Lies, damned lies and the (Great South) road to war.

Grey returned perhaps expecting that his old policies (Flour & Sugar) would continue to work. Maori and Pakeha relations had changed with the Settlers determined to enforce the dominance of the British empire and their right to wastelands. Maori for their part appear determined to retain control of their lands, and Greys platitudes no longer worked.

Grey wanted to attack the King but lacked necessary resources. In particular he needed more troops. He could get some troops from local militia but not the thousands of professional troops he wanted.

The Imperial Government would not give him troops without good reason. Grey had no valid reason so he lied. Then he lied some more, and some more. In the ‘wars’ video Belich mentions the drunken rambling of the Maori called Whare who talked about a planned attack on Auckland. It was this ‘threat’ that Grey continued to hammer on about, much as Busby had harped on about the French threat in the 1830’s.

Why the Maori would attack their best market Grey never explained. What they would achieve by driving the Pakeha out of New Zealand was never explained. However I guess within the Colonial Office the idea that natives might resent them and want to kill them wasn’t far from their thoughts (of course they would be confirmed in the Indian Mutiny of 1857). So the Colonial Office sent troops, lots and lots of troops. Thousands of troops.

As 1862 moved into 1863 Greys war machine grew,

The Government for its own part took out a £3m loan secured by the promise of confiscated lands. It recruited troops from Australia on the promise of free land. While Dommett was Premier he was supported by Russell and Whitaker as representative of Auckland pushed hard for the war and would profit spectacularly from the confiscations.

So Grey assured Maori he did not seek war but would ‘dig around the King’. Meanwhile he built his army and then built the Great South Road pointing into the heart of the Waikato.

Once he had an army capable of defeating the King, Grey set about starting the war. The Mangatawhiri Stream lay on the Kings border, north was settler Auckland, south was the Kingitanga. Crossing the stream meant war.

In July he crossed the stream but backdated the declaration that any Maori who did not acknowledge the Queens authority would be in rebellion.

The Waikato War had started.

Forcing the Issue

The end of the Wellington Wars did not settle anything in particular apart from enforcing the NZ Companys claims to land around some of its settlements. Grey stayed until called to South Africa. At that point he allowed a new Constitution to be introduced. This established the Provincial System. At last the settlers had a voice in Government but to their annoyance the Governor retained control over Native affairs, denying them access to Maori land. Land (via pre-emption) remained under the control of the Governor.

Despite this Maori land continued to be alienated. Donald McLean acting on behalf of the Governor was able to buy large areas of land, but not in areas which were most desired by settlers (especially in the Taranaki) remained out of their reach.

In a reaction to the continued loss of land and the consequent loss of rangatiratanga and mana over their land some Maori began to seek an alternative. The Queen represented the Pakeha, Maori should have their own King. Eventually Te Wherwhero accepted the mantle becoming King Potatau.

The Kingitanga represented a challenge to settler aspirations and the Governments purse. For settlers it also represented a defiance of British control of New Zealand. They could not countenance a separatist King in a British New Zealand.

The King and his supporters saw it in a different light. Besides now representing Maori (the red, black and white threads) he was keen to work with the Government. Because of the perceived threat the Governors however lost faith in him.

Governor Gore Brown it seems was determined to force the issue of who controlled the country. When Teira offered him land at Waitara it seemed a golden opportunity to show the power of Britain. Unfortnately Teira had only a minor claim to the area. Wiremu Kingi (te Atiawa) had a stronger claim and so did the Waikato who had driven the Te Atiawa off the land during the Musket Wars.

When the war broke out the British and settlers found themselves surrounded and penned into New Plymouth. The ring of modern Pa which encircled the town became a challenge which first Colonel Gold then General Pratt unsuccessfully attacked with cannon then sap.

Neither seemed to appreciate the tactic that kept them occupied with relatively unimportant military targets. The war meandered along with the Maori out-digging the Imperial Troops.

The involvement of Kingitanga warriors appeared to confirm the Pakeha belief that the King intended to enforce a Land League and to stand in the way of British law by stopping the sale by Teira of the Waitara. The challenge to the rule of law seems to have been a Government preoccupation, as many settlers recognised the weakness of Teiras claim to the land.

The end of the war was claimed as victory by the returning Grey although his failure to punish the ‘rebels’ seems to indicate the weak case that they had and their inability to defeat an enemy who would not stay still. As it happens Grey believed he needed to strike at the heart of Maori resistance – the King in the Waikato