New Zealand's history is considered by most to be short. According to scientists, only some seven hundred years. The pioneer of New Zealand for civilized Europe is the Dutchman Abel Tasman. He was the first to set foot on the coast of New Zealand. The first to reach the shores of the islands, but also traveled around them and mapped them, was none other than Captain Cook. Thanks to these brave characters of world history, the civilized world learned about the islands, where one of the most interesting post-colonial states is now located.
History (briefly)
The first to set foot on the islands of the archipelago were the tribes of Eastern Polynesia. They took up the development of these lands, according to inaccurate data, in the XI-XIV century. Waves of migration followed one after another, and progressive development became the basis for the creation of two main peoples: Maori and Moriori. Moriori settled the islands of the Chatham Archipelago, the Maori chose the North and South Islands.
In the legends of the tribe to this day, the legend of the Polynesian navigator Kupe,who discovered the islands by sailing on a light catamaran in the middle of the 10th century. Also, the legends of the Maori people tell that several generations later, many canoes left their homeland and went to explore new islands. Some researchers consider claims of the existence of Kupe and the large fleet of Polynesians of legend to be moot. However, archaeological excavations have confirmed the authenticity of the Polynesian development of New Zealand.
If we consider the history of New Zealand briefly, the Polynesians, who first settled the previously uninhabited islands, formed the Maori culture, first met Europeans in 1642. Since the Maori people were quite warlike, this meeting was not constructive. The Maori fleet literally attacked the ship of the Dutch merchant and explorer Abel Tasman that approached their shores. The sailor's crew received significant injuries. Tasman called the place Killer Bay (now Golden Bay).
Cook was wiser
The next meeting took place more than a century later. It is it that can be fully considered the beginning of the history of the discovery of New Zealand. In 1769, James Cook approached these shores with his expedition. The meeting with the Maori took place in the same spirit as in the case with Tasman. But Cook acted wiser. During the battle with the natives, he managed to capture many prisoners, and in order to win the favor of the local population, he let them go home. And a little later contact with the leaders of the tribe took place. At the beginning of the 19th century, European ships began to appear more often off the coast of the South and North Islands. And by the thirties of the XIX century, two thousandEuropeans. True, they settled down among the Maori in different ways, many had the position of slaves or semi-slaves.
Maori did not know money, so trade was with them through barter. Native New Zealanders valued guns. As the story of New Zealand tells, the abundance of firearms caused inter-tribal bloody wars. As usual, apart from guns, Europeans got venereal diseases, measles, flu and alcohol. All this reduced the number of the local population by 1896 to a critical minimum - forty-two thousand people.
Treaty of Waitangi
In 1840, Maori chiefs and Great Britain signed an agreement or, as New Zealand's history goes, the Treaty of Waitangi. Under its terms, the Maori received the guardianship of the kingdom, but gave the exclusive right to purchase land to the British. Not all representatives of the tribe agreed with the terms of the signed agreement. Conflicts broke out between the Maori and the British from 1845 to 1872. In them, the natives showed unprecedented courage, taking into account the superior forces of the colonialists. In defending their land, in some cases, the Maori showed great cruelty towards the British.
Before Cook and Tasman
The history of the country of New Zealand is divided into three main periods: the Polynesian colonization and modern. Maori, before the arrival of Europeans, formed a special culture here, to some extent distinguishable from the Polynesian peoples, who were their direct ancestors. The natives are swarthy, with a type of face,characteristic of the inhabitants of Asia. However, due to the abundance of food in New Zealand, they are significantly larger and taller than the Polynesians.
When, around 1350, the wife of the Polynesian navigator and discoverer of New Zealand, Hine-te-Aparanji, saw a new land, she called it Aotearoa, which literally means "land of a long white cloud." According to some studies of the pre-European history of New Zealand, the Polynesians were not the first on the islands of the archipelago either. In fact, local tribes already lived here, which, in fact, were conquered by the Polynesians who arrived after Kupe. Then they mixed into one people. Based on this assertion, New Zealand's Maori history before the Europeans was not so harmless, not to mention intertribal and inter-clan armed clarifications of the right to territory.
Dominion of the British Empire
After the signing of the fateful agreement between the leaders of the Maori and representatives of England on the first tenure, the aborigines actually took the path of development according to the British colonial model of the economy. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, the archipelago developed quite rapidly capitalistically, but in fact it was in the position of a raw material appendage of the imperial economic machine. New Zealand did not have the status of a sovereign state. Some changes came after the colonial conference held in 1907, when the Prime Minister of New Zealand achieved self-government for the state. For this, they even came up with a new term "dominion", which gave New Zealand the opportunity to nominally becomeindependent.
Independence
Four years later, after receiving state status, New Zealand acquired its own coat of arms. In 1926, the imperial conference equalizes the rights of the dominions with the state. Already in 1931, the "Statute of Westminster" confirms the right to independence of New Zealand. True, until 1947, Great Britain was responsible for the military security of the Maori country and advocated for it at the international level in politics. And today, tourists in architecture and other signs find vivid evidence of the colonial influence of England. This is evidenced by many works of art.
By the way, the Maori did not have their own written language before colonization. Perhaps that is why a short history of New Zealand in English is more common than in any other.
New Zealand during World War II
New Zealand's political dependence on Great Britain placed military obligations on the British Crown. Therefore, the entry of the New Zealanders into the war began simultaneously with the entry of the British into it. It happened on September 3, 1941.
The second New Zealand Expeditionary Force was formed by the New Zealand Army. 140,000 New Zealanders contributed to the victory. The islanders' military activity peaked in July 1942. Then almost 155,000 New Zealanders were put on alert.
The Ferocious 28th Battalion
It should be noted that the innate militancy of the Maori came in handy in this war. Wasthe 28th battalion was formed, which was called the "Maori battalion" of 700-900 people, created in 1940. The motto of the battalion was taken from the shouts of the ritual combat dance haka, which sounded like “Ake! Ake! Kia Kakha E!” (Go! Go! Be strong!).
The Maori showed their famous military skill in operations on the island of Crete and Greece, as well as in North Africa and Italy. The Maori warriors, members of the 28th battalion, showed the greatest military prowess during the capture of Florence. It was they who entered the city first on August 4, 1944, pushing back the forces of the almighty Wehrmacht. They commanded the respect of their enemies. The Maori were especially famous when it came to hand-to-hand combat. Close combat has become their hallmark.
After the war
The history of the development of New Zealand, its new round, begins with the end of the Second World War. Maori began to move from villages to cities to earn money. Urbanization continues, although agriculture remains the backbone of the economy. The Māori often raise the issue of the fair implementation of the Treaty of Waitangi. In 1975, the Waitangi Tribunal was even established, according to which facts of violation of the agreement of the same name are being investigated. In 1987, New Zealand declares itself a nuclear-free territory, which complicates the passage of the US Navy.
Today New Zealand is a developing, multinational state with a constitutional monarchy. Due to its climate and low taxation, it began to develop in the field of the film industry. At the mention of "The Lord of the Rings"this state comes to mind.
