The White Man’s Anger

[The latest post in our ongoing Oceania Day series comes from the strategist who teaches us about the military history of his home country, and how it influenced modern warfare. — YH]

In the mid-19th century, fighting raged across much of New Zealand’s North Island as Maori tribes resisted the advance of British troops and land-hungry settlers.These conflicts are called the New Zealand Wars, or Te Rire Pakeha — a Maori phrase meaning ‘the white man’s anger’.

Sparks

Maori are a Polynesian people who migrated from the eastern Pacific around 1350 AD. By 1840, when Britain assumed sovereignty over New Zealand, Maori lived in subsistence-based tribal communities. After 1840 British settlers began arriving in earnest. Many Maori grew concerned about land loss, and formed the ‘King Movement’, a landholding alliance centred on the Waikato confederation. Concurrently, the British became exasperated that Maori tribes retained their independence and seemed disinclined to obey British law.

Land and sovereignty sparked conflict. But not all tribes took up arms against the British — some were neutral, some fought with the Crown, and some did all three at different times.

‘Encampment of Chute’s forces near Putahi pa, on the Whenuakura River’: Major Gustavus von Tempsky.

Conflagration

Although there were limited conflicts in the 1840s, the heaviest fighting occurred between 1860-72. In Taranaki and Waikato (1860-64), imperial and colonial troops were deployed against the King Movement. The Taranaki fighting ended in stalemate, after the British failed to break a line of fortifications. But the British invaded and occupied Waikato, the King Movement’s heartland, fighting pitched battles and using steamships on rivers to outflank Maori defences.

Then came bush fighting campaigns (1864-72), in which units of frontiersmen and their native allies (_kupapa_) fought the war parties of Maori prophets. Using charismatic leadership and skillful tactics, Maori leaders Titokowaru and Te Kooti inflicted severe defeats. But the colonial forces also had inspired leaders – including Major Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui and the Prussian Major Gustavus von Tempsky. Through irregular tactics and dogged pursuit, such commanders were able to wear down Maori resistance.

The wars featured several innovations, most significantly the ‘modern pa’. These were Maori fortifications, engineered to nullify the British advantage in superior weaponry and numbers, which consisted of anti-artillery bunkers and fighting trenches. Defenders could sit out bombardments, then decimate storming parties from concealed firing positions. Pa were formidable defences, and British forces suffered heavy losses when attacking pa.

Irregular units also featured prominently, partly because imperial troops could not adapt to an unorthodox bush-fighting style. The Forest Rangers, Colonial Defence Force cavalry, and Kupapa bands were used for scouting, pursuit and forest fighting. The Kupapa were independent contingents, armed by the British but led by tribal chiefs, similar in style to Goth contingents who fought for the Western Roman empire.

Embers

Maori resisted the British advance with some success, inflicting reverses on British forces. But ultimate defeat broke Maori independence, and cleared the way for a flood of settlers, land confiscation and laws which by 1900 stripped Maori of most of their land. Today, New Zealand is grappling with the consequences of the ‘white man’s anger’, as tribes seek Government redress, and many Maori continue to suffer poverty, landlessness and crime.