Redrawing Spheres of Influence in the Pacific Map, 1922

World War One saw the victorious Allies in a position to reallocate the ownership of German colonies amongst themselves. The Germans had actually been very aggressive in seizing colonies in the Pacific region in the decades leading up to World War One. These had been taken by British and Imperial forces with the help of their Japanese allies further North. After the war, the Australians were actually quite put out by Britain's position to award the German colonies North of the Equator to Japan to thank them for their support. Otherwise, the Australians and New Zealand Dominions actually took control of their own colonies in a case of colonies having colonies of their own. This map shows how these spheres were to be organised within a British Empire where the mother country was keen to share out the responsibility and costs of administering colonies.