New Zealand is an island country with an area of more than 200,000 square kilometers in the South Pacific, mainly composed of the North Island and the South Island, because it is surrounded by Australia, which occupies a continent, so that New Zealand is easy to be ignored, making people lack understanding of New Zealand, even if it is possible to know New Zealand is milk powder. After all, New Zealand's dairy products are known for their beautiful natural environment and high quality.
▲ New Zealand, which is easy to ignore
With the dazzling business card of milk powder, the world's impression of New Zealand may stop here. Where the capital is will blind a lot of people. New Zealand's capital is now its second largest city, Wellington, rather than the more famous Auckland (New Zealand's largest city).
New Zealand is the first country in the world to enter the New Year and have a large-scale countdown event. The Auckland Sky Tower is a building that is often seen in the media
Located at 41 degrees south latitude, Wellington is the southernmost capital in the world. With high latitudes, sea breezes, and earthquakes in geological fault zones, it can be said that wellington's natural conditions are not too good. In fact, Wellington was not the capital of New Zealand from the beginning, it also had two "predecessors" Russell and Auckland, and Auckland was better than Wellington in terms of economic base and natural conditions.
But in the end, Wellington took the seat of the capital from Auckland, sitting for more than 150 years. How did Wellington take the capital position from Auckland? Why has New Zealand repeatedly moved its capital?
▲Major cities in New Zealand
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >, discover the "New World", and set its capital in Auckland</h1>
New Zealand cannot be avoided in the mention of its neighbour, Australia. In most people's minds, New Zealand and Australia are very close, the two flags are similar, and the nearest continent to New Zealand is Australia, so the two are often put together.
In fact, the distance between Australia and New Zealand is farther than people expect, the distance between the two is more than 2200 kilometers, and the flight takes more than 3 hours. The two countries that are so far apart, because of the British colonial ties, make the two countries highly similar in terms of culture and language, national system and so on.
▲Comparison map of Australia and New Zealand locations
The discoverer of New Zealand was the Dutch navigator Tasman. At the beginning of the 17th century, the Netherlands actively developed foreign trade with its own developed shipbuilding and navigation technology, and was known as the "coachman of the sea".
▲ Discover the Dutch navigator of New Zealand - Tasman
In order to develop overseas trade, the Dutch established the East India Company. By the mid-17th century, the East India Company had monopolized trade in vast areas from the Cape of Good Hope to Indonesia in Southeast Asia. In order to expand the scope of trade, the East India Company sent Tasman from Java to the south in search of a "New World".
Tasman stumbled upon New Zealand's South Island during his voyage, but tasman thought it was the southern tip of South America and returned without further exploration. The discovery of Australia was left to the British navigator Cook.
Captain Cook, who discovered Australia and surveyed the coast of New Zealand
Cook rose to prominence during the Anglo-French North American War for successfully drawing the Quebec River, and later became an authority on mathematics and astronomy by teaching himself. In the mid-18th century, at the request of the Royal Society, Cook led a fleet of ships to the South Pacific to observe the movement of Venus. After observing the movement of Venus, Cook sailed west to New Zealand and explored the New Zealand coast.
After exploring the coast of New Zealand, Cook continued westward and eventually reached the eastern tip of the Australian continent. Soon after Cook discovered Australia, the British began an immigration expansion into the area. At this time, the British government's main energy was on the exploration and control of the Australian mainland, and was not interested in New Zealand, which was far away from Australia.
While the British government was not interested in New Zealand, Cook's observations attracted navigators from other European countries. Thanks to the efforts of navigators, new Zealand is becoming more and more known.
▲ The view of the Bay of Islands in New Zealand
By the beginning of the 19th century, fishing boats in some European countries learned that there were many whales and seals at the southern tip of New Zealand, and for the sake of profit, they moved here to capture seals and whales, and they often stopped at the northernmost bay of the North Island when they caught whales and seals.
As whaling boat traffic increased, some European crew members chose to live permanently in the Bay of Islands. The Bay of Islands has thus become an important port for travel between New Zealand and Australia, and the best place for crews to get something new, fresh water and rest.
▲ The famous British colonialist - Wakefield
The arrival of a French warship in New Zealand in 1827 caused panic among the British, who feared that France would annex New Zealand, thus speeding up the colonization of New Zealand. Prior to the British government's actions, an Englishman named Wakefield formed the New Zealand Land Company, advocating for funding and expanding immigration through the sale of Aboriginal land, and with the support of some government officials, he organized a large number of emigrations to Wellington Harbour on the southern tip of the North Island.
The immigrants wanted to establish a permanent settlement in The Port of Wellington as a base for their exploration of New Zealand, while the British government appointed Admiral Hobson as Consul of New Zealand, and Hobson reached the Bay of Islands on the North Island by boat.
▲The location of the Bay of Islands
Although Hobson was a government-appointed consul, the British government gave him very little money and a convoy of less than a hundred men. Hobson's mere 100 people were too weak compared to new Zealand's about 80,000 to 100,000 Indigenous Maori at this time. With a clear power gap, Hobson could only adopt a policy of compromise and appeasement towards the Maori.
Arriving in the North Island, Hobson signed an agreement with the Maori in the Gulf of Islands on behalf of the British government, the Treaty of Waitangi. The treaty established a government in New Zealand to guarantee the rights of Maori as well as white immigrants. The signing of this treaty marked New Zealand's official entry into a British colony and is also seen as the beginning of New Zealand's founding.
Scene of Hobson signing the Treaty of Waitangi with the Maori
The state was established, but Hobson and Britain's early settlers both agreed and disagreed on the choice of capital.
At that time, most of New Zealand's indigenous people lived in the North Island, which ensured an adequate labor force for the cultivation industry; immigrants from Europe also settled mainly in the North Island, and they brought advanced technology. Under these advantages, the economy of the North Island was far better than that of the South Island, so for Hobson and British immigrants, it was a consensus that the capital was located on the North Island.
But where do you want to go on the North Island? New Zealand company immigrants first arrived in Wellington and established settlements there, so these immigrants wanted Hobson to set up the capital in Wellington; but for Hobson and the British government, because they were too weak, they mainly considered their own safety when choosing a capital. Considerations based on different interests have led to disagreements between the two sides over the location of the capital.
The Bay of Islands is an important port for travel between New Zealand and Australia, and its location at the northern tip of the North Island is both avoiding pinch attacks and facilitating evacuation in times of danger. And when the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, dozens of chiefs near the Bay of Islands were the first to agree to sign it. Hobson first set up his capital at Russell in the Bay of Islands.
Russell had only been addicted to the capital for less than a year. Because of its location so far north, many officials from the south and south of the North Island came to the meeting complained, and in order to quell this opposition, New Zealand moved its capital to Auckland, south of Russell.
▲ The first move to the capital, from the northernmost Russell to Auckland
After Auckland was established as the capital, Hobson hired a large number of skilled craftsmen from immigrants from Wellington and other regions by raising wages. Thanks to the efforts of these immigrants, Auckland quickly developed and became the largest city in New Zealand.
Wellington did not become the capital, but because of its convenient location between the north and south islands, as well as the large number of immigrants recruited by New Zealand companies, it also gradually developed.
▲The Sky Tower, a famous attraction in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city
The capital, Auckland, was just a pause in the debate over the capital between European settlers and the New Zealand colonial government, which was bound to erupt again as Wellington grew and the South Island developed.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > second, balance the north and south islands, and move the capital to Wellington</h1>
After the establishment of the New Zealand colonial government, a large number of British immigrants poured into New Zealand. These migrants first wanted land upon entry, but under the Treaty of Waitangi, Māori could only sell land to the Government and not to individuals. Māori felt that reselling land would lose their sovereignty and were reluctant to sell it.
For the growing number of European immigrants, they could not survive without land. Despite the government's disagreement and Māori reluctance, this does not stop their determination to acquire land. They acquired large amounts of land through forced robbery, which led to sharp conflicts between immigrants and Maori.
Faced with the contradictions between Maori and migrants, the weak colonial government was helpless. Not only that, but Maori chiefs have also been discriminated against by some government officials. For example, a chief named William Thompson once wanted to visit the governor to help resolve the land dispute between Maori and immigrants. The visit was blocked by a petty official, and the Maori chief was insulted.
▲ The war that affected the situation in the north and south islands of New Zealand - the Maori War, also known as the New Zealand War
The land conflict between Maori and migrants remained unresolved, as the issue of suffrage was in conflict with the colonial government. Soon after the establishment of the New Zealand colonial government, the British parliamentary system was introduced. When New Zealand's first Parliament was convened in 1854, the Governor-General promised no racial distinction in representative government.
The Treaty of Waitangi also provided for the rights of British citizens, but when Māori chiefs wanted to stand for election, they were told that they did not have this right. All of this made the Maori feel deeply discriminated against, and the Maori War that swept through the North Island in 1860 broke out.
▲ New Zealand gold distribution map, of which the yellow part is an important gold producing area in New Zealand
The war led to the collapse of the north island's plantation industry and heavy losses. While the North Island was busy with the war, the South Island had an opportunity to develop. In 1861, a miner named Reed discovered gold in the Otago province of the South Island. The discovery of gold mines sparked a gold rush, with a massive influx of immigrants and more than doubling Otago's population in a year's time.
Later, gold mines were also found on the west coast of the South Island, and the gold diggers who heard the news not only brought a huge labor force to the South Island, but also brought a lot of money, which promoted the development of the local economy. The export of gold brought great wealth, and the city of Dunedin in Otago was once the most developed city in New Zealand
▲Beautiful view of New Zealand ranches
Not only has gold been found in the South Island, but its fertile soil and relatively flat grasslands are also suitable for the development of aquaculture. Under the right circumstances, New Zealand's livestock industry developed in the South Island and became the backbone of the national economy. After 1861, New Zealand's wool exports were second only to gold. Thus, after 1861, New Zealand's Parliament was controlled by the Sheep Farmers of the South Island.
Dunedin was once New Zealand's richest city in the late 19th century
Officials in the South Island, after Oakland was established as the capital, complained that the distance to Oakland was too far away and inconvenient to attend meetings or deal with some affairs. Residents of the southern tip of the North Island, such as wellington, also complained that Auckland's location was too far north and inconvenient.
After the economy of the south island provinces of Otago and Canterbury surpassed that of the North Island, officials in the South Island provinces were even more eager to change the status quo of the long distance to the capital, and they strongly demanded the relocation of the capital, and even wanted to break away from New Zealand and become independent. In order to avoid the excessive contradictions between the north and the south islands and lead to division, the colonial government decided to move the capital south again.
▲The second move to the capital, from Auckland to Wellington
Wellington is the best choice for the capital due to its own advantages. Wellington was the first immigration area established by the New Zealand Immigration Company, and it was also the place where British immigrants first wanted to build a capital, and most of the representative shepherds of the South Island were members of the New Zealand Immigration Company.
Wellington's central location on the North and South Islands was convenient to the North and South, and as an excellent seaport, it was convenient for overseas links to win the favor of the neutral Australian government at the time. So in 1865, New Zealand moved its capital to Wellington.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >3, New Zealand and Wellington after the relocation</h1>
New Zealand's gold rush came and went quickly, and sand gold was quickly stripped of its light. New Zealand's superior natural conditions have maintained the prosperity of animal husbandry. After the Maori War, the North Island vigorously developed animal husbandry by virtue of its original superior natural conditions and labor advantages, and its economy once again surpassed that of the South Island. The North Island now accounts for three-quarters of New Zealand's population and industrial output, and Auckland has regained its most economically developed city in New Zealand.
After the relocation of the capital, New Zealand has made good profits by exporting a large number of wool products to the outside world, such as New Zealand's wool exports in 1871, which has ranked first in export value. The development of animal husbandry contributed to the development of domestic capitalism, and the local bourgeoisie began to seek independence.
In 1901, when the Australian colonies were about to unite to establish the Australian Commonwealth, New Zealand wanted to join the Australian Commonwealth as a state under its jurisdiction. But in the end, the New Zealand government felt that it was too far away from Australia, and based on its own national identity, it decided to become independent because it was afraid that joining the Australian Commonwealth would harm its own interests.
In 1907, New Zealand broke away from its colonial status and became a British Dominion with some power in domestic and foreign affairs. After the Second World War, the United Kingdom relaxed its control over overseas colonies and Dominions due to weakening of its power, and New Zealand took the opportunity to gain independence from Britain and join the British Commonwealth.
▲Wellington's cityscape
After Wellington became the capital of New Zealand in 1865, relying on its convenient maritime transportation and being located in the center of New Zealand's north and south islands, Wellington entered a period of rapid development under the inclination of national policies. After more than 100 years of development, Wellington is now the cultural centre of New Zealand and the second largest city after Auckland.
The long-term author | Yang Yangyang
Graduated from the History Department of Yangzhou University| history enthusiast
Responsible editor| Thomas
Graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science| Editor-in-Chief of the Global Intelligence Officer
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