Pomare, Queen of Tahiti, the Persecuted Christian Surrounded by Her Family at the Afflictive Moment when the French Forces Were Landing, painting by LMS artist George Baxter, 1845.
The Franco-Tahitian War or French-Tahitian War, often referred to in France as the guerre franco-tahitienne (1844–1847), was a conflict between the Kingdom of the French and the Kingdom of Tahiti. Tahiti was aided by its allies in the Leeward Islands including Huahine, Bora Bora, and Raiatea, and European settlers including the Protestant missionaries. France was assisted by factions of Tahitian chiefs including Tati, chief of the Teva clan. There was extreme international pressure from Great Britain who had its stakes in the Pacific and considered the Society Islands under their jurisdiction. This episode in history would seal the fate of the Tahitians people and highlight the success of French colonial expansion in Polynesia.
Events
Bora Bora, ruled by Pomare's first husband King Tapoa II, stayed out of the conflict.[1]
"On March 2, Papeete, the capital of Tahiti, was declared by D'Aubigny, a French officer temporarily in charge, to be "in a state of siege".[2]
The war began in March 21, 1844 at Taravao and fighting officially ended on December 18, 1846 with the capture of Fort of Fautaua.[3]
Tahitians in the Punaauia, Faaa and Teva I Uta districts rebelled against the French.[3]
Queen Pomare IV flees to Raiatea.
1838: French gunboat demands compensation
1839: Britain rejects Tahitian request for a protectorate
1842: French protectorate is declared over Tahiti and the Marquesas
1842: Herman Melville visits French Polynesia
1844: Mormon missionaries arrive on Tubuai, Austral Islands
1844-1847: Tahitian War of Independence
1847: Queen Pomare accepts French protectorate
Battle
21 March 1844, near Afaahiti
17 April 1844, Battle of Mahaena
25 May 1846, Haapaianoo ou Papenoo, south of port town of Faaripo and North of Mt. Orohena
29 June 1844, ?
??, Battle around Mt. Taharaa Vallee de Tuaruru, Ahonu, Tapahi, Haapape ou Mahina
20-22 March 1846, Nanuu Tarahoi, Pare, Valley of Fautaua, around Papeete
29 June 1844, Faaa
12 April 1847, Taputapuatea, Pte. Punaauia
?, Battle around Manotahi, Te ara o Tahiti, in district of Punaauia
Battle of Punaruu
Destruction of Fare
Battle of Maeva
References
^José Garanger, Claude Robineau (1977). Bora-Bora. Nouvelles Editions Latines. p. 14.
Richard A. Greer (1971). "Trouble in Tahiti: S. R. Blackler's Despatches on the French Seizure of the Society Islands ". Hawaiian Journal of History. 5. Hawaiian Historical Society: 127–151. hdl:10524/536.
Newbury, Colin (1986). "Commissioner George Brown at Tahiti, 1843 ". Hawaiian Journal of History. 20. Hawaiian Historical Society: 83–104. hdl:10524/470.
France
Tahiti
Huahine
Raiatea
Bora Bora and Tahaa.jpg)