Second Taranaki War

The Second Taranaki War is the name of a series of conflicts between the Maori and European settlers in the Taranaki province of New Zealand between 1864 and 1866. Some historians feel that the these conflicts should not be described as a war as they cannot be separated from other incidents happening in the North Island at around the same time.

Related Topics:
Maori - Taranaki - New Zealand - 1864 - 1866 - North Island

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The Pakeha Invasion of the Waikato in 1863 lead almost inevitably to the Tauranga Campaign. Neither of these conflicts finished cleanly but in their turn also sparked a series of Pakeha/Maori incidents in other parts of the island. However the conflict in Taranaki also had its roots in the First Taranaki War. This war had ended in an uneasy truce when the two sides had fought each other to a standstill and neither side could see any point in continuing to fight. However neither side bothered to fulfill any of the terms of the truce; many of the issues were left unresolved, and, almost inevitably, the scene was set for another round of fighting.

Related Topics:
Pakeha - Invasion of the Waikato - 1863 - Tauranga Campaign - First Taranaki War

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The truce that ended the first war did no more than reduce the scale of fighting. The Maori continued to attack and kill settlers while the Army and the Settler Militia continued their raids on Maori villages and Pa.

Related Topics:
Settler Militia - Pa

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However from about 1862 a new factor entered the equation: the growth of the Pai Mariri or Hau Hau Movement. The Pai Marire began as a religious movement, a combination of traditional Maori beliefs with Christianity; originally pacifist in outlook it was mutated by the times and when, in 1864, it reached Southern Taranaki it had become both violent and vehemently anti-Pakeha.

Related Topics:
1862 - Pai Mariri

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The Colonial Government did a lot to provoke this mutation. The relative success of the Waikato War had given them the strength to confiscate vast area of Maori land, not merely from the belligerent tribe but also from neutral and even friendly tribes. Naturally, this stirred up enormous antagonism and contributed directly to another eight years of intermittent conflict.

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