The New Zealand Civil War: A Brief Overview

An Introduction

The Election of the Duke of Northland to the Throne of New Zealand was the most seminal event in New Zealand history.
The immediate effects of his election was the outbreak of civil war, as those who opposed his election & his later actions found legitimacy in declaring a republic & fighting against the King to “restore freedom & democracy to New Zealand”, while the King simply sought to defeat rebels. No-one knew or even thought beforehand that such actions would essentially destroy the nation that had been developing over the last 200 years; nevertheless it would.
War engulfed almost the entire country, from Kaitaia to Queenstown, from Twizel to Te Urewera, the spectre of war loomed large over the country. Even Australia attempted to intervene on the side of the Republic, going to the point of sponsoring the recruitment of a 5000-strong Expeditionary Force to assist the Republic, until the troop ships carrying them across the Tasman were sunk by HMNZS Royalist, New Zealand’s main submarine.
It was horrible. It was bloody. Almost 100,000 soldiers died fighting in the civil war, & many yet were injured. On top of that, thousands of civilians were killed, the first among them being the protestors who heralded the coming war. More than that, New Zealand society was changed forever in ways that only a civil war can change a society. Hundreds of thousands would leave in the years following the war, Australia’s post-war sanctions on New Zealand were designed to destroy them economically & engineer yet more destruction & possibly a revolution against the King.
It didn’t.
Instead, it hardened anti-Australian feelings in New Zealand to an irrevocable point.
But more of that later. For now, I’ll simply give a brief account of the New Zealand Civil War, from the initial protests in Auckland & Wellington to the end.

Alistair John Michaels

Part 1: The Opening Months https://sonofzealandia.wordpress.com/2020/08/31/civil-war-part-1/

Part 2: From Sitzkrieg to Blitzkrieg

Part 3: The Holiday Truce

Part 4: The Summer of War

Part 5: The Autumn

Part 6: The End of the Kingitanga & their Allies

Part 7: The War Comes to Auckland

Part 8: The Republic’s Last Stand

Part 9: The Aftermath