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The history of New Zealand dates back at least seven hundred years to when it was discovered and settled by Polynesia ns. Europeans visited the country in 1642 and began to settle in large numbers from the 1840s . POLYNESIAN FOUNDATION , ' Aotearoa ' (The land of the long white cloud), was later extended to refer to the whole country. The original Settler s quickly exploited the abundant large game in New Zealand, such as Moa . Moa were large Flightless Bird s similar to Ostrich es and Rhea s that were pushed to extinction by about 1500. As moa and other large game became scarce or extinct, Māori culture underwent major change, with regional differences. In areas where it was possible to grow Taro and Kūmara , horticulture became more important. This was not possible in the south of the South Island, however elsewhere wild plants such as fernroot were often available for harvest. Warfare also increased in importance, reflecting increased competition for land and other resources. In this period, fortified Pā became more common, although there is debate about the actual frequency of warfare. Leadership was based on a system of chieftainship, which was often but not always hereditary, although chiefs (male or female) needed to demonstrate leadership abilities to avoid being superseded by more dynamic individuals. The most important units of pre-European Māori society were the Whānau or extended family, and the Hapū or group of whānau. After these came the Iwi or tribe, consisting of groups of hapū. Related hapū would often trade goods and co-operate on major projects, but conflict between hapū was also relatively common. Traditional Māori society preserved history through narratives, songs, and chants; skilled experts could recite the tribal genealogies back for hundreds of years. Arts included whaikōrero ( Oratory ), song composition in multiple genres, dance forms including Haka , as well as weaving, highly developed wood carving, and Tā Moko (tattoo). New Zealand has no native Land Mammals , apart from some rare Bat s. Birds, fish and sea mammals were important sources of protein. Māori cultivated food plants which they had brought with them from Polynesia, including Sweet Potatoes (called kūmara), and Taro . They also cultivated the Cabbage Tree , a plant endemic to New Zealand. Cannibalism , as elsewhere in the Pacific, played a very small part in the diet. EARLY CONTACT PERIOD Explorers and other visitors .]] The first Europeans known to reach New Zealand were the crew of Dutch explorer Abel Tasman who arrived in his ships ''Heemskerck'' and ''Zeehaen''. Tasman anchored at the northern end of the South Island in December 1642 but sailed northward to Tonga following a clash with local Māori. Tasman sketched sections of the two main islands' west coasts. Tasman called them Staten Landt (after the '' States-General Of The Netherlands '') and that name appeared on his first maps of the country. Dutch cartographers changed the name to '''Nova Zeelandia''' in Latin which derived from '''Nieuw Zeeland''' (after the Dutch Province of '' Zeeland ''). It was subsequently Anglicised as '''New Zealand''' by British naval captain James Cook of HM Bark ''Endeavour'' who Visited the islands more than 100 years after Tasman during ( 1769 – 1770 ). Cook returned to New Zealand on both of his Subsequent Voyages . Various claims have been made that New Zealand was reached by other non-Polynesian voyagers before Tasman but these are not widely accepted. For instance, journalist Peter Trickett in '' Beyond Capricorn '' claims the first Europeans to reach New Zealand may have been Portuguese explorers led by Cristóvão De Mendonça in 1522. He bases his claim on a large island shown on a 16th century French copy of a Portuguese map, which, he maintains, closely resembles the North Island. According to his theory, supported by the discovery of a cannonball and helmet "of probable Portuguese origin" on the seabed in Wellington Harbour in the early 1900s, a Portuguese fleet was pushed eastwards from Australia by storms. University Of Auckland history professor James Belich said claims that the French and Chinese discovered New Zealand prior to Abel Tasman in 1642 had also been put forward. "I think there are a number of theories of this kind and all are highly unlikely."1 From the 1790s the waters around New Zealand were visited by British, French and American Whaling , Sealing and trading ships. Their crews traded European goods, including guns and metal tools, for Māori food, water, wood, Flax and sex. 2 Māori were reputed to be enthusiastic and canny traders. Although there were some conflicts, such as the killing of French explorer Marc-Joseph Marion Du Fresne and the destruction of the ''Boyd'', most contact between Māori and European was peaceful. From the 1800s Missionaries began settling in New Zealand and attempting to convert Māori to Christianity and control the considerably lawless European visitors. Māori response The impact of contact on Māori varied. In some inland areas life went on more or less unchanged, although a European metal tool such as a fish-hook or hand axe might be acquired through trade with other tribes. At the other end of the scale, tribes that frequently encountered Europeans, such as Ngā Puhi in Northland , underwent major changes. Pre-European Māori had no distance weapons and the introduction of the Musket had an enormous impact on Māori warfare. Tribes with muskets would attack tribes without them, killing or enslaving many. As a result guns became very valuable and Māori would trade huge quantities of goods for a single musket. The Musket Wars died out in the 1830s after most tribes had acquired muskets and a new balance of power was achieved. Around this time many Māori converted to Christianity . The reasons for this have been hotly debated but may include social and cultural disruption caused by the Musket Wars and European contact. The appeal of a religion that promotes peace and forgiveness, a desire to emulate the Europeans and to gain a similar abundance of material goods, and a Polytheistic culture that had little difficulty accepting new gods may all be factors in the conversion. But it is obvious to anyone who visits Polynesia that Māori are not the only enthusiastic believers in western religions. European settlement European settlement increased through the early decades of the nineteenth century, with numerous trading stations established, especially in the North. The first full-blooded European infant in the territory, Thomas King, was born in 1815 in the Bay Of Islands . Many Europeans bought land from Māori, but misunderstanding and different concepts of land ownership led to conflict and bitterness. In 1839 , the New Zealand Company announced plans to buy large tracts of land and establish colonies in New Zealand. This alarmed the Missionaries , who called for British control of European settlers in New Zealand. BRITISH SOVEREIGNTY In 1788 the colony of New South Wales had been founded. According to Captain Phillip's amended Commission, dated 25 April 1787, the colony included ''all the islands adjacent in the Pacific Ocean'' and running westward on the continent to the 135th meridian. Until 1840 this, technically, included New Zealand, but it had no real impact as the New South Wales administration had little interest in New Zealand.For example, the UK Act ''New South Wales Judicature Act'' 1823 made specific provision for administration of justice by the New South Wales Courts; stating "And be it further enacted that the said supreme courts in New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land respectively shall and may inquire of hear and determine all treasons piracies felonies robberies murders conspiracies and other offences of what nature or kind soever committed or that shall be committed upon the sea or in any haven river creek or place where the admiral or admirals have power authority or jurisdiction or committed or that shall be committed in the islands of New Zealand". In response to complaints about lawless white sailors and adventurers, in New Zealand, the British Government appointed James Busby as Official Resident in 1832. In 1834 he encouraged Māori chiefs to assert their sovereignty with the signing of the '' Declaration Of Independence '' in 1835 . This was acknowledged by King William IV . Busby was provided with neither legal authority nor military support and was thus ineffective in controlling the European population. Treaty of Waitangi .]] In 1839 the New Zealand Company announced its plans to establish colonies in New Zealand. This, and the continuing lawlessness of many of the established settlers, spurred the British to take stronger action. Captain William Hobson was sent to New Zealand to persuade Māori to cede their Sovereignty to the British Crown . On 6 February 1840 Hobson and about forty Māori chiefs signed the Treaty Of Waitangi at Waitangi in the Bay Of Islands . Copies of the Treaty were subsequently taken around the country to be signed by other chiefs. A significant number refused to sign or were not asked but, in total, more than five hundred Māori eventually signed. The Treaty gave Māori control over their lands and possessions and all of the rights of British citizens. What it gave the British in return depends on the language-version of the Treaty that is referred to. The English version can be said to give the British Crown Sovereignty over New Zealand but the Māori version the Crown receives ''kawanatanga''—that, arguably, is a lesser power (see Treaty Of Waitangi#Meaning And Interpretation ). Dispute over the true meaning and the intent of either party remains an issue. Britain was motivated by the desire to forestall other European powers (France established a very small settlement at Akaroa in the South Island later in 1840), to facilitate settlement by British subjects and, possibly, to end the lawlessness of European (predominantly British and American) whalers, sealers and traders. Officials and missionaries had their own positions and reputations to protect. Māori chiefs were motivated by a desire for protection from foreign powers, the establishment of governorship over European settlers and traders in New Zealand, and to allow for wider settlement that would increase trade and prosperity for Māori.3 Hobson died in September 1842. Robert FitzRoy , the new governor, took some legal steps to recognise Māori custom. However, his successor, George Grey , promoted rapid Cultural Assimilation and reduction of the land ownership, influence and rights of the Māori. The practical effect of the Treaty was, in the beginning, only gradually felt, especially in predominantly Māori regions. COLONIAL PERIOD Having been administered, through 1840 when the treaty was signed, as a part of the Australian colony of New South Wales , New Zealand became a colony in its own right on 3 May 1841 . It was divided into Provinces that were reorganised in 1846 and in 1853, when they acquired their own legislatures, and then abolished in 1876. The country rapidly gained some measure of self-government through the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 , which established central and provincial government. Immigration See Also: Immigration to New Zealand From 1840 there was considerable European settlement, primarily from and Bohemia John Wilson. 'Central and South-eastern Europeans', Te Ara—the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 26-Sep-2006, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/NewZealanders/NewZealandPeoples/CentralAndSouth-easternEuropeans/en in what is now the Czech Republic . Already a majority of the population by 1859, the number of white settlers (called '' Pākehā '' by Māori) increased rapidly to reach a million by 1911 . In the 1870s and 1880s, several thousand Chinese men, mostly from the Guangdong province, migrated to New Zealand to work on the South Island goldfields. Although the first Chinese migrants had been invited by the Otago Provincial government they quickly became the target of hostility from white settlers and laws were enacted specifically to discourage them from coming to New Zealand.Manying Ip. 'Chinese', Te Ara—the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 21-Dec-2006, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/NewZealanders/NewZealandPeoples/Chinese/en Māori adaptation and resistance Māori had initially welcomed Pākehā for the trading opportunities they brought. However it soon became clear that they had underestimated the number of settlers that would arrive in their lands. Iwi (tribes) whose land was the base of the main settlements quickly lost much of their land and autonomy. Others prospered—until about 1860 the city of Auckland bought most of its food from Māori who grew and sold it themselves. Many iwi owned flour mills, ships and other items of European technology, some exported food to Australia . Although race relations were generally peaceful in this period there were conflicts over who had ultimate power in particular areas—the Governor or the Māori chiefs. One such conflict was the Northern or Flagstaff War of the 1840s during which the town of Kororareka was destroyed. As the Pākehā population increased, pressure grew on Māori to sell more land. A few tribes had become nearly landless and others were fearful of losing their lands because, as well as an economic resource, land is the basis of Māori identity and a connection with their ancestors. Land was held communally, it was not given up without discussion and consultation—or loss during warfare. Pākehā had little understanding of all of that and accused Māori of holding onto land they did not use efficiently. Competition for land was a primary cause of the New Zealand Land Wars of the 1860s and 1870s, in which the Taranaki and Waikato regions were invaded by colonial troops and Māori of these regions had much of their land taken from them. The wars and confiscation have left a legacy of bitterness that remains to this day. Some iwi sided with the government and, later, fought with the government. They were motivated partly by the thought that an alliance with the government would benefit them, and partly by old feuds with the iwi they fought against. One result of their co-operation strategy was the establishment of the four Māori Seats in parliament, in 1867. Following the wars some Māori began a strategy of Passive Resistance , most famously at Parihaka in Taranaki. Others continued co-operating with Pākehā. For example, tourism ventures were established by Te Arawa around Rotorua . Resisting and co-operating iwi both found that the Pākehā desire for land had not gone away. In the last decades of the century most iwi lost substantial amounts of land through the activities of the Native Land Court . This was set up to give Māori land ''European-style'' titles and to establish ''exactly'' who owned it. Due to its Eurocentric rules, the high fees, its location remote from the lands in question, and unfair practices by many Pākehā land agents, its main effect was to directly or indirectly separate Māori from their land. The combinations of war, confiscations, disease, land loss leading to poor housing and alcohol abuse, and general disillusionment, caused a fall in the Māori population from around 86,000 in 1769 to around 70,000 in 1840 and around 48,000 by 1874, hitting a low point of 42,000 in 1896.4 Subsequently their numbers began to recover. South Island While the North Island was convulsed by the Land Wars , the South Island, with its low Māori population, was generally peaceful. In 1861 gold was discovered at Gabriel's Gully in Central Otago , sparking a Gold Rush . Dunedin became the wealthiest city in the country and many in the South Island resented financing the North Island’s wars. In 1865 Parliament voted on a Bill to make the South Island independent but it was defeated 17 to 31. The South Island contained most of the Pākehā population until around 1900 when the North Island again took the lead and has supported an ever greater majority of the country's total population through the Twentieth Century and into the twenty-first. 1890s Major changes occurred during this decade. The economy—based on wool and local trade—changed to the export of frozen meat and dairy products to Britain . This change was enabled by the invention of Refrigerated shipping that allowed foodstuff to be transported over long distances. Refrigerated shipping remained the basis of New Zealand’s economy until the 1970s. The high price of skim milk powder and butter in the 21st century has returned the economy to those products again. The decade also saw the advent of Party Politics with the establishment of the First Liberal Government . This government established the basis of the Welfare State , with Old Age Pensions , developed a system for settling industrial disputes, which was accepted by both employers and Unions , and Extended Voting Rights To Women , making New Zealand the first country in the world to enact Universal Female Suffrage . DOMINION AND REALM New Zealand decided against joining the Commonwealth Of Australia in 1901 , and instead changed from being a Colony to a separate " Dominion " in 1907, equal in status to Australia and Canada . First World War See Also: Military history of New Zealand#First World War 1914-1918 The country remained an enthusiastic member of the British Empire , and many New Zealanders fought in World War I (see New Zealand Expeditionary Force ). New Zealand forces took Western Samoa from Germany in the early stages of the war, and New Zealand administered the country until Samoan Independence in 1962. Depression Like most other countries, New Zealand was hard hit by the Great Depression of the 1930s. Attempts by the conservative Liberal-Reform Coalition to deal with the situation with spending cuts and relief work were ineffective and unpopular. In 1935, the First Labour Government was elected and established a full Welfare State , which included free healthcare and education and state assistance for the elderly, infirm, and unemployed. The programme was retained and expanded by successive National and Labour governments. Second World War See Also: Military history of New Zealand#Second World War 1939-1945 When World War II broke out, New Zealand again contributed many troops. They mostly fought in Europe, relying on the British Navy and later the United States to protect New Zealand from the Japanese forces. This began a policy of co-operation with the United States which resulted in the ANZUS Treaty between New Zealand, America and Australia in 1951. Māori urbanisation Many Māori fought in World War II, and many others moved from their rural homes to the cities to take up jobs vacated by Pākehā servicemen. The Māori population had increased in the early twentieth century and the culture had undergone a renaissance thanks in part to politician Apirana Ngata . World War II saw the beginning of a mass Māori migration to the cities, and by the 1980s 80% of the Māori population was urban, in contrast to only 20% before the war. The migration led to better pay, standards of living and education for most Māori, but also exposed problems of Racism and discrimination. By the late 1960s, a protest movement had emerged to combat racism, promote Māori culture and seek fulfillment of the Treaty Of Waitangi . Post-war The Māori protest movement was just one of several movements which emerged at this time to challenge the conservatism of mainstream New Zealand culture. This culture, and the country's economy, was based on being an offshoot of Britain. From the 1890s, the economy had been based almost entirely on the export of frozen meat and dairy products to Britain. This system was irreparably damaged by Britain joining the European Economic Community in 1973. Britain's accession to the European Community forced New Zealand to not only find new markets, but also re-examine its national identity and place in the world. The Prime Minister from 1975 to 1984, Robert Muldoon and his Third National Government responded to the crises of the 1970s by attempting to preserve the New Zealand of the 1950s. His conservatism and antagonistic style helped create an atmosphere of conflict in New Zealand, most violently expressed during the 1981 Springbok Tour . Some innovations did take place, for example the Closer Economic Relations agreement with Australia , and in 1983 the term "dominion" was replaced with "realm" by letters patent. Reform In 1984, the Fourth Labour Government was elected. Propelled into office amid a Constitutional And Economic Crisis , the new government embarked on a policy of restructuring, known as Rogernomics . This involved floating the New Zealand dollar, cutting government spending, reducing most taxes and introducing a sales tax (GST), and removing almost all industry subsidies. Although many of these changes improved the economy, they also created widespread unemployment, which was made worse by the 1987 Stock Market Crash . The Fourth Labour Government also revolutionised New Zealand's foreign policy, making the country a Nuclear-free Zone and effectively leaving the ANZUS alliance. Immigration policy was liberalised, allowing an influx of immigrants from Asia . Previously most immigrants to New Zealand had been European and especially British, apart from some migrants from other Pacific Islands such as Samoa . Other fourth Labour government innovations included greater recognition of the Treaty Of Waitangi through the Waitangi Tribunal , Homosexual Law Reform , the Constitution Act 1986 and the New Zealand Bill Of Rights . Unhappy with the speed and extent of reforms, voters elected a new National Government in 1990, led by Jim Bolger . However the new government continued the economic reforms of the previous Labour government. Unhappy with what seemed to be a pattern of governments failing to reflect the mood of the electorate, New Zealanders voted to change the electoral system to Mixed Member Proportional (MMP), a form of Proportional Representation . New Zealand's First MMP Election was held in 1996. Following the election National was returned to power in coalition with the New Zealand First Party. New Zealand today The Fifth Labour Government led by Helen Clark was elected in 1999 and is the current government of New Zealand. It has maintained most of the previous governments' economic reforms - restricting government intervention in the economy much more so than previous governments - while putting more of an emphasis on social policy and outcomes. For example, employment law has been modified to give more protection to workers, and the Student Loan system has been changed to eliminate interest payments for New Zealand resident students and graduates. New Zealand retains strong but informal links to Britain, with many young New Zealanders travelling to Britain for their "OE" ( Overseas Experience ) due to favourable working visa arrangements with Britain. A few constitutional links to Britain remain - the New Zealand Sovereign is a British resident, for example. However, British imperial honours were discontinued in 1996, the Governor-General has taken a more active role in representing New Zealand overseas, and appeals from the Court Of Appeal to the Judicial Committee Of The Privy Council were replaced by a local Supreme Court Of New Zealand in 2003. Despite immigration liberalisation in the 1980s, Britons are still the largest group of migrants to New Zealand, due in part to recent immigration law changes which privilege fluent speakers of English. Foreign policy has been essentially independent since the mid 1980s. New Zealand contributed troops to the Afghanistan War , but did not contribute troops to the Iraq War although some medical and engineering units were sent. For a developed country, New Zealand's economy is still very dependent on farming, although the old trinity of meat, dairy and wool has been supplemented by fruit, wine, timber and other products. Tourism is a major industry, and the country has been successful in attracting several major film productions, most notably the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, directed by New Zealander Peter Jackson . REFERENCES FURTHER READING There are many general histories of New Zealand, the best of which include:
Two online works of reference are very helpful:
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