History of New Zealand

 

 

DISCOVERY OF NEW ZEALAND

 

It is believed that New Zealand was settled by Polynesians from the Southern Cook and Society islands region but even today the date is not certain, some historians say that they arrived as early as 750AD, while others say it was around 1300AD. 

The history tells the story of Kupe, who was the great chief of Tahiti. It is said that Kupe discovered large, uninhabited islands to the south and named them. When he saw the North Island for the first time, he called it ‘long white cloud’.

 

THE ARRIVAL OF EUROPEANS

 

The first European to sight New Zealand was Dutch explorer Abel Tasman. In 1642 he saw the West Coast of the South Island. He annexed the country for Holland and mapmakers called it ‘New Zealand’, although he never set foot there.

English Captain James Cook sighted a piece of land near Gisborne in 1769. He successfully circumnavigated and mapped the country, and led two more expeditions to New Zealand.

Prior to 1840, it was mainly whalers, sealers, and missionaries who came to New Zealand.

 

HOW THE MAORI MADE LIFE HELL FOR THE NEW ZEALAND COLONIALS

 

The Maori, before colonialism, were brutal warriors. They were cannibals. They were head hunters and slavers. Above all, they believed that every kind and cruel deed should be repaid in kind.

When they met the Dutch, the Maori canoed out toward their boats, blowing shell war trumpets and trying to scare the Europeans away. The Dutch responded with cannons. The next day, Maori canoes came out toward the boats again and killed four men before the Dutch could get away. This area was called “Murderers Bay”.

In 1773 one man in the English expedition had angered the Maori when he tried to kidnap a few of their men. The Maori killed them, roasted the pieces of their bodies over a fire and devoured their flesh and fed their entrails to the dogs.

 

TREATY OF WAITANGI (1840)

 

As British settlement increased, the British Government decided to negotiate a formal agreement with Māori chiefs to become a British Colony. Over 500 Maori Chiefs signed it as it was taken around the country during the next eight months. It has three articles:

 

* The Queen (or king) of Great Britain has the right to rule over New Zealand;

 

* Māori chiefs would keep their land and would agree to sell their land only to the British monarch;

 

* Māoris would have the same rights as British subjects.

Successive governments believed the Treaty enabled complete sovereignty over Maori, their lands and resources. But Maori believed that they were merely giving permission for the British to use their land.

 

 

THE NEW ZEALAND WARS (1845 – 1872)

 

The first fight happened because some British settlers purchased land and realized they did not have as much as they wanted, so they started surveying some land that the Maori had not sold them. The Maori refused to move and 22 Europeans were dead. The British would keep encroaching on Maori land, and they would keep pushing back, so the history of New Zealand was filled with land conflicts and bloodshed.

 

Northern war

 

Occurred from 1845 to 1846 and it was a reaction to the colonial government’s increasing control over Māori affairs. Maoris were paying taxes for the first time in their lives, and they were subject to foreign courts. The two sides fought with no clear winner.

 

Wellington and Whanganui wars

 

Happened from 1846-1848. One Whanganui chief was shot, apparently accidentally and they took revenge slaughtering Gilfillan’s wife and children and burning his house to the ground. Then a Maori tribe had the town under siege.

From 1860 to 1864 the British Empire and Māori king fought.

 

Pursuit of Te Kooti

 

From 1864 to 1872 colonial troops and Maori allies fought against Maori prophetic leaders who followed a combination of Christianity and Maori beliefs. One German missionary refused to leave when the fight broke and the Maori suspected that he was a spy. They killed him, decapited him and took his head to the church. While delivering a sermon, the “prophet” gouged his eyes out and swallowed them.

Because of the wars, the British government ruling New Zealand confiscated vast amounts of lands across the country.

 

NEW ZEALAND INDEPENDENCE

 

It is difficult to define when New Zealand became independent. It was declared a ‘dominion’, or self-governing country within the British Empire, in 1907. However, it had been essentially as independent as a dominion since it was granted ‘responsible government’ in 1856.

It became independent for foreign policy through Britain’s 1926 Balfour Declaration. or maybe through the passing of the Statute of Westminster by the British Parliament in 1931, or the ratification of the Statute of Westminster by the New Zealand government in 1946.

However, it was already a member of the league of nations before the Balfour Declaration, and declared war separately in World War II despite not having ratified the Statute of Westminster by that stage.

Another argument is that it only became independent of Britain in 2003, when Britain’s privy council ceased to be the final court of appeal for New Zealand court cases, where only one New Zealand judge was appointed to the court.

In conclusion, it’s not at all clear when New Zealand became independent.

 

WORLD WAR I (1914-1918) AND THE ANZACS

 

Thousands of New Zealanders served and died overseas in the First World War. On 25th April 1915 they landed in Turkey, which established the tradition of ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps).

 

WORLD WAR II (1939-1945)

 

New Zealand troops fought overseas again in the Second World War in support of the United Kingdom (UK). 

With most of our forces effectively stranded in Egypt and the Middle East, it was the United States that protected New Zealand against Japan during the war in the Pacific.

 

KOREAN AND VIETNAM WARS

 

As a sign of friendship with the United States, New Zealand fought in Korea in the 1950s and - against much popular opposition - in Vietnam in the 1960s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EXPANDING TRADE AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY

 

Britain was an important and assured market for New Zealand farm products, but when the UK joined the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973, this was a blow to its trading community and to the country.

Luckily, New Zealand had already begun diversifying its export trade, so that event encouraged it to widen its outlook. It now sells its goods to a wide range of countries.

New Zealand has become a culturally diverse country. Particularly from the 1980s, a wide range of ethnic groups have been encouraged to settle here. It is now much more multicultural with 25% of its inhabitants born abroad and 15% Maori.