new zealand wars

Māori King movement - 1860-94

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  King Tāwhiao's reign was dominated by the Waikato War and its fallout.

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• Page 2 – Build up to war

  Like his father, King Tāwhiao opposed the war in Taranaki. The government, however, remained unconvinced. In July 1860 Governor Gore Browne sought to isolate the Kīngitanga and

• Page 3 – Response to war

  The invasion of the Waikato united the various factions within the Kīngitanga, and during the war Kīngitanga forces had some victories despite being overwhelmed in terms of

New Zealand's 19th-century wars

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  War changed the face of New Zealand in the 19th century. Tens of thousands of Māori died in the intertribal Musket Wars from the 1810s to the 1830s. There were fewer deaths during the New Zealand Wars (1840s-1870s) between Māori and the Crown, but the consequences were still dire for many tribes.

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• Page 3 – Taranaki and Waikato wars

  An overview of the conflict between Māori and European settlers in Taranaki and Waikato during the New Zealand Wars.

• Page 4 – Prophets and colonists

  From 1864, a new round of fighting in the New Zealand Wars was sparked by Māori religious movements.

• Page 5 – End of the New Zealand Wars

  The New Zealand Wars ended in 1872. European settlers prevailed through weight of numbers and economic power. By 1900, New Zealand was a settler society, with Māori pushed out

• Page 6 – Timeline

  Timeline of key events related to the Musket and New Zealand Wars, 1800s-1910s

• Page 7 – The Victoria Cross and the NZ Wars

  There were 15 recipients of the Victoria Cross and 23 of the New Zealand Cross for action during New Zealand’s 19th-century wars.

• Page 8 – NZ Wars flags

  For many Maori in the 19th century, the Union Jack was frequently viewed as a potent symbol of Great Britain's power in New Zealand. In the New Zealand Wars, Maori parties who

• Page 9 – Further information

  Recommended links and books relating to New Zealand's 19th-century wars

Pai Marire

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  Pai Marire (goodness and peace) was one of several Maori Christian faiths to emerge in the 19th century. Like many others, it was closely tied to issues of land and politics.

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• Page 2 – Te Ua Haumēne

  Pai Marire disciples travelled around the North Island in the mid-1860s. Against a backdrop of war and land confiscations, the founding principle of Pai Marire was often

• Page 3 – The death of Carl Völkner

  The ritual killing by Pai Mārire followers of missionary Carl Völkner in 1865 shocked many people. The government used the event as a reason to take harsh action against Pai

War in Wellington

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  In 1846 fighting broke out in the Wellington region as the Ngāti Toa chief Te Rangihaeata backed local Maori opposed to European settlement in the Hutt Valley. The campaign claimed few lives and Ngāti Toa resistance in the region was effectively ended as a result.

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• Page 2 – The Port Nicholson purchase

  In September 1839 William Wakefield, the principal agent for the New Zealand Company, met Te Ātiawa chiefs Te Puni and Te Wharepōuri at Pito-one (Petone), on the northern shore

War in Whanganui

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  The confusion and uncertainty that had surrounded the New Zealand Company's land purchases in Whanganui erupted into violence in the autumn and winter of 1847. The conflict here also involved longstanding rivalries between upper and lower Whanganui River Māori.

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• Page 2 – Background

  From the outset there was confusion and uncertainty over the exact nature and extent of the New Zealand Company's purchase at Whanganui.

• Page 3 – The Matarawa killings

  The killing of Mary Gilfillan and three of her children caused tension between upriver and downriver Māori as well as among Europeans.

• Page 4 – The siege of Whanganui

  Te Mamaku led 700 Ngāti Hāua-te-rangi warriors who attacked Whanganui in May 1847.

• Page 5 – Moutoa Island

  The Pai Mārire religion divided Māori. Some supported it, but others mistrusted its political intent. Events on the Whanganui River in 1864 showed the conflict about the faith

• Page 6 – The 1865 campaign

  Following the battle of Moutoa Island in 1864, Hipango pursued the retreating Pai Mārire (Hauhau) warriors. Fighting continued from fortified positions upriver near Hiruhārama

War in Taranaki 1860-63

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  In March 1860 war broke out between Europeans and Māori in Taranaki following a dispute over the sale of land at Waitara. It was the beginning of a series of conflicts that would dog Taranaki for the next 21 years, claiming the lives of several hundred Maori and Europeans and leaving deep scars that persist to the present day.

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• Page 2 – Pressure on Māori land

  As the non-Māori population of New Zealand grew during the 1850s, Māori faced more pressure to sell their land to these new settlers.

• Page 3 – The Waitara offer

  Wiremu Kingi's opposition to the Crown's attempts to purchase land near the mouth of the Waitara River in north Taranaki in 1859 led to the outbreak of war in March 1860

• Page 4 – Fighting begins

  The opening shots of the Taranaki war were fired at Kīngi's new pā, Te Kohia – also known as the ‘L’ pa because of its shape – on 17 March 1860.

• Page 5 – Puketakauere

  On 27 June 1860 the British suffered a heavy defeat near Waitara. The Te Atiawa chief Hapurona had strengthened defences on the twin pa sites of Puketakauere and Onukukaitara,

• Page 6 – A change in tactics

  The arrival in August 1860 of Major-General Thomas Pratt heralded the development of a new strategy to break the cordon that encircled New Plymouth.

• Page 7 – Stalemate

  After a year of war, Governor Gore Browne still saw little likelihood of victory in the near future. A truce was arranged on 18 March 1861.

• Page 8 – The second Taranaki war

  On 12 March 1863, 300 men of the 57th Regiment evicted Maori from the land they had occupied at Tataraimaka, 20 km south-west of New Plymouth.

• Page 9 – Further information

  Links and books for further reading about the Taranaki wars

New Zealand Wars memorials

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  There are more than 60 memorials in New Zealand to the dead of the New Zealand Wars. But their story is strikingly different to that of the memorials put up in memory of those who died in the country’s other major conflicts

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• Page 1 - New Zealand Wars memorialsThere are more than 60 memorials in New Zealand to the dead of the New Zealand Wars. But their story is strikingly different to that of the memorials put up in memory of those who

War in Waikato

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  After fighting broke out again in Taranaki in early 1863, Governor George Grey turned his attention to the region he saw as the root of his problems with Māori: Waikato. This was the heartland of the anti-landselling King Movement (Kīngitanga). Grey vowed to ‘dig around’ the Kīngitanga until it fell.

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• Page 2 – Invasion plans

  Governor Gore Browne demanded that the Kīngitanga submit ‘without reserve’ to the British Queen and began planning an invasion of Waikato shortly before his reassignment to

• Page 3 – The opening phase

  The British invasion of Waikato began on 12 July 1863. The first line of defence was at Meremere. After this was bypassed, Rangiriri and Pāterangi provided a second and then a

• Page 4 – Rangiriri

  The decisive battle for Waikato was fought at Rangiriri in November 1863.

• Page 5 – The invasion continues

  After the British victory at Rangiriri, Wiremu Tāmihana tried to negotiate peace. He sent his greenstone mere (club) to Cameron as a token of his good faith. But neither Grey

• Page 6 – The Battle of Ōrākau

  James Belich argues that the British victory at Ōrākau was also their ‘cruellest disappointment of the entire war.’ Chris Pugsley, on the other hand, sees Ōrākau as the ‘

War in Tauranga

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  During the first half of 1864 the focus of the New Zealand Wars shifted from Waikato to Tauranga. In this phase of the conflict British forces suffered a catastrophic defeat at Pukehinahina – better known as the Gate pā – but later inflicted heavy losses on Māori forces at Te Ranga.

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• Page 2 – Invitation to war

  The Ngāi Te Rangi leader Rāwiri Puhirake had resisted Wiremu Tāmihana’s request for help during the war in Waikato for fear that this would lead to bloodshed in Tauranga. The

• Page 3 – Gate Pā

  Gate Pā was a major disaster for the British military who suffered twice the casualties of the Māori defenders

• Page 4 – British soul searching

  British soul-searching after the defeat at Gate Pā did not begin with an acknowledgement of the superior tactics and capability of their enemy.

• Page 5 – Te Ranga

  Unlike at Gate Pā, where the British assault had been concentrated at two points, at Te Ranga the British were able to attack all along the line of trenches.

• Page 6 – The fighting ends

  By the end of July the Tauranga war was over. Most Ngāi Te Rangi warriors accepted peace and handed over weapons, although many of these were old and of such poor quality as to

• Page 7 – Further information

  Links and further reading about the war in Tauranga

Te Kooti's war

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  Te Kooti was one of the most significant Māori leaders of the 19th century. For nearly four years he waged a guerrilla war unlike any previous conflict in the New Zealand Wars. His influence continues to be felt in the eastern Bay of Plenty and East Coast, where his Ringatū faith remains strong.

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• Page 2 – Clashes of faith

  A civil war erupted on the East Coast in the winter of 1865 when Hauhau evangelists ignored a warning not to enter Ngāti Porou territory.

• Page 3 – Exile and deliverance

  Chatham Island would be home for Te Kooti and his fellow prisoners for two years from 1866.

• Page 4 – Te Kooti's war begins

  In July 1868 Major Reginald Biggs sent three Māori emissaries to Whareongaonga. Te Kooti and his followers were told to surrender all their weapons and ‘await the decision of

• Page 5 – Matawhero

  Shortly before midnight on 9 November 1868 Te Kooti and around 100 men moved on Matawhero. By dawn nearly 60 people from Matawhero and the adjacent kāinga had been killed.

• Page 6 – Ngātapa

  An attack by a combined Ngāti Porou-government force saw Te Kooti retreat inland to the ancient hilltop pā of Ngātapa.

• Page 7 – Te Kooti goes to Te Kūiti

  Te Kooti was invited to the King Country only if he came in peace. He responded defiantly that he was coming to ‘assume himself the supreme authority which he coming direct

• Page 8 – Te Pōrere and retreat

  On 25 September Te Kooti was defeated by a combined force of Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Arawa and Ngāti Tūwharetoa at Te Ponanga, near Tokaanu.

• Page 9 – A Māori matter

  Te Kooti's final decades

• Page 10 – Further information

  Links and books relating to Te Kooti's war

Tītokowaru's war

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  In the 1980s James Belich argued that Tītokowaru’s war had become a ‘dark secret’ of New Zealand history, ‘forgotten by the Pākehā as a child forgets a nightmare’. For Belich, Tītokowaru was ‘arguably the best general New Zealand has ever produced’.

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• Page 2 – Early years

  Tītokowaru’s commitment to missionary Christianity was showing signs of strain by the 1850s as a Māori nationalist movement emerged.

• Page 3 – The year of the lamb

  Tītokowaru proclaimed 1867 as ‘the year of the daughters … the year of the lamb’. His efforts for ‘reconciliation and peace’ were quite remarkable, given the events of the

• Page 4 – The war begins

  In March 1868 Tītokowaru authorised a muru (punitive plunder) against Pākehā involved in the confiscation of land at Ketemarae (Normanby).

• Page 5 – Turuturumōkai

  In the pre-dawn darkness on Sunday 12 July 1868, 60 of Tītokowaru’s warriors led by Haowhenua bypassed the large colonial force at Waihī Redoubt and struck at nearby

• Page 6 – Crisis of confidence

  News of Te Kooti’s assault on Matawhero in Poverty Bay a few days after the defeat at Moturoa raised serious questions about the Armed Constabulary’s ability to protect

• Page 7 – Taurangaika

  Taurangaika measured 140 m across at its widest point and was without doubt Tītokowaru’s ‘most formidable fortress’.

• Page 8 – A return to peace

  In late 1869 Tītokowaru had his third conversion to peace, after which his relationship with Te Whiti and Tohu Kākahi of Parihaka strengthened.

A history of New Zealand 1769-1914

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  In the period between the first European landings and the First World War, New Zealand was transformed from an exclusively Māori world into one in which Pākehā dominated numerically, politically, socially and economically.

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• Page 1 - History of New Zealand, 1769-1914 In the period between the first European landings and the First World War, New Zealand was transformed from an exclusively Māori world into one in which Pākehā dominated

The Treaty in practice

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  Amalgamating Māori into colonial settler society was a key part of British policy in New Zealand after 1840. Economic and social change, along with land-purchase programmes, were central to this process.

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• Page 8 – The Waikato-Tainui claim

  The Waikato-Tainui people and the Crown signed a Deed of Settlement in 1995. It included a formal apology for Crown actions in the wars of the 1860s that had brought

Treaty timeline

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  See some of the key events between 1800 and 1849 relating to the Treaty of Waitangi.

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• Page 2 - Treaty events 1850-99See the key events between 1850 and 1899 relating to the Treaty of

The Vogel era

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  In 1870, Colonial Treasurer Julius Vogel launched the most ambitious development programme in New Zealand’s history. The ‘Vogel era’ was a decisive moment in New Zealand’s 19th-century transformation from a Māori world to a Pākehā one.

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• Page 2 - New Zealand in 1870Three decades after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s two main islands were like two different

War and remembrance

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  War has played a defining role in shaping our nation since we first sent troops overseas to South Africa in 1899. As the centenary of the the First World War (2014-18) approaches, many New Zealanders will reflect on our nation's experiences of war and the impact of conflict on our society.

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• Page 8 - Remembering the New Zealand Wars In memorialising our experiences of war, to what extent have we overlooked our own internal