Territory of Western Samoa
Territory of Western Samoa Teritori o Sāmoa i Sisifo (Samoan) | |||||||||
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1920–1962 | |||||||||
Trust Territory of New Zealand (1946–1962) | |||||||||
Capital | Apia 13°50′S 171°45′W / 13.833°S 171.750°W | ||||||||
Common languages | English (official) Samoan (native) Austronesian languages Papuan languages | ||||||||
Monarch | |||||||||
• 1920–1936 | George V | ||||||||
• 1936–1936 | Edward VIII | ||||||||
• 1936–1952 | George VI | ||||||||
• 1952–1962 | Elizabeth II | ||||||||
Administrator | |||||||||
• 1914–1919 | Robert Logan | ||||||||
• 1919–1923 | Robert Tate | ||||||||
• 1923–1928 | George Richardson | ||||||||
• 1928–1931 | Stephen Allen | ||||||||
• 1931–1935 | Herbert Hart | ||||||||
• 1935–1946 | Alfred Turnbull | ||||||||
• 1960–1962 | Jack Wright | ||||||||
Historical era | British Empire | ||||||||
30 August 1914 | |||||||||
• Established | 17 December 1920 | ||||||||
• Trusteeship | 13 December 1946 | ||||||||
• Independence | 1 January 1962 | ||||||||
Currency | Pound sterling (1914–1930) New Zealand pound (1930–1962) Western Samoan pound (1930–67) | ||||||||
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Today part of | Samoa |
The Territory of Western Samoa was the civil administration of
History
Occupation of German Samoa in World War I
At the outbreak of
Colonel Robert Logan, who had commanded the Samoan Expeditionary Force, was the military administrator of the colony for the remainder of the war.[4] By 1918, Samoa had a population of some 38,000 Samoans and 1,500 Europeans.[5] Approximately one fifth of the population died in the Influenza epidemic of 1918–1919.[6] In 1919, The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Epidemic concluded that there had been no epidemic of pneumonic influenza in Western Samoa before the arrival of the SS Talune from Auckland on 7 November 1918, which was allowed to berth by Logan without quarantine precautions. Within seven days of this ship's arrival influenza had become epidemic in Upolu and had then spread rapidly throughout the territory.[7]
Mandate
On 17 December 1920, the League of Nations formally conferred a Class C Mandate over the former German Colony of Samoa to the Dominion of New Zealand.[8][9] The mandate was supported by the Samoa Constitution Order, 1920, which had replaced the military occupation with a civil administration on 1 May 1920.[8][10] On 1 April 1922, the Samoa Act 1921 came into force.[11]
Under the Samoa Act the
After 1945, the classification of the mandate was changed to a
From Mau protests to independence
The Mau (translates as "strongly held opinion") was a popular non-violent movement which had its beginnings in the early 1900s (decade) in Savai'i. It was first led by Lauaki Namulauulu Mamoe, an orator chief deposed by the German administration. The 1920s saw the resurgence of the Mau in opposition to the New Zealand administration. One of the Mau leaders was Olaf Frederick Nelson, a half Samoan and half Swedish merchant.[14] Nelson was exiled by the administration during the late 1920s and early 1930s, but he continued to assist the organisation financially and politically.
On 28 December 1929, the newly elected leader, high chief
That day would come to be known in Samoa as Black Saturday. The Mau grew, remaining steadfastly non-violent, and expanded to include a highly influential women's branch. After repeated efforts by the Samoan people, Western Samoa gained independence in 1962 and signed a Friendship Treaty with New Zealand. Samoa was the first country in the Pacific to become independent.
In 2002, New Zealand's prime minister Helen Clark, on a trip to Samoa, formally apologised for New Zealand's role in the banishment of Samoan leaders, the failure to quarantine SS Talune, and the Apia shootings.[18][19]
Notable people
- Afa Anoa'i, professional wrestler
Notes
References
- ^ "Protocol for using New Zealand's National Anthems". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
- ^ Smith 1924, p. 14.
- ^ McGibbon 2007, p. 65.
- ^ Munro, Doug. "Robert Logan". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
- ^ "Wartime administration – capture of German Samoa". NZHistory.net.nz. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
- ^ "The 1918 flu pandemic". NZHistory.net.nz. Retrieved 26 November 2007.
- ^ Albert Wendt. "Guardians and Wards: (A study of the origins, causes, and the first two years of the Mau in Western Samoa.)".
- ^ New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
- New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
- ^ Samoa Constitution Order, 1920 (1 April 1920; N.Z. Gaz. 1920, p. 1619). Treaties of Peace Act 1919 (29 October 1919; 10 GEO V 1919 No 20); "[...] The Governor-General is hereby empowered to make, by Order in Council, such provisions as he deems necessary [...] for the government of the said Islands of Western Samoa[...]". The Western Samoa Order in Council, 1920 (11 March 1920; Statutory Rules and Orders 1920, vol 1, pp 745–746; Gazette, 21 May 1920, p 1819; 113 BFSP 18).
- ^ Samoa Act 1921 (7 December 1921; 12 GEO V 1921 No 16)
- ISBN 978-0-19-957048-5.
- ^ "Imperialism as a Vocation: Class C Mandates". Retrieved 23 August 2011.
- ^ Laracy, Hugh. "Nelson, Olaf Frederick 1883 – 1944". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
- ^ "The Mau Movement" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 December 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2007.
- ^ Field 2006.
- ^ "History and migration: Who are the Samoans?". Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga. Retrieved 27 November 2007.
- ^ "New Zealand's apology to Samoa". Archived from the original on 31 March 2009. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
- ^ "Prime Minister Helen Clark's Historic Apology".
- Field, Michael (2006). Black Saturday: New Zealand's tragic blunders in Samoa. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed Publishing (NZ). ISBN 0-7900-1103-4.
- McGibbon, Ian (2007). "The Shaping of New Zealand's War Effort, August–October 1914". In Crawford, John; McGibbon, Ian (eds.). New Zealand's Great War: New Zealand, the Allies & the First World War. Auckland, New Zealand: Exisle Publishing. pp. 49–68. ISBN 978-0-908988-85-3.
- Smith, Stephen John (1924). The Samoa (N.Z.) Expeditionary Force 1914–1915. Wellington, New Zealand: Ferguson & Osborn. OCLC 8950668.
External links
- Samoa Act 1921 (12 GEO V 1921 No 16) at the New Zealand Legal Information Institute