Knowra European colonization of Oceania European colonization of Oceania European colonization of Oceania was the expansion of European powers across Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific islands through exploration, settlement, annexation, and colonial rule.
Terra nullius : A doctrine treating land as belonging to no one, used to justify British claims over parts of Australia. It supplied a legal rationale for British settlement that disregarded Indigenous sovereignty.
British colonization of Australia : The British occupation and settlement of Australia beginning with the establishment of a penal colony at Sydney in 1788. It combined settler expansion, Indigenous dispossession, and the growth of separate colonies.
Aboriginal Australians : The Indigenous peoples of mainland Australia and many surrounding islands, comprising hundreds of distinct nations and language groups. British settlement dispossessed Aboriginal peoples and disrupted societies with deep connections to Country.
James Cook : A British naval captain whose Pacific voyages mapped coastlines and supported later European claims and expansion. His voyages connected Pacific exploration with British territorial ambitions.
British Empire : A worldwide empire assembled by Britain through colonies, protectorates, and other forms of control. British rule became the largest European imperial presence in Oceania.
Treaty of Waitangi : The 1840 agreement between representatives of the British Crown and many Māori rangatira in New Zealand. It established a treaty-based framework for British sovereignty whose meanings remain contested.
New Zealand Wars : A series of nineteenth-century conflicts between Māori groups and the colonial government and settlers in New Zealand. The wars grew from disputes over land, sovereignty, and the terms of British rule.
Māori : The Indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand, with distinct iwi and hapū and a shared Māori language and culture. Colonization altered Māori landholding and political authority, while Māori communities resisted and negotiated its effects.
William Hobson : A British naval officer who became the first governor of New Zealand and oversaw the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. His governorship put treaty-making at the center of Britain's claim to New Zealand.
French colonial empire : The overseas empire established by France through conquest, settlement, and colonial administration. French possessions in the Pacific developed alongside, and often in competition with, British expansion.
Show all 27