A Brief History of the Tongan Military from the Late Nineteenth Century to the Present
Hanlon, David
University of Hawai'i at Manoa
2019
124
M.A.
University of Hawai'i at Manoa
2019
This thesis focuses on the origins of the modern Tongan Military from the establishment of the Tongan monarchy in 1875 to the Military's most recent engagements into the 21st Century. This thesis offers an overview of the existing literature on Tongan history and military as well as an overview of contemporary literature that critiques militarization in the Pacific. Through a historical and critical lens, I examine the Tongan Military's participation in WWI, WWII, the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the quelling of the 2006 Democracy Riots. Chapter one focuses on the establishment of Tonga as a British Protectorate, chapter two offers an account of Tonga's involvement in WWI, chapter three extends this account with an exploration of WWII, and chapter four offers a look at more contemporary engagements of the Tongan Military. By tracing the country's military, this thesis centers on exploring two main questions: for whom is the Tongan military fighting, and what impacts does Tongan participation in foreign military campaigns have on the island kingdom's sovereignty?