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hamutaro t1_ixpysp5 wrote

They were pretty much the successor to the post-World War 1 era mandates created by the League of Nations - which placed ex-German and Ottoman colonies under the administration of one of the Entente powers (which is why you might occasionally hear terms like "Mandatory Palestine"). After World War 2, when the League of Nations disappeared and the UN took its place, the remaining League mandates were placed under UN oversight and renamed to "UN Trust Territories."

Also, while it's only hinted at in the article, Nauru was a part of one of those post-WW1 League mandates so the bit about it becoming UN Trust Territory after WW2 isn't really all that special.

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