The 2nd Maori War: 1860-1861

One of Queen Victoria's 'little wars' to build the British Empire

The Second Maori War, or First Taranaki War, was one more bloody instalment of the conflicts between European settlers and the indigenous Maori people in the wars of dominance that marred the creation of New Zealand as a unified country. As usual the Europeans had little to their credit on their side of the dispute which centred around the dubious sale of tracts of land. As the Maoris objected by protest and eventually by for...