ADDENDUM Prior to WWI, Germany assumed a "protectorate" over the Marshalls. The Germans developed Eniwetok economically with the introduction and cultivation of coconut, arrowroot, and monitor lizards. At the outbreak of WW I Japan seized the Atoll; Japan subsequently received a League of Nations mandate to control the Marshalls upon Germany's surrender. By 1943, the Japanese had secretly developed Eniwetok into a well fortified complex. An airstrip on Engebi was built and used as an important fighter staging point during WW II. The capture of Eniwetok, as the third phase in the Central Pacific Offensive of 1943-44, was approved by Roosevelt and Churchill in early 1943. The battle began on February 17; victory was achieved on February 20, 1944. At the time of its capture, Engebi was reported to have been more thoroughly pulverized by heavy bombardment than any other objective captured by an Allied amphibious force in 1944, All coconut trees and most vegetation had been obliterated by landing time. At the war's conclusion the U. S. was granted a United Nation's Trusteeship for the Marshalls. In 1946, when the AEC decided to conduct a major atomic testing program at Eniwetok, the 136 natives on Eniwetok were resettled on Ujelang Atoll, 150 miles to the southeast. Between 1946 and 1958 more than 30 nuclear tests were conducted at Eniwetok. Soon after the valuntary nuclear test moratorium went into effect (November 1, 1958), Eniwetok Atoll became an impact and scoring area for ICBMs launched from Vandenberg AFB.. Since 1969 the Atoll has not functioned as an impact area and only a few minor test programs have been conducted. The most notable were two beryllium rocket tests between 1966 and 1969 on the Island of Engebi.