History of New Zealand

The history of New Zealand dates back approximately 700 years to when it was discovered and settled by Polynesians, who developed a distinct Māori culture. Like other Pacific cultures, Māori society was centred on kinship links and connection with the land but, unlike them, it was adapted to a cool, temperate environment rather than a warm, tropical one.

The first European explorer known to sight New Zealand was Dutch navigator Abel Tasman on 13 December 1642. In 1643 he charted the west coast of the North Island, his expedition then sailed back to Batavia without setting foot on New Zealand soil. British explorer James Cook, who reached New Zealand in October 1769 on the first of his three voyages, was the first European to circumnavigate and map New Zealand. From the late 18th century, the country was regularly visited by explorers and other sailors, missionaries, traders and adventurers.

In 1840 the Treaty of Waitangi was signed between representatives of the United Kingdom and various Māori chiefs, bringing New Zealand into the British Empire and giving Māori the same rights as British subjects. Disputes over the differing translations of the Treaty and settler desire to acquire land from Māori led to the New Zealand Wars from 1843. There was extensive British settlement throughout the rest of the 19th century and into the early part of the next century. The effects of European infectious diseases, the New Zealand Wars and the imposition of a European economic and legal system led to most of New Zealand's land passing from Māori to Pākehā ownership, and Māori became impoverished.

The colony gained responsible government in the 1850s. From the 1890s the New Zealand Parliament enacted a number of progressive initiatives, including women's suffrage and old age pensions. After becoming a self-governing Dominion with the British Empire in 1907, the country remained an enthusiastic member of the empire, and over 100,000 New Zealanders fought in World War I as part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. After the war, New Zealand signed the Treaty of Versailles , joined the League of Nations, and pursued an independent foreign policy, while its defence was still controlled by Britain. When World War II broke out in 1939, New Zealand contributed to the defence of Britain and the Pacific War; the country contributed some 120,000 troops. From the 1930s the economy was highly regulated and an extensive welfare state was developed. From the 1950s Māori began moving to the cities in large numbers, and Māori culture underwent a renaissance. This led to the development of a Māori protest movement which in turn led to greater recognition of the Treaty of Waitangi in the late 20th century.

[poobum]

that picture of von tempsky being a hero ... is gold they should dig him up and send him back .. so not pollute the tapu whenua !!

[LukejbButterworth]

there is no debate about NZ becoming a republic

[Lautmachen]

Bringe me home back to new zealand 😢 i want to go home 😢 please 😢

[Pastaaa]

"The last moriori died in the 1930s" thats absolutely false. And wrong. Moriori are still here today don't disregard their existence to fit your narrative.

It was only two groups of maori (Ngati Mutunga and Ngati Tama) that "massacred" them - it wasn't an action approved of by all maori, as moriori do have ties back to the Maori on the east coast of the north island so it's hard for me to view this as a unanimous decision amongst all hapu and iwi. It's similar to when colonial descendants scream they didn't do it it wasn't them, when in fact it was a unanimous decision amongst their entire people to colonise. If we can't hold pakeha accountable for essentially standing on others worldwide for their own personal advancement and ease, we shouldn't peddle the "all the maori massacred moriori" so they're colonisers too. They didn't colonise, they were commissioned and while colonial descendants can never put a name to their ancestors - we sure as hell know exactly what groups did what and why. In fact, the two groups were actually commissioned by the nz govt. Initially, the govt wanted to assess the viability of European settlement on Rekohu (Chatam Islands) - having found the conditions too inhospitable and not being able to sustain themselves via the ocean as the moriori had been doing for centuries. In the process the moriori gifted the Waitangi area on Rekohu to the govt - this surprised the pakeha as they did not expect Moriori to give up such a large land parcel, let alone their best bit of land, at least to European standards. Now with Waitangi secured, the govt now had a place for the East coast "rebels". It had alot to do with land confiscations and spirituality or religion. If you had land, even if you were a "friendly maori" or a "govt maori" if you were to maintain your land and or innocence you were to be sent to Rekohu as a prisoner. They imprisoned women and children aswell as innocent men. Also to touch on the treaty of Waitangi, maori only got the treaty BC it was wrought w deception and intentional mistranslations - the govt also employed dungeons and blockhouses to further facilitate more murder and pillaging from Europeans, aswell as eugenics. Essentially, we only got the treaty of Waitangi BC the intention was to kill off maori as the notion was that we were a "dying race". It's similar to dangling a bit off cheese to a mouse over the top of a rat trap

[willswanson]

This story told me what i wanted to know mainly about how our country in its fragile stages pulled through the hard times
When compared to stalin and america around the same era i think new Zealand was very innovative and made new laws that set us apart from the world as one the best countries to live in on earth

[headmondronary]

Not a fair history of New Zealand. Would be better titled "A history of English settlement and growth in New Zealand with some minor others mentioned".

[mrnobodyhonest]

this is the english interpution of the history of new zealand so this has a lot of lies about the Maori

[J.RAugust]

Feel the Power! You fckn know it.... Black Power....

[uggali]

700 years bs, stop tryna date us you dont know. Y’all were sleeping in caves rubbiing rock together