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179-407: [REDACTED] Royal Navy [REDACTED] British Army [REDACTED] Colonial fleet [REDACTED] Volunteer and [REDACTED] militia [REDACTED] Waikato The invasion of the Waikato became the largest and most important campaign of the 19th-century New Zealand Wars . Hostilities took place in the North Island of New Zealand between the military forces of

358-416: A 12-pounder Armstrong in the bows—as well as boats, barges and canoes. But Māori defences had also grown: the so-called Meremere Line—a 22 km-long line of fortifications that spread from Pukekawa to Meremere and Paparata—had been built, commanding about 2000 square kilometres of bush and manned by a force of up to 1500. The Meremere Line allowed bands of between 20 and 200 Māori warriors to freely cross

537-646: A Crimean War veteran who had replaced Major-General Thomas Pratt as commander-in-chief of the British troops, began the invasion with fewer than 4000 effective troops in Auckland at his disposal. But the continuous arrival of regiments from overseas rapidly swelled the force. (Total troop numbers reached 10,000 in January 1864 before peaking at about 14,000 in March 1864—9000 imperial troops, more than 4000 colonial and

716-428: A Pukekohe East church on 14 September, losing about 40 men, and the same day a 20-man Ngāti Pou force attacked a homestead at Paerata, midway between Pukekohe and Drury, but were driven off by neighbours. The turning point for Cameron came in late October when hundreds of Waikato militia replaced regulars at the outposts, another 500 imperial troops arrived from Australia—now giving him a striking force of almost 2000 and

895-664: A much more limited form of home rule , opted-out of joining the Free State and remained part of the Union under this limited form of self-government. In light of these changes, the British state was renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on 12 April 1927 with the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act . The modern-day United Kingdom is the same state, that is to say a direct continuation of what remained after

1074-462: A pā at the agricultural village of Ōrākau, near Kihikihi , to challenge the troops, explaining that their guns and ammunition had been carried a long distance and were "too heavy to carry all this way for nothing". Although he strongly opposed the plan, convinced it would result in their defeat, Rewi relented—possibly in return for the loyalty they had shown in crossing the North Island to join

1253-533: A British advance up the Waikato River into Ngāti Raukawa territory and Matamata beyond. Cameron remained at Rangiaowhia, preparing to pursue him. Rewi Maniapoto, with the other main division, moved south into the Hangitiki Valley to defend Ngati Maniapoto bases. Ngati Maniapoto fighters and their allies remained determined to continue the war, but were divided over their strategy: whether to guard

1432-455: A Māori force of about 500 men, mostly armed with double-barreled shotguns and muskets . About 3pm Cameron launched a two-hour bombardment from artillery and gunboats. Without waiting for Leslie's division, which was delayed by adverse conditions on the river, he began his frontal attack, storming the Māori positions across a 600m gap under heavy fire and immediately suffering casualties. Members of

1611-473: A battle force of more than 1400 men, launched an attack on Rangiriri, further up the Waikato River. The battle cost both sides more than any other engagement of the land wars and also resulted in the capture of 180 Māori combatants, which impacted on their subsequent ability to oppose the far bigger British force. The Rangiriri line, engineered by Te Wharepu, a leading Waikato chief, was a one kilometre-long system of deep trenches and high parapets that ran between

1790-481: A coastal road at nearby Ōakura , killing all but one of the 10 soldiers. The ambush, ordered by Rewi, may have been planned as an assassination attempt on Grey, who regularly rode the track between New Plymouth and the Tataraimaka military post. Imperial troops were moved back to Taranaki as hostilities resumed and on 4 June the new British commander, Lieutenant-General Duncan Cameron , led 870 troops to attack

1969-550: A commitment to the landed aristocracy. He used his London residence as a venue for intimate dinners and private consultations, together with extensive correspondence that kept him in close touch with party leaders in the Commons and with leading figures in the Lords. He gave public rhetorical support to Ultra-Tory anti-reform positions, but then deftly changed positions toward the party's centre, especially when Peel needed support from

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2148-493: A complete list, see Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs . The coalition that defeated Napoleon was financed by Britain, and held together at the Congress of Vienna in 1814–1815. It successfully broke Napoleon's comeback attempt in 1815. Castlereagh played a central role at Vienna, along with Austrian leader Klemens von Metternich . While many Europeans wanted to punish France heavily, Castlereagh insisted on

2327-595: A constitutional government there and recognising the independence of Spain's American colonies after their wars of independence in 1824. British merchants and financiers and, later, railway builders, played major roles in the economies of most Latin American nations. In the 1825 to 1867 era, widespread public demonstrations, some of them violent, escalated to demand reform. The ruling Tories were dead set against anything smacking of democracy or popular rule and favoured severe punishment of demonstrators, as exemplified by

2506-437: A dozen houses were burned down. The British claimed they killed 12 Māori, including two chiefs, and took 30 prisoners. Their own losses totaled five, including several officers. Some unofficial estimates suggest there were more than 100 Māori deaths. As the village was largely occupied by women, children and older men, the deaths have been regarded as murder, rather than an act of war. When Cameron's forces returned to Te Awamutu,

2685-422: A few hundred kūpapa , or pro-British Māori.) Cameron's initial invasion force set up camp on the site of an old pā on a hill above the stream. Reinforcements continued to arrive and within days he had 500 troops. On the morning of 17 July Cameron led 553 men on a raid on a new and unfinished entrenchment at Koheroa, near Mercer. Cameron ran ahead of his force after they took early fire from Māori outposts and

2864-463: A few minor cabinet positions, but his reputation rests on his organising skills and his rhetorical leadership for reform. One historian summarised Bright's achievements: Kingmaker Philosophers Works A kingmaker is a person or group that has great influence on a monarchy or royal in their political succession, without themselves being a viable candidate. Kingmakers may use political, monetary, religious, and military means to influence

3043-402: A head. In March Kingites obstructed the construction of a police station at Te Kohekohe, near Meremere , and 80 armed warriors raided the 80 hectare property at Te Awamutu occupied by magistrate and Commissioner John Gorst , seizing the printing press on which he published a newspaper and taking it to Kihikihi. The raiders, led by Rewi Maniapoto and Wiremu Kīngi , sent a message to Gorst—who

3222-419: A long process, emphasising the urgent need in 1832 to settle the intense and growing political unrest across Britain. He believed that the respectable classes deserved to have their demands for greater representation met, but he refused to extend political power to the mass of the lower middle class and working class, saying that they were not ready to be trusted with it. He wanted to preserve the basic elements of

3401-572: A low profile and was deceptively strong. Cameron arrived at Rangiriri with about 850 men, chiefly of the 65th , 14th and 12th regiments, to make the frontal assault. A second division of 320 men of the 40th Regiment under Lieut-Colonel Arthur Leslie with additional naval backup, were transported by barge further south with the aim of gaining possession of a ridge 500 metres behind the main entrenchment and cutting off any escape. The assault force, armed with three Armstrong guns , revolvers, Enfield rifles with fixed bayonets and hand grenades , faced

3580-521: A major impact on British opinion at the time and on history ever since as a symbol of officialdom brutally suppressing a peaceful demonstration thinking mistakenly that it was the start of an insurrection. The Ultra-Tories peaked in strength about 1819–1822 then lost ground inside the Tory Party. They were defeated in important breakthroughs that took place in the late 1820s in terms of tolerating first dissenting Protestants. An even more decisive blow

3759-666: A march on the village of Pokeno, but managed to pursue their attackers and inflict some casualties. In mid-August the British established an alternative supply line to the Great South Road, using a combination of steamers from Onehunga to the Waikato Heads and canoes paddled up the Waikato by friendly Māori to Queen's Redoubt at Pokeno. But on 7 September a Ngāti Maniapoto war party launched an attack on that supply line, killing resident magistrate James Armitage—who

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3938-475: A metre deep and the entire system was surrounded by a post and three-rail fence. The pā was defended by between 200 and 250 warriors—mainly Tūhoe and Ngāti Raukawa—drawn from at least nine tribes, as well as about 50 women and children. Early on 30 March two surveyors working at Kihikihi observed through a telescope construction of entrenchments at the Ōrākau pā and immediately passed the information to Brigadier General G. J. Carey , who had been left in charge of

4117-572: A mild peace, with the Kingdom of France to pay 700 million livre in indemnities and lose the territory seized after 1791. He realised that harsher terms would lead to a dangerous reaction in France, and now that the conservative old-fashioned Bourbons were back in power, they were no longer a threat to attempt to conquer all of Europe. Indeed, Castlereagh emphasised the need for a " balance of power ", whereby no nation would be powerful enough to threaten

4296-502: A party of about 50 Māori on the Tataraimaka block, killing 24. Concerned by the renewed aggression, some Kingites began resurrecting their plan to raid Auckland and its frontier settlements. The colonial ministry remained unconvinced Auckland or Wellington were in any danger and had refused to call out the Auckland militia following the Ōakura ambush, and missionaries and even Gorst dismissed the likelihood of an attack. But in correspondence to London Grey cited that incident as further proof of

4475-541: A popular revolution along the French model, employed severe repression. In the mid-1820s, however, as popular unrest increased, the government made a series of dramatic changes. The more liberal among the Tories rejected the ultraconservative "Ultra Tory" faction. The party split, key leaders switched sides, the Tories lost power, and the more liberally minded opposition Whigs took over. The Tory coalition fell apart, and it

4654-462: A proclamation directed to the "Chiefs of Waikato", which read: Europeans living quietly on their own lands in Waikato have been driven away; their property has been plundered; their wives and children have been taken from them. By the instigation of some of you, officers and soldiers were murdered at Taranaki. Others of you have since expressed approval of these murders ... You are now assembling in armed bands; you are constantly threatening to come down

4833-413: A series of about 20 stockades and redoubts all over the district, designed to protect the supply line and impede the ability of Māori to attack further north. Each stockade needed its own garrison—from 25 to 55 men—and supply line, eventually accounting for almost 6000 of his men, further draining him of frontline manpower. But Māori raids continued: almost 200 Ngāti Maniapoto surrounded a militia stockade at

5012-409: A settler cutting timber at Pukekiwiriki near Papakura and were pursued into the forest by the Auckland militia. Seven Māori were killed. When two more settlers were killed at isolated farms near Drury on 24 July, the government formed a special corps of bush fighters named the "Forest Rangers", who began a series of bush reconnaissance missions and pursuits of armed Māori bands. Cameron wrote: "The bush

5191-415: A shot was fired at Mair as he withdrew, grazing his shoulder, the British forces responded with a heavier hail of grenades, artillery and gunfire. The Ōrākau garrison repulsed two more attempts by the Waikato militia to rush the north-west outworks, but at 4:00 pm the chiefs, realising the end was near, decided to break out. Placing women and children in the middle of the group and their best warriors in front,

5370-498: A small number of administrators who managed the units of the empire locally, while local institutions began to develop. British India , by far the most important overseas possession, saw a short-lived revolt in 1857. In overseas policy, the central policy was free trade , which enabled British financiers and merchants to operate successfully in many otherwise independent countries, as in South America. Beginning in earnest in

5549-399: A small plateau 350m to the west and about the same height above the pā . They were shooting across the front of the 40th Regiment who were situated 250 m south of the pā behind a small hill. Early on 31 March the first attack was made on Ōrākau, whose parapets and exterior fence was still incomplete. The Ōrākau garrison spotted the attacking force to their west just minutes before the bugle

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5728-632: A successful campaign against the Corn Laws. These were tariffs on imported food that kept up the price of grain to placate Tory landowners. The major factor in the cost of living was the price of food , and the Corn Laws kept the price high. Bright was a powerful speaker, which boosted him to election to parliament in 1843. His radical program included extension of the suffrage, land reform and reduction of taxation. He opposed factory reforms, labour unions and controls on hours For workers, women and children, arguing that government intervention in economic life

5907-432: A title is looked upon significantly and more often as a means of indirect gratification for individuals wanting to silently dictate the affairs of the organization. The term is also occasionally used in a pejorative sense during elections where a small number of independent political candidate(s) who hold a sizeable sway in the "vote bank" can most likely decide the course of an outcome. As well as referring to an individual,

6086-409: A total of 8000 effectives—and a second river steamer, HMS Curacoa , was brought to the front. On 31 October a river flotilla including Avon , the gunboats Curacoa and Pioneer and armoured barges steamed past Meremere—drawing fire from rifle pits and batteries of ships guns, some of them firing pieces of iron chain and pound weights—and landed 600 men at Takapau, 15 km upriver, ready to attack

6265-495: A uniform fashion, and city officials were elected by the local taxpayers. By far the most important of the reforms was the democratisation of Parliament, which began in a small but highly controversial fashion in 1832 with the Reform Act of 1832 . The main impact was to drastically reduce the number of very small constituencies , with only a few dozen voters under the control of a local magnate. Industrial cities gained many of

6444-838: A watered-down reform. He routinely gave the same advice to foreign governments. Diplomats across Europe took careful note of his move from the Tories to the Whigs, and suspected him of sympathy with the reform movements which were setting off upheavals in France, Belgium and elsewhere, and which frightened the reactionary governments of the major powers Russia, Austria and Russia. In reality he drew his foreign policy ideals from Canning. His main goals were to promote British strategic and economic interests worldwide, remain aloof from European alliances, mediate peace in Europe and use British naval power sparingly as needed. He worried most about France as an adversary, although he collaborated with them as in securing

6623-436: Is now so infested with these natives that I have been obliged to establish strong posts along our line of communication, which absorbs so large a portion of the force that until I receive reinforcements it is impossible for me to advance further up the Waikato." By the end of August Cameron's forces had grown to 6000 effectives. He had the armoured 40-ton paddle-steamer Avon —20m long, drawing one metre of water and armed with

6802-719: The Allied and Associated Powers including the British Empire, France, Russia, Italy and the U.S. against the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire . The deadliest conflict in human history up to that point, the war ended in an Allied victory in November 1918 but inflicted a massive cost to British manpower, materiel and treasure. Growing desire for Irish self-governance led to

6981-644: The Battle of Rangiriri (November 1863)—which cost both sides more men than any other engagement of the New Zealand Wars—and the three-day-long Battle of Ōrākau (March–April 1864), which became arguably the best-known engagement of the New Zealand Wars and which inspired two films called Rewi's Last Stand . The campaign ended with the retreat of the Kingitanga Māori into the rugged interior of

7160-666: The British Empire . Industrial Revolution accelerated, with textile mills joined by iron and steel, coal mining, railroads and shipbuilding. The second British Empire, founded after the loss of the Thirteen Colonies in the American Revolutionary War of the 1770s, was dramatically expanded in India , other parts of Asia, and Africa. There was little friction with other colonial powers until

7339-477: The British Isles , but it was smaller in terms of industry, finance, mercantile marine and naval strength. Napoleon expected that cutting Britain off from Continental Europe would end its economic hegemony. On the contrary Britain possessed the greatest industrial capacity in the world, and its mastery of the seas allowed it to build up considerable economic strength through trade to its possessions and

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7518-677: The Continental System . This policy aimed to eliminate the threat from the British by closing French-controlled territory to foreign trade. The British Army remained a minimal threat to France; it maintained a standing strength of just 220,000 men at the height of the Napoleonic Wars, whereas the French Imperial Army exceeded a million men—in addition to the armies of numerous allies and several hundred thousand national guardsmen that Napoleon could draft into

7697-639: The Crimean War against the Russian Empire in the 1850s. That war was strictly limited in terms of scope and impact. The major result was the realisation that military medical services needed urgent reform, as advocated by the nursing leader Florence Nightingale . British diplomats, led by Lord Palmerston , promoted British nationalism, opposed reactionary regimes on the continent, helped the Spanish colonies to free themselves and worked to shut down

7876-518: The French Revolution in 1793. Historians find that the violent radical element was small and weak; there were a handful of small conspiracies involving men with few followers and careless security; they were quickly suppressed. Nevertheless, techniques of repression included the suspension of Habeas Corpus in 1817 (allowing the government to arrest and hold suspects without cause or trial). Sidmouth 's Gagging Acts of 1817 heavily muzzled

8055-532: The Industrial Revolution progressed, society changed, becoming more urban. The postwar period saw an economic slump, and poor harvests and inflation caused widespread social unrest. British leadership was intensely conservative, ever watchful of signs of revolutionary activity of the sort that had so deeply affected France. Historians have found very few signs, noting that social movements such as Methodism strongly encouraged conservative support for

8234-746: The Irish War of Independence almost immediately after the conclusion of World War I, which resulted in British recognition of the Irish Free State in 1922. Although the Free State was explicitly governed under dominion status and thus was not a fully independent polity, as a dominion it was no longer considered to be part of the United Kingdom and ceased to be represented in the Westminster Parliament . Six northeastern counties in Ireland, which since 1920 were being governed under

8413-579: The Peterloo Massacre in Manchester in 1819. The Tory ranks were cracking, however, especially when Robert Peel (1788–1830) broke away on several critical issues. Nevertheless, the Whig party gets most of the credit. The middle classes, often led by nonconformist Protestants, turned against the Tories and scored the greatest gains. For example, symbolic restrictions on nonconformists called

8592-824: The Principality of Elba , peace appeared to have returned. Napoleon suddenly reappeared in 1815. The Allies united and the armies of Wellington and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher defeated Napoleon once and for all at the Battle of Waterloo . To defeat France, Britain put heavy pressure on the United States , seizing merchant ships suspected of trading with France, and impressing sailors (conscription) born in Britain, regardless of their claimed American citizenship . British government agents armed Indigenous American tribes in Canada that were raiding American settlements on

8771-525: The Test Acts were abolished in 1828 . Much more controversial was the repeal of severe discrimination against Roman Catholics after the Irish Catholics organised, and threatened rebellion, forcing major concessions in 1829 . Financial reform, led by William Huskisson and Peel, rationalised the tariff system, and culminated in the great repeal of the tariffs on imported grain in 1846, much to

8950-522: The Waikato Raupatu Claims Settlement Act 1995 . (The Governor-General normally gives Royal Assent to legislation by signing on the monarch's behalf.) The First Taranaki War had ended in March 1861 as an uneasy truce between the government and Māori forces, with both sides recognising they had reached a stalemate. The lack of a clear victory by imperial forces led Governor Thomas Gore Browne to turn his attention to

9129-597: The colonial government and a federation of Māori tribes known as the Kingitanga Movement . The Waikato is a territorial region with a northern boundary somewhat south of the present-day city of Auckland . The campaign lasted for nine months, from July 1863 to April 1864. The invasion was aimed at crushing Kingite power (which European settlers saw as a threat to colonial authority) and also at driving Waikato Māori from their territory in readiness for occupation and settlement by European colonists. The campaign

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9308-509: The frontier . The Americans felt humiliated and demanded war to restore their honour, despite their complete unpreparedness. The War of 1812 was a minor sideshow to the British, but the American army performed very poorly, and was unable to successfully attack Canada. In 1813, the Americans took control of Lake Erie and thereby of western Ontario , knocking most of the Indian tribes out of

9487-566: The independence of Belgium from the Kingdom of the Netherlands . He much preferred liberal and reform-oriented nations to reactionary powers. He placed a high priority on building up British strength in India, He spoke often of pride in British nationalism, which found favour in public opinion and gave him a strong basis of support outside Parliament. Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) was an intellectual who focused on reforming English law . He

9666-459: The pā , from where they judged the defences were "immensely strong". Cameron, whose men continued to be targeted daily by sniper fire and attacks on short reconnaissance missions, decided that rather than a frontal attack, the more prudent approach would be to outflank the Paterangi line. He gained the help of two Māori guides, Himi Manuao (James Edwards) and John Gage, who had previously lived in

9845-539: The "betrayal" of the working classes and the "sacrificing" of their "interests" by the "misconduct" of the government. In 1838, Chartists issued the People's Charter demanding manhood suffrage, equal-sized election districts, voting by ballots, payment of Members of Parliament (so that poor men could serve), annual Parliaments, and abolition of property requirements. The ruling class saw the movement as dangerous. Multiple large peaceful meetings across England demanded change but

10024-408: The 12th and 14th regiments who tried to climb the earthworks near the centre of the line with the aid of ladders were shot down and within a short time 40 of the British were dead or wounded. Members of the 65th Regiment, however, were more successful in reaching the trenches at the river side of the fortification, bridging them with planks and penetrating the Māori line. They killed about 30 Māori, with

10203-621: The 150th anniversary of the battle in 2014, with a call made for a new memorial. Belich has described the Waikato campaign as one of the best-prepared and best organised ever undertaken by the British Army, proving that many lessons had been learned from the logistical fiasco of the Crimean War. He said the Commissariat Transport Corps (CTC), established in mid-1861, almost two years before the invasion began,

10382-455: The 150th anniversary was commemorated in 2014 with the unveiling of a plaque. Historian Vincent O'Malley has noted that Cameron would later become disillusioned with the war, suggesting that his role in ordering the attack on non-combatants may have been the beginnings of his "first pangs of remorse". Following the fall of the Paterangi line, Wiremu Tamihana, leading one of the two major Kingite divisions, retreated east to Maungatautari to block

10561-503: The 1790–1815 period there was an improvement in morals caused by the religious efforts by evangelicals inside the Church of England, and Dissenters or Nonconformist Protestants as people: became wiser, better, more frugal, more honest, more respectable, more virtuous, than they ever were before." Wickedness still flourished, but the good were getting better, as frivolous habits were discarded for more serious concerns. The leading moralist of

10740-469: The 1890s. British foreign policy avoided entangling alliances. Britain from the 1820s to the 1860s experienced a turbulent and exciting "age of reform". The century started with 15 years of war against France, ending in Wellington's triumph against Napoleon in 1815 at Waterloo. There followed 15 difficult years, in which the Tory Party, representing a small, rich landed aristocracy that was fearful of

10919-509: The 1960s and 1970s who argued against deep meanings of Whiggish progress because each of the reforms was relatively minor in itself. Historian Richard Davis concludes that the scholarship of the 1970s represented "a vindication of the main outlines of the old " Whig interpretation ." That is, the Reform Act of 1832 was a response to mounting popular pressure. It was "the culmination of a long historical process, and an important turning point in

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11098-521: The British Empire, in practice, these governments were permitted greater management of their own internal affairs, with Britain remaining primarily responsible for their foreign and trade policies. Rapid industrialisation that began in the decades prior to the state's formation continued up until the mid-19th century. The Great Irish Famine , exacerbated by government inaction in the mid-19th century, led to demographic collapse in much of Ireland and increased calls for Irish land reform . The 19th century

11277-518: The British Empire. In response, London began to cooperate with Japan , France and Russia, and moved closer to the United States . Although not formally allied with any of these powers, by 1914 British policy had all but committed to declaring war on Germany if the latter attacked France. This was realized in August 1914 when Germany invaded France via Belgium , whose neutrality had been guaranteed by London. The ensuing First World War eventually pitted

11456-462: The British demands of submitting to the Queen and surrendering all arms and lands and began building further defences south of Ngāruawāhia. Construction of a new and even more formidable defence line began 25 km south of Ngāruawāhia, soon after the fall of Rangiriri. The line included fortifications at Pikopiko and Rangiatea and was centred on Paterangi , its largest pā , and was designed to block

11635-482: The British forces. Carey, keen to surprise the Kingites, immediately began organising an expedition and at midnight the first of three separate columns, comprising members of the 40th, 65th and 18th Royal Irish Regiments, as well as Forest Rangers and Waikato Militia, set out for Ōrākau with two Armstrong six-pounders, arriving before daybreak. The total force for the mission was 1120 men. The two cannons were set up on

11814-573: The British strength to almost 1500. Shelling continued as the sap approached the pā , its progress slowed by accurate fire from the Kingites. That night, Tupotahi suggested they make a breakout under cover of dark. Rewi supported the plan, but the runanga decided they should stay and fight. With ammunition now running very short, the Kingites—so parched they could not swallow their remaining food—began firing peach stones, 5 cm-long sections of apple tree branches and pieces of metal. Another runanga

11993-518: The Chartists were unable to force serious constitutional debate. In July 1839, however, the House of Commons rejected, by 235 votes to 46, a motion to debate the Chartists' national petition, bearing 1.3 million signatures. Historians see Chartism as both a continuation of the 18th century fight against corruption and as a new stage in demands for democracy in an industrial society. Prime ministers of

12172-765: The Empire with the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 . The government purchased all the slaves for £20,000,000 (the money went to rich plantation owners who mostly lived in England), and freed the slaves, most of whom were in the Caribbean sugar islands. The Whigs became champions of Parliamentary reform by making the Reform Act of 1832 their signature measure. It sharply reduced the numbers of "rotten borough" and "pocket boroughs" (where elections were controlled by powerful families), and instead redistributed seats on

12351-472: The French armies when they were needed. Although the Royal Navy effectively disrupted France's extra-continental trade—both by seizing and threatening French shipping and by seizing French colonial possessions—it could do nothing about France's trade with the major continental economies and posed little threat to French territory in Europe. France's population and agricultural capacity far outstripped that of

12530-532: The Government is rising by its side, nay, daily counteracting its views." The Duke of Wellington, Britain's most famous war hero, told Peel, "If we cannot get rid of the Catholic Association, we must look to Civil War in Ireland sooner or later." Peel and Wellington agreed that to stop the momentum of the Catholic Association it was necessary to pass Catholic emancipation , which gave Catholics

12709-485: The Great South Road. A third of the British force were cut down—five soldiers killed and 11 wounded—while Māori losses were limited to two. The attack prompted the establishment of five new redoubts on the route, taking 510 of Cameron's men. The bush raid was the beginning of a new Māori strategy that would drain Cameron's resources and halt his advance for another 14 weeks. On 22 July a group of about 40 Māori fatally shot

12888-591: The Irish Free State's secession, as opposed to being an entirely new successor state . A brief period of limited independence for the Kingdom of Ireland came to an end following the Irish Rebellion of 1798 , which occurred during the British war with revolutionary France . The Kingdom of Great Britain 's fear of an independent Ireland siding against them with Revolutionary France resulted in

13067-451: The Māori broke through the earthworks at the south-east corner of the pā and ran downhill without opposition 200 metres towards a ridge to the south, behind which the some men of the 40th were sheltering. They then dropped down a sloping 10-metre bank, surprising members of the 40th Regiment, who formed the south eastern edge of the cordon before running for cover in a nearby swamp. The group, many of them holding empty shotguns or tomahawks ,

13246-418: The Māori fighters fled. According to Belich, the Māori force numbered between 100 and 150 and about 15 were killed, some of them by bayonet. Among the dead were their leader Te Huirama, a relative of King Tāwhiao . British casualties totalled one dead and 12 wounded. But the same day a Māori war party ambushed a convoy of six carts and its 50-man escort well behind British lines, at Martin's Farm near Ramarama on

13425-604: The North Island and the colonial government confiscating about 12,000 km of Māori land. The defeat and confiscations left the King Movement tribes with a legacy of poverty and bitterness that was partly assuaged in 1995 when the government conceded that the 1863 invasion and confiscation was wrongful and apologised for its actions. The Waikato–Tainui tribe accepted compensation in the form of cash and some government-controlled lands totalling about $ 171 million and later that year Queen Elizabeth II personally signed

13604-493: The Parliamentary level, there was a reorganisation of the governmental system in the rapidly growing cities, putting a premium on modernisation and expertise, and large electorates as opposed to small ruling cliques. A rapidly growing middle class, as well as active intellectuals, broaden the scope of reform to include humanitarian activities such as a new poor law and factory laws to protect women and children workers. In

13783-547: The Paterangi pā without detection and arriving in Te Awamutu at dawn. They advanced to the village of Rangiaowhia, where they attacked about 100 mostly elderly men, and about 100 women and children. Most terrified villagers fled, a few shot at the troops, some sheltered in the churches, at least seven were burnt to death in their houses and at least one attempted to surrender, but was murdered by troops ignoring their orders. Women were raped and killed in front of children. About

13962-822: The Protestant faith, and his lack of support for the initiative led the Prime Minister, William Pitt the Younger , to resign. During the War of the Second Coalition (1799–1801), Britain occupied most of the French and Dutch overseas possessions , the Netherlands having become a satellite state of France in 1796, but tropical diseases claimed the lives of over 40,000 troops. When the Treaty of Amiens ended

14141-559: The Taranaki army and began appealing to the colonial office for more troops to avert "some great disaster", claiming tensions remained high, with a high likelihood of Māori aggression. In November 1862 he ordered a gunboat steamer from Sydney and purchased another in Lyttelton to supplement the supply system. By early 1863 the imperial government had provided Grey with 3000 men for the expected war. Events in early 1863 brought tensions to

14320-749: The United States. The Spanish uprising in 1808 at last permitted Britain to gain a foothold on the Continent. The Duke of Wellington gradually pushed the French out of Spain, and in early 1814, as Napoleon was being driven back in the east by the Royal Prussian Army , the Imperial Austrian Army , and the Imperial Russian Army , Wellington invaded southern France. After Napoleon's surrender and exile to

14499-492: The United States. The trend of emigration would continue in Ireland for decades and Ireland's population has never recovered to its pre-famine levels. The Irish language was almost wiped out. The failure of the British government to respond to the crisis in the eyes of the Irish people would lead to a growth in resentment of Britain and a rise in Irish nationalism . The famine is remembered in Ireland to this day as oppression by

14678-403: The Waikato River and Lake Waikare . The front line ran east–west, while another line of defences ran south from the main line, facing the river. In the centre of the main line lay a small but well-protected north-facing redoubt with several lines of concealed rifle pits at its southern side. The defences consisted solely of earthworks, with no palisading; a redoubt midway along the main line, had

14857-472: The Waikato River and harass troops and kill settlers towards Auckland. On 25 August a party of Māori snatched up the rifles and ammunition from a group of 25 soldiers who were timber-felling beside the Great South Road—part of an effort to destroy cover for Māori raiders intent on mounting further ambushes—and killed two soldiers. On 2 September a British party of 62 men was fired on from the rear during

15036-515: The Waikato, the centre of the Kīngitanga movement, where king Tāwhiao was attracting the allegiance of increasing numbers of Māori across the North Island. Browne concluded that members of the Kīngitanga movement would have to be compelled to submit to British rule. After attempting to achieve a peace settlement through " kingmaker " Wiremu Tamihana , in mid-1861 he sent an ultimatum to the movement's leaders, demanding submission to Queen Victoria and

15215-968: The Waipa on 8 February. A significant engagement took place on 11 February when an assault party from Paterangi ambushed a group of soldiers bathing in a loop of the Mangapiki Stream at Waiari, near the British forward position. Two hundred of Cameron's troops, with the Forest Rangers, became involved in a running battle with the attackers and killed an estimated 41 Māori, losing six of their own men. Bishop George Selwyn , as garrison chaplain, had been told on 12 February that women, children and elderly would be taking refuge at unfortified and undefended Rangiaowhai, and had been asked to communicate that with Cameron. Kingitanga leaders understood they would be unharmed. There were about 200 Ngati-Apakura and Ngati-Hinetu people at Rangiaowhia, supplying food to

15394-571: The Whig coalition in 1830. The Tories despised him thereafter as a turncoat, and many of the more radical Whigs were distrustful of his basically conservative views that saw him fainthearted about or opposed to reform measures. He typically warned on the one hand against delays and on the other hand against excessive enthusiasm for reforms, preferring compromise. He was keenly sensitive to public opinion, and indeed often shapes it through his dealings with newspaper editors. When he sensed that public demand had reached an unstoppable momentum, he would work for

15573-464: The Whigs to demand for civil and religious equality. Grievances included a 1753 law that to be legally recognised marriage had to take place in the Anglican parish church . The Anglican parish register was the only legally accepted birth documentation. The Anglican parish controlled the only religious burial grounds. The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge had to reject non-Anglican applicants. At

15752-451: The affairs of the other country (either directly or indirectly). In current political scenarios across the world the term can expand its scope to include powerful lobbying groups, whose role is often seen as a defining factor on major issues. Citizens of West African sub-national monarchies often use the word kingmaker to refer to the members of the electoral colleges that choose their sovereigns because they also usually officiate during

15931-520: The area, who revealed a route that bypassed it to the west and south to reach Te Awamutu. A new supply line was established from Auckland, using boats to Raglan and packhorses across the ranges to meet steamers on the Waipā River . But a further advance into the heart of Kingitanga territory was delayed when the Avon —one of the most important components of the transport and supply system—accidentally sank in

16110-468: The aristocracy in terms of its control of the House of Commons. However, it ran the government: of the ten prime ministers under Victoria, six were peers. The seventh was the son of a duke. Two (Peel and Gladstone) emerged from the business community and only one (Disraeli) was a self-made man . Of the 227 cabinet members between 1832 and 1905, 139 were sons of peers. Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington , who defeated Napoleon, served as

16289-611: The basis of population. It also broadened the franchise, adding 217,000 voters to an electorate of 435,000 in England and Wales . The main effect of the act was to weaken the power of the landed gentry , and enlarge the power of the professional and business middle-class , which now for the first time had a significant voice in Parliament. However, at this point the great majority of manual workers, clerks and farmers did not have enough property to qualify to vote. Many of them received

16468-588: The best suited to their needs. In a report to the War Office, Commissary General Humphrey Stanley Herbert Jones described the CTC as "the foundation of the whole service". The work of the commissariat helped ensure the sick rate of soldiers never rose above 5 percent—a rate far below that of the Crimean War a decade earlier, when 14 percent of the force was incapacitated. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

16647-563: The capture of more than 180 warriors, the battle became the most costly Māori defeat in the Waikato wars. The 183 prisoners were held without trial on an old coal hulk in Waitematā Harbour before being moved to Kawau Island , north of Auckland, but in September 1864 they escaped and eventually made their way back to the Waikato. Cameron attracted both praise for his "skilful measures" in the capture of Rangiriri and severe criticism over

16826-479: The casualties coming from the Urewera contingent. Another 26 wounded were taken prisoner. The bodies of the Māori were buried in mass graves in the trenches of Ōrākau (just to the north of the road opposite the existing memorial) and beside the nearby swamp to the south. Rewi escaped through the swamp, unharmed, escorted by a 12-man bodyguard. The Māori saw Ōrākau as a defeat, but both Cameron and Grey were angered by

17005-482: The coalition that defeated France during the Napoleonic Wars , and further developed its dominant Royal Navy enabling the British Empire to become the foremost world power for the next century. For nearly a century from the final defeat of Napoleon following the Battle of Waterloo to the outbreak of World War I , Britain was almost continuously at peace with Great Powers . The most notable exception

17184-477: The combat in the morning. But about 5am the Rangiriri garrison—still with arms and ammunition and with an escape route open to the east—raised a white flag, expecting to talk terms with Cameron. British soldiers advanced on the redoubt and entered, shook hands with their combatants, then surprised the Māori by demanding they surrender all their arms and taking them prisoner. Belich wrote: "The capture of Rangiriri

17363-534: The conquest of Europe the way Napoleon had. Vienna ushered in a century of peace, with no great wars and few important localised ones until the Crimean War (1853–1856). Prussia, Austria, and Russia, as absolute monarchies , tried to suppress liberalism wherever it might occur. Britain first took a Reactionary position at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, but relented and broke ranks with the absolute monarchies by 1820. Britain intervened in Portugal in 1826 to defend

17542-499: The courage of the garrison, decided to give them the opportunity to surrender. Two interpreters were sent to the head of the sap with a white flag and Major William Mair called out the offer in Māori , which was passed to Rewi, within the pā . Although there are several versions of Rewi's reply, he is reputed to have declared through his messenger, " Ka whawhai tonu ahau ki a koe, ake, ake " ("I shall fight you forever, and ever, and ever") When

17721-572: The decision to unite the two countries. This was brought about by legislation in the parliaments of both kingdoms and came into effect on 1 January 1801. The Irish had been led to believe by the British that their loss of legislative independence would be compensated with Catholic emancipation , that is, by the removal of civil disabilities placed upon Roman Catholics in both Great Britain and Ireland . Despite personal sympathy for Roman Catholics, King George III believed that agreeing to Catholic Emancipation would violate his Coronation Oath to uphold

17900-458: The design and construction methods of the bunkers neutralised the force of the bombardment. He then ordered a start on a shallow sap that zig-zagged towards its western face from a distance of about 120 metres. A party of Māori reinforcements appeared about 2 km to the east, but retreated, unable to break through the British lines. Sporadic shooting continued through the night, with the besieged occupants of Ōrākau chanting and singing. By dawn

18079-468: The dismay of grain farmers. The 1846 repeal of the Corn Laws established free trade as the basic principle by which British merchants came to dominate the globe, and brought cheap food to British workers. A depoliticised civil service based on merit replaced patronage policies rewarding jobs for partisan efforts. Efficiency was a high priority in government, with the goal of low taxation. Overall, taxation

18258-439: The emergence of a more liberal and broadly based political system… it deserves its old designation of 'Great.'" David Thompson has stressed the revolutionary nature of the entire package of reforms: Chartism was a large-scale popular protest movement that emerged in response to the failure of the 1832 Reform Bill to give the vote to the working class. It lacked middle-class support, and it failed repeatedly. Activists denounced

18437-529: The era, William Wilberforce , saw everywhere "new proofs presenting themselves of the diffusion of religion". Nonconformists, including Presbyterians , Congregationalists , the Baptists and the rapidly-growing Methodist denomination , as well as Quakers , Unitarians and smaller groups. They were all outside the established Church of England (except in Scotland, where the established Church of Scotland

18616-441: The event as an opening battle against revolutionaries. In reaction Lord Liverpool 's government passed the " Six Acts " in 1819. They prohibited drills and military exercises; facilitated warrants for the search for weapons; outlawed public meetings of more than 50 people, including meetings to organise petitions; put heavy penalties on blasphemous and seditious publications; imposing a fourpenny stamp act on many pamphlets to cut down

18795-490: The existing constitution by removing obvious abuses, thinking that this would strengthen aristocratic leadership. He persuaded the king to promise to create enough new peers to force the bill through the House of Lords. The king made the promise while also advising the peers to stop blocking the bill. The Reform Act was Grey's principal achievement; it reflects his pragmatic, moderate and conservative character, as well as his parliamentary skills of timing and persuasion. His cabinet

18974-496: The face of determined House of Commons action. After defeating the first two versions of the Reform Act of 1832, the Whigs got the King to agree to appoint as many new peers as was necessary to change the outcome. He promised to do so, but convinced the Lords it would be much wiser for them to approve the law. A weak ruler as regent (1811–1820) and king (1820–1830), George IV let his ministers take full charge of government affairs. He

19153-459: The failure of the 40th Regiment to halt the Ōrākau breakout and kill Rewi, which deprived them of the crushing victory over the Kingites they desperately sought. The general site of the battle is today marked by a memorial on Arapuni Road, 4 km east of Kihikihi, with the road running through the middle of what were the defences. The site of the pā is on private farmland and no traces of it are now visible. Plans have been proposed to commemorate

19332-451: The fight for his territory—and accompanied them back to Ōrākau, arriving about 28 March. For Rewi, a skilled strategist and warrior, the major concerns about Ōrākau were that it had no immediate water supply and, sited on a low hill, overlooked by the nearby "California" ridge, 850m to the southwest, could also be easily encircled. The land immediately to the south of the pa was a series of low undulating hillocks leading to swamp. For two days

19511-461: The flow on news and criticism. Offenders could be harshly punished including exile in Australia . In practice the laws were designed to deter troublemakers and reassure conservatives; they were not often used. One historian would write: "Peterloo was a blunder; it was hardly a massacre." It was a serious mistake by local authorities who did not understand what was happening. Nevertheless, it had

19690-469: The frontline on the morning of 22 February. With the Armstrong guns firing over their heads, the infantry, cavalry and Forest Rangers moved towards the defensive line before finally charging with bayonets, revolvers and sabres, driving out the Māori. The British forces pursued the Kingites to Rangiaowhia, where they looted the village and later built a redoubt. Belich claims the so-called "Battle of Hairini"

19869-508: The garrisons at Paterangi pā . Cameron, meanwhile, was attracting sharp criticism from both the colonist press and Grey himself about the lack of progress in the eight weeks since Ngāruawāhia's capture. On the night of 20 February, he set out on the narrow bush track to bypass Paterangi with 1230 men led by one of his guides and the Forest Rangers, leaving a large masking force in front of Paterangi. The force marched through rough bush in silence and complete darkness, passing within 1500 metres of

20048-483: The greatest British victory of the Waikato invasion. For Kingitanga supporters, who after the Rangiriri battle had been urged to fight in a "civilised" manner by the British, and had moved their families away from their fortifications to an undefended, open village, the assault on Rangiaowhia was an almost "incomprehensible act of savagery". The role of Bishop Selwyn in the Rangiaowhia attack is unclear. He came with

20227-475: The heart of the defensive line from the rear. The flotilla returned downstream, intending to bring up another 600 men the next day for the attack, but the plan was dropped when the Māori force evacuated the Meremere fortifications the following day and escaped eastwards across flooded lagoons by canoe, falling back to their next defensive system at Rangiriri. Three weeks later, on 20 November, Cameron, commanding

20406-477: The high number of British losses. Yet the battle had highlighted the rapidly growing disparity between British and Māori forces and the inability of Waikato Māori to maintain their manpower continuously. Several Waikato chiefs including Te Wharepu expressed a willingness to negotiate and on 8 December the Kingite capital at Ngāruawāhia was abandoned and then taken by Cameron's troops. But Māori were still opposed to

20585-484: The hinterland with large defensive systems on the fringes, or to challenge the nearby occupying forces with a new pā . Rewi deferred a decision until he could consult with Tamihana, the kingmaker, and set out with a small group to Tamihana's stronghold near present-day Cambridge on the upper Waikato. On the way he encountered a group of about 140 of the dispersed Paterangi army, mainly warriors from distant Tūhoe and Ngāti Raukawa iwi . The Tūhoe chiefs urged Rewi to build

20764-450: The imminent danger to New Zealand settlers. On 9 July 1863 Grey issued a new ultimatum, ordering that all Māori living between Auckland and the Waikato take an oath of allegiance to Queen Victoria or be expelled south of the river. As many young men retreated into the bush with their weapons, officials began seizing others—including the ill and aged—who declined to swear the oath, imprisoning them without charge. Two days later Grey issued

20943-466: The international slave trade. It was a time of prosperity, population growth and better health, except in Ireland where over one million deaths were caused by the Great Famine when the potato crop failed in the 1840s. The Government did little to help the starving poor in Ireland. Along with the one million deaths, another one million would emigrate in a few short years, mostly to Britain and to

21122-534: The invading forces, but also helped with Māori burials. The wife and two daughters of Kereopa Te Rau were killed in the attack, and his sister was killed in defence of the Hairini line a few days later. Colonel Marmaduke Nixon , who had led the Rangiaowhia cavalry charge, was mortally wounded. His remains are buried at the Nixon memorial in Ōtāhuhu , Auckland. There were no memorials to the victims of Rangiaowhia until

21301-718: The invasion plans in June 1863 amid mounting tension between Kingites and the colonial government and fears of a violent raid on Auckland by Kingite Māori. Grey used, as the trigger for the invasion, the Kingite rejection of his ultimatum on 9 July 1863 that all Māori living between Auckland and the Waikato take an oath of allegiance to Queen Victoria or be expelled south of the Waikato River . Government troops crossed into Waikato territory three days later and launched their first attack on 17 July at Koheroa , but were unable to advance for another 14 weeks. The subsequent war included

21480-401: The key legal, political, economic and social reforms of the 1830s and 1840s. He especially influenced the reform of education, prisons, poor laws, legal procedures and Parliamentary representation. John Bright (1811–1889) built on his middle-class Quaker heritage and his collaboration with Richard Cobden to promote all varieties of humanitarian and parliamentary reform. They started with

21659-509: The king. The fiasco helped ruin the prestige of the monarchy and it recovered a fraction of the power wielded by King George III in his saner days. Historian Eugene Black says: The Ultra-Tories were the leaders of reaction and seemed to dominate the Tory Party , which controlled the government. Every untoward event seemed to point to a conspiracy on the left which necessitated more repression to head off another terror such as happened in

21838-530: The leader of the Conservative party in the House of Lords, 1828–1846. Some writers have belittled him as a befuddled reactionary, but a consensus reached in the late 20th century depicts him as a shrewd operator who hid his cleverness behind the facade of a poorly-informed old soldier. Wellington worked to transform the Lords from unstinting support of the Crown to an active player in political manoeuvring, with

22017-454: The lives of Her peaceable subjects, must take the consequences of their acts, and they must understand that they will forfeit the right to the possession of their lands guaranteed to them by the Treaty of Waitangi . Within a day—before the proclamation had even reached the Waikato—Grey ordered the invasion of the Kingite territory, claiming he was making a punitive expedition against Rewi over

22196-598: The local level, everyone who lived in the boundaries of an Anglican church was required to pay taxes to support the parish. The Test and Corporation laws required all national and local government officials had to attend Anglican church services. In February 1828, Whig leader Lord John Russell , presented petitions assembled by the main Nonconformist pressure group, the United Committee, which represented Congregationalist, Baptists and Unitarians. Their demand

22375-421: The loss of one of their chiefs. One Kingite told Cowan: "We were in better spirits after our fight in the open; nevertheless we realized that our position was hopeless, short of food and water, short of lead, and surrounded by soldiers many times outnumbering our garrison, and with big guns throwing shells into our defences." Further British reinforcements arrived, including a second company of Forest Rangers, taking

22554-503: The main approaches to the agriculturally rich Rangiaowhia district, east of Te Awamutu , a major economic base, trading with Auckland, San Francisco and Melbourne, and a supply centre of the Kingite tribes. By the end of January 1864 the line had become the largest system of Māori fortifications of the land wars, consisting of at least four large pā spaced about 8 km apart, each of which included complex sets of entrenchments and parapets. The defence system, which included two cannons,

22733-425: The majority. The great Reform Act 1832 came at a time of intense public and elite anxiety and broke the logjam. The parliamentary system, based on a very small electorate and large numbers of seats that were tightly controlled by a small elite, was radically reformed. For the first time the growing industrial cities had representation in Parliament. This opened the way for another decade of reform that culminated in

22912-437: The men of Rangiaowhia abandoned Paterangi, Pikopiko, and Rangiatea pā to defend their families and began rapidly digging a new trench on the crest of a ridge at Hairini, cutting the route between Te Awamutu and Rangiaowhia. The trench, fortified with a parapet and stakes, ended in swamp at one end and thick bush at the other. A thousand of Cameron's men, supported by three Armstrong guns, advanced on an estimated 100 Māori manning

23091-548: The mobilisation of all possible support in each constituency; about 80% of the men voted. The Tories discovered that their conservatism had an appeal to skilled workers, and also to women, hundreds of thousands of whom were organised by the Primrose League . Women's suffrage was not on the agenda. The abolition of the House of Lords , while often discussed, was never necessary because the upper house repeatedly retreated in

23270-567: The newly formed Commissariat Transport Corps to start construction work on a road from Drury that would run about 18 km south through forest to the Kingite border at the Mangatāwhiri Stream—a tributary of the Waikato River—near Pokeno. The so-called Great South Road would provide quick access to troops in the event of an invasion. Using what historian James Belich describes as a campaign of misinformation, Grey retained

23449-569: The opposition newspapers; the reformers switched to pamphlets and sold 50,000 a week. In industrial districts in 1819, factory workers demanded better wages, and demonstrated. The most important event was the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester , on 16 August 1819, when a local militia unit composed of landowners charged into an orderly crowd of 60,000 which had gathered to demand the reform of parliamentary representation. The crowd panicked and eleven died and hundreds were injured. The government saw

23628-466: The outer trenches of Ōrākau for hand-grenades to be thrown over the ramparts. At noon Cameron arrived with more men, bringing the besieging imperial and colonial force to 1800. One of the Armstrong guns was moved to the head of the sap and fired at the outwork of the pā about 30 metres away, breaching the wall. Under the combination of shells, hand grenades and rifle fire, Māori casualties began to climb rapidly. Soon after arriving, Cameron, impressed by

23807-496: The period included: William Pitt the Younger , Lord Grenville , Duke of Portland , Spencer Perceval , Lord Liverpool , George Canning , Lord Goderich , Duke of Wellington , Lord Grey , Lord Melbourne , Lord Palmerston and Robert Peel . The aristocracy remained dominant: there were 200 hereditary peers in the House of Lords in 1860; by 1837 they numbered 428; in 1901, there were 592. The number rose to 622 by 1910. Reform legislation in 1832, 1867, 1884 and 1918 weakened

23986-402: The political and social status quo. The major constitutional changes included a reform of Parliament, and a sharp decline in the power and prestige of the monarchy. The Prince regent, on becoming King George IV in 1820 asked Parliament to divorce his wife Queen Caroline of Brunswick so that he could marry his favourite lover. Public and elite opinion strongly favoured the Queen and ridiculed

24165-518: The repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846—ending the tariff on imported grain that kept prices high for the landed aristocracy. Repeal was heavily promoted by the Anti-Corn Law League , grass roots activists led by Richard Cobden and based in the industrial cities; they demanded cheap food. There were a series of reforms of the electoral laws, expanding the number of male voters and reducing the level of corruption. The reactionary Tory element

24344-714: The return of plunder taken from Taranaki; when it was rejected he began drawing up plans to invade the Waikato and depose the king—a plan opposed by both the Colonial Office and the New Zealand General Assembly. According to Browne, in response to his belligerence, Kingite leaders formed plans to launch a raid on Auckland on 1 September and burn the town and slaughter most of its residents. This has since been dismissed by such historians as James Belich as being fear-mongering from Browne in order to try and gain military support. Browne's invasion plan

24523-505: The river to ravage the Settlement of Auckland and to murder peaceable settlers. Some of you offered a safe passage through your territories to armed parties contemplating such outrages ... Those who remain peaceably at their own villages in Waikato, or move into such districts as may be pointed out by the Government, will be protected in their persons, property, and land. Those who wage war against Her Majesty, or remain in arms, threatening

24702-504: The seats but were still significantly underrepresented in Parliament. The 1831–1832 battle over parliamentary reform was, "a year probably unmatched in English history for the sweep and intensity of its excitement." Every few years an incremental enlargement of the electorate was made by Parliament, reaching practically all male voters by the 1880s, and all the women by 1928. Both parties introduced paid professional organisers who supervised

24881-440: The second day—with fog so thick the combatants could not see one another—the Ōrākau garrison realised they had exhausted their water supplies and most of their ammunition. Ngāti Maniapoto chief Winitana Tupotahi suggested at a runanga , or council of chiefs, that they abandon the pā , but Rewi rejected the proposal. At midday many attempted to break out of the pā through the cordon at the east, but were driven back twice, suffering

25060-518: The second half of the nineteenth century, the Imperial government granted increasing levels of autonomy to locally elected governments in colonies where white settlers had become demographically or politically dominant, with this process eventually resulting in Canada , Australia , New Zealand , Newfoundland and South Africa becoming self-governing dominions . While these dominions remained part of

25239-754: The succession. Originally, the term applied to the activities of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick —"Warwick the Kingmaker"—during the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487) in England . In game theory , a kingmaker is a player who lacks sufficient resources or position to win at a given game, but possesses enough remaining resources to decide which of the remaining viable players will eventually win. The term kingmaker , though always unofficial, has tended to gain more importance in places of power struggle—e.g., politics, sports organizations etc. Consequently, bestowal of such

25418-399: The surviving defenders fleeing south or towards the main redoubt. But when Cameron ordered an attack on the redoubt from the river side, his men began to come under heavy fire. Cameron ordered two more unsuccessful assaults on the central redoubt, which lifted British casualties to about 110. As night fell, the British, dispirited by the scale of losses, slept on the wet ground, ready to renew

25597-556: The term can also be applied to institutions or think tanks whose opinions are held in great regard by the interested organization. The influence of the religious orders like the Roman Catholic Church in running the affairs of the state during medieval times (through the king) is a well-known example. Kingdoms and empires in the Indian sub-continent often relied on their religious heads. Besides religious orders, even countries can fit into this terminology when they can dictate

25776-463: The upper house. Wellington's success was based on the 44 peers elected from Scotland and Ireland, whose election he controlled. Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey had promoted reform of Parliament since the 1790s, always to be defeated by the Ultra-Tories. The breakthrough came in his success in passage of the Reform Act of 1832. He sought this as the final step of reform, rather than a first step in

25955-399: The villagers, as well as Rewi's forces and the new reinforcements, labored in shifts to strengthen the defences of the pā , located on a slight rise of land in the midst of peach groves. Measuring about 30 metres by 12 metres, the pā was enclosed within a rectangular redoubt and contained interior bunkers, trenches, firing apertures. The main parapet was just 1.2 metres high, the outer trench

26134-520: The vote and the right to sit in Parliament. That happened in 1829 using Whig support. Passage demonstrated that the veto power long held by the ultra-Tories no longer was operational, and significant reforms were now possible across the board. The stage was set for the Age of Reform. The era of reform came in a time of peace, guaranteed in considerable part by the overwhelming power of the Royal Navy. Britain engaged in only one serious war between 1815 and 1914,

26313-433: The vote in 1867. The aristocracy continued to dominate the Church of England, the most prestigious military and naval posts, and high society, but not business, industry or finance. In terms of national governmental policy, the democratic wishes of the entire people had become decisive. Most historians emphasise the central importance of the legislation of the 1830s–60s, although there was a dissenting minority of scholars in

26492-535: The war, Britain agreed to return most of the territories it had seized. The peace settlement was in effect only a ceasefire, and Napoleon continued to provoke the British by attempting a trade embargo on the country and by occupying the city of Hanover , capital of the Electorate , a German-speaking duchy of the Holy Roman Empire which was in a personal union with the United Kingdom. In May 1803, war

26671-533: The war. When Napoleon surrendered for the first time in 1814, three separate forces were sent to attack the Americans in upstate New York , along the Maryland coast (burning Washington but getting repulsed at Baltimore ), and up the Mississippi River to a massive defeat at the Battle of New Orleans . Each operation proved a failure with the British commanding generals killed or in disgrace. The war

26850-495: The Ōakura ambush and a pre-emptive strike to thwart a "determined and bloodthirsty" plot to attack Auckland. Though Grey claimed it was a defensive action, historian B. J. Dalton claimed his reports to London had been "a deliberate and transparent falsehood" and that the invasion was an act of "calculated aggression". On 12 July Duncan Cameron and the first echelon of the invading army crossed the Mangatāwhiri Stream. Cameron,

27029-554: Was Presbyterian ), They proclaimed a devotion to hard work, temperance, frugality and upward mobility, with which historians today largely agree. A major Unitarian magazine, the Christian Monthly Repository asserted in 1827: The Nonconformists suffered under a series of disabilities, some of which were symbolic and others were painful, and they were all deliberately imposed to weaken the dissenting challenge to Anglican orthodoxy. The Nonconformists allied with

27208-579: Was Robert Peel , who suddenly reversed himself on the Catholic issue and was roundly denounced and permanently distrusted by the Ultra Tory faction of die-hards. Earl Grey , prime minister from 1830 to 1834, and his rejuvenated Whig Party enacted a series of major reforms: the poor law was updated, child labour restricted and, most important, the Reform Act 1832 refashioned the British electoral system. In 1832 Parliament abolished slavery in

27387-464: Was a coalition of diverse interests, so in 1834 when it divided over the Irish church question he resigned. Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston played the dominant role in shaping British foreign-policy as Foreign Secretary (1830–1834, 1835–1841 and 1846–1851) and as prime minister (1855–1858, 1859–1865). He served as Secretary at War in Tory governments for two decades, but switched over to

27566-492: Was a deeply unpopular playboy. When he tried to get Parliament to pass a law allowing him to divorce his wife Queen Caroline , public opinion strongly supported her. After four decades of rule by Pittites and Tories the first breakthrough in reform came in the removal by a Tory government of restrictions on the careers of Protestant Nonconformists in the repeal in 1828 of the laws that required Anglican church membership for many academic and government positions. Much more intense

27745-471: Was a leading promoter of utilitarianism as a working philosophy of action. The "greatest happiness principle", or the principle of utility , forms the cornerstone of Bentham's thought. By "happiness", he understood a predominance of "pleasure" over "pain". He is best known for his inspiration of the radical forces, helping them define those reforms that were most urgently needed and how they could be implemented. His intellectual leadership helped achieve many of

27924-819: Was a necessity for the rapidly growing industrial cities still labouring under a hodgepodge of centuries-old laws and traditions. When Peel took over the Home Office , he abolished the espionage and cruel punishments, ended the death penalty for most crimes, and inaugurated the first system of professional police —who in London to this day are still called "Bobbies" in his honour. The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 modernised urban government, which previously had been controlled by closed bodies dominated by Tories. Over 200 old corporations were abolished and replaced with 179 elected borough councils . Elections were to be based on registered voters, city finances had to be audited in

28103-452: Was a stalemate without purpose. A negotiated peace was reached at the end of 1814 that restored the prewar boundaries. British Canada celebrated its deliverance from American rule, Americans celebrated victory in a "second war of independence," and Britain celebrated its defeat of Napoleon. The treaty opened up two centuries of peace and open borders. Britain emerged from the Napoleonic Wars a very different country than it had been in 1793. As

28282-526: Was about 10%, the lowest in any modern nation. Foreign policy became moralistic and hostile to the reactionary powers on the continent, teaming up with the United States to block European colonialism in the New World through the Monroe Doctrine of 1823. Slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire. The Royal Navy stepped up efforts to stop international trade in slaves. Municipal reform

28461-465: Was absent at the time—to quit the property or risk death; Grey recalled Gorst to Auckland soon after. On 4 April Grey arranged for a 300-strong Imperial force to evict Māori from the contested Tataramaika block in Taranaki and reoccupy it. Māori viewed the reoccupation as an act of war and on 4 May a party of about 40 Ngati Ruanui warriors carried out a revenge attack, ambushing a small military party on

28640-479: Was always mistaken. He opposed wars and imperialism. His unremitting hostility to the Crimean war led to his defeat for reelection in 1857. He was soon reelected from Birmingham, leading a national campaign for parliamentary reform to enlarge the suffrage to reach the working man. He was intensely moralistic and distrusted the integrity of his opponents. He loathed the aristocracy that continued to rule Britain. He held

28819-507: Was an era of rapid economic modernisation and growth of industry, trade and finance, in which Britain largely dominated the world economy. Outward migration was heavy to the principal British overseas possessions and to the United States. With respect to other powers, the British remained non-aligned until the early 20th century when the growing naval power of the German Empire increasingly came to be seen as an existential threat to

28998-458: Was closely linked to the Church of England , and expressed its strong hostility toward Catholics and nonconformist Protestants by restricting their political and civil rights. The Catholic started to organise in Ireland, threatening instability or even civil war, and the moderates in Parliament emancipated them. The Nonconformists were similarly freed from their restrictions. In addition to reforms at

29177-531: Was declared again. Napoleon's plans to invade Great Britain failed, chiefly due to the inferiority of his navy, and in 1805 a Royal Navy fleet led by Nelson decisively defeated the French Imperial Navy and Royal Spanish Navy at Trafalgar , which was the last significant naval action of the Napoleonic Wars. In 1806, Napoleon issued the series of Berlin Decrees , which brought into effect

29356-584: Was fought by a peak of about 14,000 Imperial and colonial troops and about 4,000 Māori warriors drawn from more than half the major North Island tribal groups. Plans for the invasion were drawn up at the close of the First Taranaki War in 1861 but the Colonial Office and New Zealand General Assembly opposed action, and the incoming Governor Sir George Grey (second term 1861–1868) suspended execution in December of that year. Grey reactivated

29535-465: Was held before dawn on 2 April and again Tupotahi urged them to break out. Though many of the chiefs remained steadfast in their refusal to retreat, Rewi insisted the effect of the water shortage was now so severe they had to break out, but urged they go out fighting. The plan was aborted when dawn broke and the fog lifted, removing their cover. Through the morning the British sap advanced close enough to

29714-403: Was manned by a force of between 1200 and 2000 men from a dozen major Waikato iwi . Two weeks after capturing Ngāruawāhia, Cameron's 3000-strong striking force, protected by another 4000 men, began slowly and cautiously advancing south. In late January Cameron moved his army headquarters to Te Rore , about 5 km from Paterangi, with an advance camp for 600 men positioned just 1.2 km from

29893-529: Was not the result of assault or encirclement, but of the British misuse of a flag of truce. The Māoris might conceivably have eventually decided to surrender unconditionally anyway, but they might also have repelled further assaults and escaped across the lake." He said they might have also been gaining time waiting for reinforcements who were almost on the scene. About 35 of the Māori force were killed, along with six women and children. Probably an equal number of injured were evacuated by canoe across Lake Waikare. With

30072-524: Was pursued by sword-bearing cavalry and hundreds of soldiers who fired on and bayoneted the fleeing Māori; Forest Rangers kept up the chase until dusk. Back at Ōrākau, meanwhile, soldiers stormed the pā as the garrison fled, bayoneting and shooting many of the wounded, including women and children. One of the women was Hine-i-turama Ngatiki . Sixteen of the British forces died in the three-day battle and 53 were wounded, some of them mortally; while estimates of Māori fatalities range from 80 to 160, with half of

30251-415: Was reassembled under the banner of the Conservative Party. Numerous Tories, such as Lord Palmerston , switched over to the Whig opposition, and it became the Liberal Party . Constitutionally, the 1830s marks a watershed: the end of Crown control over the cabinet. King William IV in 1834 was obliged to accept a Prime Minister who had a majority in Parliament, and the Crown ever since has gone along with

30430-496: Was simply a delaying tactic by the Māori, allowing them to move as many supplies as they could from Rangiaowhia and the Paterangi line. He says the Kingites, by abandoning the Paterangi line, managed to save their army which otherwise would have been destroyed in an all-out pitched battle; Cameron's decision to outflank the Paterangi line, meanwhile, was described as a "brilliant" strategy that forced his enemy out of one of its richest economic centres with minimal British losses, becoming

30609-420: Was sounded to charge and warriors were ordered by Rewi into the outer trenches. The Kingites held their fire until the attackers were within 50 metres, then fired in two volleys, halting the advance. Two more waves of attack were similarly repulsed, with several casualties, including officers. Realising the strength of Ōrākau, Carey decided to encircle the pā and began shelling it from about 350 metres, though

30788-415: Was supervising a shipment of stores—and burning a stores depot with 40 tons of supplies at Camerontown on the north bank of the Waikato River near Tuakau. The Ngāti Maniapoto then attacked a British redoubt overlooking Pokeno, from which they were driven off. The attack on the supply line, said Belich, "was easily the most important single action of the first phase of the war". Cameron responded by creating

30967-448: Was suspended when he was replaced by Sir George Grey in September that year, and the Kingites in turn abandoned their plan for their uprising. Grey instead instituted a peace policy that included a system of Māori local administration in which they could participate, hoping it would encourage Māori to abandon the Kingite movement and "reduce the number of our enemies". At the same time, however, Grey began planning for war, using troops from

31146-429: Was the Crimean War with the Russian Empire , in which actual hostilities were relatively limited. However, the United Kingdom did engage in extensive wars in Africa and Asia , such as the Opium Wars with the Qing dynasty , to extend its overseas territorial holdings and influence. Britain's empire was expanded into most parts of Africa and much of South Asia. The Colonial Office and India Office ruled through

31325-463: Was the "vital kernel" because of its efforts in building the southern road and being a separate military supply train. Commissariat sourced much of its food from England and Australia and sent it along with other supplies up to 160 km into the interior via a combination of steamers, barges, bullocks and pack horses. The CTC had found the Otago pack saddle , devised in the Otago goldfields to prevent injury and ruin to horses carrying heavy loads, to be

31504-532: Was the immediate repeal of the hated laws. Wellington and Peel originally were opposed, but then tried to compromise. They finally gave, splitting the Tory party, and signaling that the once unstoppable power of the Anglican establishment was now unexpectedly fragile and vulnerable to challenge. Three men shaped British foreign policy from 1810 to 1860, with only a few interruptions, Viscount Castlereagh (especially 1812–1822). George Canning (especially 1807–1829) and Viscount Palmerston (especially 1830–1865). For

31683-414: Was the long battle over the civil rights of Roman Catholics. Catholic emancipation came in 1829, which removed the most substantial restrictions on Roman Catholics in Great Britain and Ireland. The Duke of Wellington, as Tory prime minister, decided that the surging crisis in largely Catholic Ireland necessitated some relief for the Catholics, although he had long opposed the idea. The other main Tory leader

31862-400: Was the unexpected repeal of the many restrictions on Catholics, after widespread organised protest by the Catholic Association in Ireland under Daniel O'Connell , with support from Catholics in England . Robert Peel was alarmed at the strength of the Catholic Association, warning in 1824, "We cannot tamely sit by while the danger is hourly increasing, while a power co-ordinate with that of

32041-425: Was the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into one sovereign state , established by the Acts of Union in 1801. It continued in this form for over a century. In 1927, it evolved into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , after the Irish Free State gained a degree of independence in 1922. The United Kingdom, from its islands off the coast of Europe, financed

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