History of Vanuatu

1768

The name Espiritu Santo remains to this day. Europeans did not return until 1768, when Louis Antoine de Bougainville visited the islands, naming them the Great Cyclades.

1774

In 1774, Captain Cook named the islands the New Hebrides, a name that lasted until independence. In 1825, trader Peter Dillon's discovery of sandalwood on the island of Erromango began a rush that ended in 1830 after a clash between immigrant Polynesian workers and indigenous Melanesians.

1825

In 1774, Captain Cook named the islands the New Hebrides, a name that lasted until independence. In 1825, trader Peter Dillon's discovery of sandalwood on the island of Erromango began a rush that ended in 1830 after a clash between immigrant Polynesian workers and indigenous Melanesians.

1830

In 1774, Captain Cook named the islands the New Hebrides, a name that lasted until independence. In 1825, trader Peter Dillon's discovery of sandalwood on the island of Erromango began a rush that ended in 1830 after a clash between immigrant Polynesian workers and indigenous Melanesians.

1848

For example, John Geddie, a Scots-Canadian presbyterian missionary, arrived at the island of Aneityum in 1848; he spent the rest of his life there, working to convert the inhabitants to Christianity and western ways.

1860

During the 1860s, planters in Australia, Fiji, New Caledonia, and the Samoan Islands, in need of labourers, orchestrated a long-term indentured labour trade known as "blackbirding".

1878

In 1878 Britain and France declared all of the New Hebrides to be neutral territory, but the lack of a functional government led to rising discontent among British and French colonists.

1882

Initially, British subjects from Australia made up the majority, but the establishment of the Caledonian Company of the New Hebrides in 1882 soon tipped the balance in favour of French subjects.

1887

In 1887 both nations created an Anglo-French Joint Naval Commission to defend their citizens.

The Convention of 16 October 1887 established a joint naval commission for the sole purpose of protecting French and British citizens, but claimed no jurisdiction over internal native affairs. In 1906, however, France and the United Kingdom agreed to administer the islands jointly.

1889

On 9 August 1889, Franceville declared itself independent under the leadership of mayor/president Ferdinand Chevillard and with its own red, white and blue flag with five stars.

1906

The Convention of 16 October 1887 established a joint naval commission for the sole purpose of protecting French and British citizens, but claimed no jurisdiction over internal native affairs. In 1906, however, France and the United Kingdom agreed to administer the islands jointly.

1914

The condominium's authority was extended in the Anglo-French Protocol of 1914, although this was not formally ratified until 1922.

1921

Long after America's Wild West was tamed, Vila was the scene of the occasional gunfight and public guillotining." Starting in 1921, French plantation owners let Annamese workers from the Gulf of Tonkin come to the New Hebrides under 5 years contracts.

1922

The condominium's authority was extended in the Anglo-French Protocol of 1914, although this was not formally ratified until 1922.

1923

They were 437 in 1923, 5413 in 1930, then after the crisis 1630 in 1937.

1930

They were 437 in 1923, 5413 in 1930, then after the crisis 1630 in 1937.

1937

They were 437 in 1923, 5413 in 1930, then after the crisis 1630 in 1937.

1940

They live (...) a still wild life". Challenges to this form of government began in the early 1940s.

1947

There was some social and political unrest among them in 1947.

1949

In 1949 the plantation owners wished to replace Annamites by "more docile" Javanese.

1950

However, a French scholar suggested in 1950 a renewal of Annamese migration, but this time as settlers in villages of their own.

1960

Today, John Frum is both a religion and a political party with a member in Parliament. ==Decolonisation== Perhaps the final political impetus towards independence was the central issue of land ownership which arose during the 1960s.

1974

Renamed the Vanua'aku Party in 1974, the party pushed for independence.

1975

A Representative Assembly was created in 1975 but dissolved in 1977 after demands for the elimination of government-appointees and immediate independence.

1977

A Representative Assembly was created in 1975 but dissolved in 1977 after demands for the elimination of government-appointees and immediate independence.

1979

In 1979 foreign owners were dispossessed and received compensation from their own governments and a date was set for full independence. France was unhappy.

New elections have been held several times since 1997, most recently in 2016. ==See also== Condominium (international law) Franceville, New Hebrides New Hebrides ==References== ==Bibliography== ==External links== Vanuatu "Colonial History" Vanuatu election timeline 1979-2016

1980

Philippe Allonneau, the French representative, even succeeded in being recognized as King of Espiritu Santo by the island's tribal chiefs. == "Coconut War" == Beginning in June 1980, Jimmy Stevens, head of the Nagriamel movement, led an uprising against the colonial officials and the plans for independence.

Stevens was supported by French-speaking landowners and by the Phoenix Foundation, an American business foundation that supported the establishment of a libertarian tax haven in the New Hebrides. On 8 June 1980, the New Hebrides government asked Britain and France to send troops to put down a rebellion on the island of Espiritu Santo.

There were few casualties, and the war came to a sudden end: when a vehicle carrying Stevens' son burst through a Papua New Guinean roadblock in late August 1980, the soldiers opened fire on the vehicle, killing Stevens' son.

1996

The Vanuatu Mobile Force, a paramilitary group, attempted a coup in 1996 because of a pay dispute.

1997

New elections have been held several times since 1997, most recently in 2016. ==See also== Condominium (international law) Franceville, New Hebrides New Hebrides ==References== ==Bibliography== ==External links== Vanuatu "Colonial History" Vanuatu election timeline 1979-2016

2016

New elections have been held several times since 1997, most recently in 2016. ==See also== Condominium (international law) Franceville, New Hebrides New Hebrides ==References== ==Bibliography== ==External links== Vanuatu "Colonial History" Vanuatu election timeline 1979-2016




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