History of New Zealand

The first people to come to New Zealand, were probably people who are the ancestors of people who are Maoris today. It used to be guessed, and may be decided again in the future, that Maoris replaced a earlier group of migrants, but now it is felt that there may have been immigration to New Zeland from straight after human settlement, but that now it is felt that it is probably the case the Maoris, did not replace anybody, and just saw populations change. The Maoris, reached New Zealand sometime between 500 and 1000 AD. Probably arriving there in 800AD. In the Medieval era, using technoloagy to be able to rise into mountains more easilly. Look at http://www.lonympics.co.uk/

The Maoris arrived and saw a New Zealand full of forests, and valleys, that were different to the Pacific isles, they almost certainly came from. The isle was named the land of the long white cloud. The island was inhabited by unusual animals, such as 10 foot birds, A site on giant sloths, and a link to the subject of 10 feet tall terror birds, from 2 million years ago, that could catch and eat large mammals

The species were hunted by huge eagles with massive wing spans, and these naimls, saw the early Maori colonisers, begin hunting some, aswell as other species.

The Maori people pushed onto the South Island, and colonised well. In the end there were more people in the North island, by the 1780s just as now.

In the 18thCentury Britain started sending people on explorations, and Captain Cook, saw the isles, these explorers sent by the British state, to increase resources for it's elite, and glory, saw their contact quite accidently spread disease. But in the meantime they started colonies. these colonies in the mid 19thCentury were mostly whale hunting, and the odd then gold colony, The Maoris had been promissed to be left with tehri lands, till the British tehn decided to takle more land, and send in more colonisers, who wanted gold. This caused a war between the Maoris and British. This war saw Maori hillforts defend themselves well in quite large unified commans, against the Brits, a thing dispersed Aboriginees, and Native Americans, had never been able to do so well, possibluy as they were so far away from eachother and able to be divided into piece meal groups to conquer. In the end the Maori population had fallen allot, and the British won, but 100s of British soldiers, and 1000s of New Zealand soldiers, had died in Maori wars, (including in my stat the cannibalistic attack on some Brits in the 1800s.)

Maoris did have a tradition before the mid 19thC of cannibalism, the point in this it seems was the humiliation of your opponent, but by the mid 19thC, it was felt the act itself was humiliating to the people who did it too.

Maoris seem to have adopted Christiainity in large numbers, but to have kept much of their culture alive, and if you compare them with the otehr lands colonised by what can be called by some the white commonwealth, not that people in those lands, really want to be called that today, (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and lets add on the USA, as a former British colony), Then the Maoris, have the best standard of living today of all the peoples dominated by British colonisation. It is felt as they saw colonisation later, and were able to defend themselves better.

In the Mid 19thC, the British population overtook in numbers the Maori populatiion, and kept expanding via migrants for Godl and sheep farming, and other jobs to do with those booming industries.

New Zealand's colonisers, though came from a democartising Britain, that was about to stop being so imperialist from 1906.

And the people were able to see democartioc parliaments set up. New Zeland, was a first country to give women eth vote, and gave votes to Maoris, and the British population. The Maoris vote was segragated into it's elections. This was as the Maoris still had large numbers, and the British leaders wanted to assimilate them ino British rule rather than see them be opponents. So in a way democarcy,a nd Maori population totals helped Maoris not be attacked by huge numbders of British expanisionism, which occurred in Australia, and the US, and Canada earlier.

The New Zealand Labour Party formed, with a rival business party, and tehse fought out elections. New Zeland developed welfare, and stuff, like that, and also saw it's bsuiness community have some power, but lose that in the late 19thC, earlier, but still keep some. Labour formed alliances with maoris in the Mid 19thC, Vut was esentially a British immigrant based party of course, New XZeland, saw huge casulaties in both World Wars,

In the 1970s it saw Britain stop importing so much food from it, so it started privatisationm this in the 1980s, saw inequality increase, so the Lab government doing this saw approval ratings in opposition drop to 2%. Tecently Labour came back to power and pursuded more left wing polices like for rents for working families, as they would say, I.e. working class people, thsi policy saw Labour win 3 elections in a row. New Zealand is the only country out of Britain, Australia, Canada, and it, to have PR, which sees coalition regimes at with Greens, and other Parties, The Ntional Party oppoistion recently used opposition to Maoris, asking for more righst againm to up votes, and a Maori party had formed, for more nat ways, and even more rights. Such as how treaties which favoured it, were changed for eth benefot of the whole population, when many would say this would not have happened if the treaty benefitted rich people,

Here are some more sites, there are books and articles on the subjects in many internet places, or internet book shops, bookstores, at the bottom, are lists of which were the worst regimes of the past few centuries.

An Index with links to almost all our sites.

A site on the El Nino Famines that killed 10s of millions of Indians, and Chinese and others in the 19th Century

The Highland Clearances

The Top 10 New Zealand Sporting results ever

A History of Australia

A site on the Belgian Congo, and how the king of that land killed 10s of millions of Congolese

Why the French Revolution was good

A History of Trinidad and Tobago

A History of Jamaica

The most evil regimes of the 19th Century

A site on 1640s Britain

Worst 18th Century regimes