New Zealand history
This article is about the history of New Zealand. New Zealand is one of the most recently settled land masses. The earliest known settlers were Polynesians who, according to most researchers, arrived by canoe between AD 1250 and 1300. C. Some researchers suggest that in 150 AD. C. there was another wave of immigrants; years later these inhabitants died or left the islands. Over the following centuries, Polynesian immigrants created a distinct culture, now known as Maori. The population was divided into iwi (tribes) and hapu (sub-tribes) who cooperated, competed, and sometimes fought among themselves. At some point, a group of Maori migrated to the Chatham Islands, where they developed a distinct culture, the Moriori.
Before colonization
New Zealand was originally populated by native Polynesians between 1000 and 1300 AD, although evidence has been found to suggest that they settled much earlier. Those who settled in New Zealand became the Maori people. Separately, in settlements on the tiny Chatham Islands east of New Zealand, were the moriori, but whether they came directly from Polynesia or were on the mainland and then ventured east is still unknown..
The original natives were hunters of moas, their preferred source of food, being these the largest flightless birds, similar to ostriches and rheas. Moas were pushed to extinction as they could not withstand human and mammalian predation. Before the arrival of man, moas were victims of harpagornis, the largest known bird of prey. The harpagonis became extinct along with their victims. The moa hunters may have mixed with the settlers who arrived from Polynesia, who, according to Maori tradition, arrived between 20 and 40 BC. Some of the Maori called these lands Amadohenianicio, usually translated as land of the long white cloud.
New Zealand has no native mammals, except for a few rare bats. Subsequently, the Maoris subsisted largely by cultivating a kind of sweet potato, which they would have brought from Polynesia, as well as by hunting small animals (including the Polynesian rat, introduced perhaps involuntarily and which was fattened on the clutches native birds and reptiles.
European explorers
The first Europeans to arrive in the region did so on the probable trip of Juan Jufré and Juan Fernández to Oceania, the occasion in which they would have discovered New Zealand for Spain, at the end of 1576; this event is based on a document that was presented to Felipe II and on archaeological remains (Spanish-style helmets) found in caves at the upper end of the North Island. But more famous is the voyage of the Dutchman Abel Janszoon Tasman who arrived with his ships Heemskerck and Zeehaen, and anchored at the northern end of the South Island in December 1642, but he sailed north towards Tonga Island, following clashes with the Maori settlers. Tasman drew sections of the coastlines of the two main islands. The name Nieuw Zeeland appeared on navigational charts of the nearby area. Lieutenant James Cook aboard the Endeavour, in the course of his first voyage to the South Pacific, made a reconnaissance, measuring and surveying the coasts of both islands in 1769 and 1770.
Hunters
Since 1790, the waters around New Zealand have been visited by English, French and American whaling ships, whose crews had conflicts with the Maori inhabitants. In 1793, part of the coast of the South Island of New Zealand was mapped by a Spanish expedition led by Malaspina. The arrival of merchants and missionaries between the years 1800 and 1810 added more local disputes. The first European descendant born in these lands was Thomas King, in 1815 in the Bay of Islands, in the northeast of the North Island.
The initiation of a large-scale program of settlement and land purchases by the New Zealand Company, together with increased French interests in the islands, caused the British government to take control of the situation.
British colony
New Zealand became a British colony in 1840, following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between the Crown and Maori chiefs. The British were motivated by the desire to anticipate possible settlements by other Europeans, since that same year France began to establish itself in the Banks Peninsula (central-east of the South Island of New Zealand), and to end the disorders caused by whalers and traders, especially British. For their part, the Maori chiefs agreed to sign this treaty due to the promises to protect their possessions (which were partially fulfilled) and the promise to protect their people from attacks by other Maoris, who had been provided with muskets by some merchants., (between 1820 and 1835 a conflict between tribes known as the war of the muskets had taken place).
Subsequently there was a large number of settlements that occurred on the islands, mainly from England, Scotland and Ireland. The first Europeans to settle created provinces. From south to north, they are as follows:
- On South Island:
- Otago (from 1848), capital Dunedin
- Canterbury (since 1850), capital Christchurch
- West Coast, capital Westport
- Nelson Province, capital Nelson
- Marlborough, capital Blenheim
- On North Island:
- Wellington (since 1840), capital Wellington
- Taranaki, capital New Plymouth
- Auckland (since 1840), capital Auckland
The province of Southland (capital Invercargill) was separate but was later united with Otago. By 1859, the Europeans and their descendants (pakeha in the Maori language) who inhabited the area were already the majority, reaching a million people in 1911.
The political separation of the two islands was a major issue in the 1860s. The North Island was the most populous and was plagued by wars and confusion, while the South Island was prospering, especially after it was found gold in Otago in 1861. The South Island grew tired of supporting the North Island financially and receiving very little in return: there was bitter feeling between Auckland and Otago. Julius Vogel, a journalist working in Dunedin, Otago's capital, began a strong campaign to make the South Island fully independent. The issue was put to a vote in Parliament on 19 September 1865. As a result, 17 members voted for separation and 31 for unity, therefore New Zealand remained united. Later, in 1873, Vogel was Prime Minister of New Zealand.
Although the South Island was mostly inhabited by whites, after 1900 the North Island became more populous, outnumbering them. The Maori population, on the other hand, decreased its number considerably due to the wars between tribes and the diseases that the new settlers brought, such as measles, whooping cough, influenza and later, typhoid fever, reducing from 100,000 or 120,000 Maori to 62,000 in 1857 and 44,000 in 1891. Maori population growth was slow but steady, especially after the flu epidemic of 1918. But by 1900, the Maori had lost most of their land, usually as a result of sales or confiscations, after maintaining armed conflicts with the new authorities.
New Zealand was originally administered as a part of the Australian colony of New South Wales, until it became a separate colony in 1841.
It was granted home rule in 1852, under the New Zealand Constitution by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, with a General Assembly, consisting of a Legislative Council and an elected House of Representatives. In 1867, the Maoris won the right to a reserved number of seats in Parliament. During this period, the cattle industry began to expand. Towards the end of the XIX century, the improvement of means of transport was possible thanks to the export of wool, meat and farm products.
In the 1890s, democratic parliamentary authorities took root and New Zealand's social institutions assumed the form they exist today. In 1893 it became the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote in national elections.
Gradually, the number of Maoris increased, and due to the families they formed with European descendants, they gradually adapted to the new culture.
20th and 21st centuries
In 1907, New Zealand declared itself a dominion within the British Empire and in 1947, adopted the Westminter Charter, which made it a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, although in practice the United Kingdom he had long since ceased to play an important role in the New Zealand government. As the country became more politically independent, its economic dependence grew; in the 1890s, refrigerated shipping enabled the export of meat and dairy products to the United Kingdom, a trade that provided the basis for New Zealand's economic growth.
When it was a member of the British Empire, New Zealand soldiers fought alongside it in the Boer War, World War I and World War II. The country largely followed the trends of the world economy and suffered as others in the Great Depression of the 1930s. The economic crisis led to the election of a government led by the Labor Party, which established an extensive welfare state and a protectionist economy.
In this way, the economy experienced increasing prosperity after World War II. However, some social problems were developing, most notably the fact that the Maori began to leave their typical rural life to move to the cities in looking for work. A Maori protest movement developed, criticizing Eurocentrism and working for greater recognition of Maori culture and the Treaty of Waitangi, which they felt had not been fully complied with. In 1975, a Waitangi Tribunal to investigate claims of Treaty violations, and in 1985 was still active to investigate various historical grievances. As in other developed countries, social evolution accelerated in the 1970s and social and political mores changed.
The United Kingdom's accession to the European Economic Community in 1973 drastically reduced New Zealand's exports to what was once its largest market. This and the 1973 oil crisis brought about major economic and social changes during the 1980s, all this under the fourth term of the Labor government, led by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Roger Douglas. This character introduced a series of measures to transform the economy, commonly known as Rogernomics, which began to work in 1984.
The new economic policies led to the liberalization of the New Zealand economy, which averted an economic crisis and led the country to maintain diplomatic relations with more states, notably Australia and the United States, as well as participating in various armed conflicts around of the world. At the beginning of the XXI century, it remains one of the countries with the best quality of life, according to the UN; although immigration, social inequality and other phenomena such as brain drain are some of the problems that still prevail in the country.
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