This thesis examines the development of relations between mainland France (center) and its peripheries, French Polynesia and New Caledonia, which are located in the South Pacific. The thesis aims at answering the following questions: which factors have played a role in the mobilization of the peripheral cultures against the dominant center? How has the center reacted to the peripheral mobilization and its demands? Why has the separatism become much stronger in New Caledonia than in French Polynesia? The thesis examines the historical, societal and political developments in French Polynesia and New Caledonia since the dawn of their colonization till the present day in order to respond to the stipulated questions.