Futuna in the 1840s.

Rally to Free France and installation of an American base

First reconquest projects

In early 1941, General de Gaulle ordered the reconquest of Wallis, fearing that the island would fall into German hands. The operation was approved by the general on February 22, 1941, but delayed for a year due to a leak of information (resident Vrignaud learned of the landing plans) and various technical problems.

On March 16, 1941, the Wallisian traditional chiefs elected the traditional prime minister (kivalu) Leone Matekitoga as Lavelua (King of Uvea). Because of the war, this information was not passed on to the Allied forces. For historian Jean-Marc Regnault, the re-establishment of customary kingship in Uvea (interrupted since 1934) was decided by the resident and the bishop to unite the Wallisian population around the Vichy regime – although the new king refused to swear an oath to Marshal Pétain.

The Pacific War and inter-allied negotiations