VanuatuTravel Tips

Colonial History of  Vanuatu

Condomonium - Pandemonium - During the late nineteenth century, planters as well as missionaries began to colonise the islands that had become known as the New Hebrides. English Men o' War patrolled the waters irregularly, to safeguard settlers and monitor the sandalwood trade. In 1875 Tannese settlers, mostly Catholic, wrote to the French government suggesting that the islands be annexed by the (Catholic) French Government. In 1876, planters in Efate sent an identical submission. Presbyterian missionaries saw this as a threat and promptly waged a press campaign in Australia and England, for the New Hebrides to be annexed by the British. The French and British governments sent each other assurances that neither wishes to annex the islands. Ten years passed while French planters bought up almost all the useable land in an effort to take economically what they could not yet control politically. Meanwhile the Presbyterians continued their campaign with even more vigor. Finally, France suggested to Britain that it would exchange any English claims to the French claimed Leeward Islands and Newfoundland, in exchange for the New Hebrides. Britain did not agree and things stood at an impasse. However, between 1882 and 1886 around twenty Europeans were killed by local villagers. Clearly, in the eyes of France, the English Men o' War were unable to maintain peace. France sent a detachments of troops from New Caledonia, to set up stations in Port Havannah, North Efate Island and Port Sandwich on Malekula. This Joint Naval Commission proved reasonably effective in maintaining order until France and English began playing serious political footsies with the New Hebrides. Each in turn sent consuls, High Commissioners and Governors to assume some sort of control of the islands. Each began a game of one-upmanship that finally, in 1906, resulted in the necessity for some form of agreement. Finally, a joint agreement to rule was invoked. It was called the Condominium. In most circles it was soon to become know as Pandemonium and was probably the single most inappropriate form of rule any group of peoples had to live under. The New Hebrides Condominium comprised of a joint court ruled over by a Spanish judge who spoke neither French nor English, a Dutch registrar and completely dual functioning bureaucracies. In real terms it meant passing through two sets of Customs on arrival, dealing with two law systems based on quite different principles, two jails (the French served wine), two hospitals, two....well, two of everything. It was grossly inefficient, incredibly costly in Bureaucratic terms and totally ridiculous in the eyes of the world. Towards the end of it's life, Vanuatu was effectively ruled by the head's of state of Britain and France, the British Queen and the French President. Issues were so confused that many ni-Vanuatu believed the two were married , but because of the varying ups and downs in the relationship, the pair lived apart, separated by the English Channel and a lot of arguing. This explained the conflicts and inconsistencies in the relationships - or lack of - between the French Consuls and British High Commissioners, and in the tragicomedy of errors running the New Hebrides.Tenacity can be surprisingly effective, however, and it was just this that, despite logical predictions the Condominium would last less than 10 years, kept the New Hebrides in this state of confused flux for the next 74 years. It might have continued to this day, except perhaps for these seeds of contention brought about by WWII.

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