The New Zealand Wars
The land question is answered with troops. Taranaki, then the Waikato, then the Bay of Plenty and the East Coast. Confiscation takes 1.2 million hectares, the Native Land Court takes most of the rest, and gold shifts the country’s wealth to the south.
16 events under way between 1860 and 1872
First Taranaki War
British artillery opened on Te Kōhia pā, beginning a year of fighting over the Waitara purchase that ended in an inconclusive truce.
Te Kōhia pā, WaitaraGold found at Gabriel’s Gully
Gabriel Read’s find more than quadrupled Otago’s population in three years and made Dunedin the largest and wealthiest city in the country.
Gabriel’s Gully, TuapekaInvasion of the Waikato
Te riri ki Waikato
Around 12,000 imperial and colonial troops crossed the Mangatāwhiri to break the Kīngitanga — the largest military campaign ever fought in New Zealand.
MangatāwhiriBattle of Rangiriri
The bloodiest single engagement of the Waikato campaign, ending when a white flag raised to parley was treated as surrender.
RangiririNew Zealand Settlements Act — raupatu
Te raupatu whenua
The Crown took roughly 1.2 million hectares from iwi deemed to be in rebellion — including from communities that had never fought.
Pai Mārire spreads
Te Ua Haumēne’s faith, blending Christian and Māori belief, spread from Taranaki across the North Island and was met with force by the Crown.
TaranakiWest Coast gold rush
Thirty thousand miners crossed to the Coast in two years, and Hokitika briefly became one of the busiest ports in New Zealand.
HokitikaBattle of Ōrākau
About 300 defenders held an unfinished pā against 1,400 troops for three days, then broke out through the British lines in daylight.
ŌrākauGate Pā — Pukehinahina
A heavier bombardment than anything at Sebastopol failed to break the pā, and the assault that followed was routed by defenders in bunkers beneath it.
Pukehinahina, TaurangaThe capital moves to Wellington
Australian commissioners were asked to pick a more central capital, and chose Wellington. Auckland was furious and briefly talked of separation.
WellingtonThe Native Land Court is established
The court converted customary communal title into individual freehold — the mechanism by which most remaining Māori land was lost, without a shot fired.
Māori Representation Act
Four Māori seats were created as a temporary measure, giving Māori men the vote twelve years before all Pākehā men got it.
Tītokowaru’s campaign
Riwha Tītokowaru won a run of victories with a tiny force and had the colonial government close to losing the southern North Island, then his support evaporated.
South TaranakiTe Kooti escapes from Rēkohu
Deported without trial, Te Kooti seized a schooner, sailed 300 prisoners home, and led a four-year pursuit through the Urewera that never caught him.
Gisborne and Te UreweraUniversity of Otago founded
Gold money funded New Zealand’s first university, which opened to students in 1871 and admitted women from the start.
DunedinVogel’s public works and immigration scheme
Julius Vogel borrowed £10 million in London to build railways, roads and telegraph lines, and to bring 100,000 assisted migrants.