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    British logistics in the New Zealand wars, 1845-66 : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2004) Taylor, Richard J.
    While military historians freely acknowledge the importance of logistics - the function of sustaining armed forces in war and peace - the study of military history has tended to focus on other components of the military art, such as strategy, tactics or command. The historiography of the New Zealand Wars reflects this phenomenon. As a result, the impact of logistics on the Wars remains largely unexplored and misunderstood. The British superiority in numbers, materiel [sic] and technology has been one of the most consistent and enduring themes in the historiography of the New Zealand Wars. Although more recent, revisionist histories have also highlighted the impact of Maori military prowess as a factor, interpretations of the course and outcome of the Wars are still dominated by accounts which stress the numerical and technological superiority of the British Army as critical. There are several problems with this approach. At its most basic, it ignores the historical reality that small, poorly-equipped forces have occasionally defeated larger and better equipped opponents. More importantly, it fails to take into account wider British strategy in New Zealand, and events that took place off the battlefield, such as the provision of the logistical services that did much to shape the outcome. The result is a lack of balance that prohibits true assessment of the respective capabilities and performance of the two sides. While it is acknowledged that the British had superior numbers and technology for most of the Wars, this thesis will show that the outcome of the New Zealand Wars was due more to the quality of British logistics and logistics doctrine, and the application of logistics within a coherent strategy, than to any quantitative advantage. This will be achieved by tracing the development and application of British logistics in New Zealand between 1845 and 1866. It will be seen that the outcome of the New Zealand Wars was determined by the implementation, by the British, of a strategy that applied their greatest strength (their army's ability to fight sustained campaigns) against the critical Maori weaknesses (logistics, and an inability to fight prolonged wars). It will also be seen that the cornerstone of British strategy was strong, effective logistics.
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    Nga Kooti Whenua : the dynamics of a colonial encounter : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History, Massey University, Albany
    (Massey University, 2003) Young, Grant
    The Native Land Court was created to establish certain, stable and alienable title to Maori land but it struggled to do so and was regularly re-invented from 1862 to 1928 to deal with crises which undermined its role in meeting the demands of colonial politicians for land. Inside the courtroom, Maori asserted and argued complex claims to land, continuing a long tradition of negotiating relationships between distinct tribal and kinship groups. To deal with these claims and establish a settled title, the Court was forced to navigate a path through particular disputes to individual pieces of land rather than impose its own conceptualisation of customary rights. This thesis concludes that Maori customary rights to land cannot be generalised as a model of abstract rules. Rather they were a practical application of tribal political and civil rights negotiated in particular circumstances, both geographically and historically. Maori customary rights to land were fundamentally about relationships, how people interacted with each other over access to resources and land. This thesis also concludes that the Court demonstrates in the colonial context, power was never absolutely in the hands of imperial authorities. The process of alienating Maori from their land did not occur easily or quickly - colonisation was a haphazard process which occurred over many decades. Five discourses on Maori customary rights to land are examined. They are that of historians, the political discourse surrounding the Court from its establishment through to 1928, that of Maori claimants asserting rights to land in the Court and of judges and assessors attempting to resolve disputed claims to land, and the bureaucratic discourse which emerged after 1928. The major sources used are parliamentary debates, official and unofficial published papers, manuscript collections of particular individuals and the Court's minute books. A sampling process has been applied to the minute books to make this material manageable using specific criteria designed to ensure, among other things, geographical and chronological diversity. This thesis marks a first attempt to discuss the Court by taking a systematic approach to its minute books and one which recognises both the volume and complexity of the material available.
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    'It is our bounden duty' : the emergence of the New Zealand protestant missionary movement, 1868-1926 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2004) Morrison, Hugh Douglas
    Between 1868 and 1926 a significant number of New Zealand Protestant Christians participated in the international missionary movement as missionaries and supporters. Early missionary sentiments were derived from historical British roots. A range of domestic and international influences progressively shaped the New Zealand movement from the 1890s, and there was demonstrable and sustained growth in the number of missionary departures. From 1900 onwards missionary support and enthusiasm was organised with increasing sophistication, and the base of national financial support grew accordingly. In the aftermath of World War One missionary interest and support continued to grow, with missionary departure rates in the 1920s reaching unprecedented levels. By the end of the 1920s greatest growth occurred amongst the non-denominational organisations, many of which identified with conservative evangelical churches reacting to liberalising tendencies in society and theology. For the same reasons a hitherto variegated and broadly evangelical theology of mission became increasingly splintered. By the 1920s a formalised, sophisticated, articulated and well-supported foreign missions movement was a central feature of New Zealand church life, although this was varyingly expressed at the denominational, regional and congregational level. Whilst it was not strictly true that the missionary movement was solely a women's movement, women were influentially central to it as supporters, participants and thinkers. Missionary service was an important vehicle by which they could enter public spheres of church life and exercise an influence. Children, young people and students were also prominent. The missionary movement was a religious movement, steeped in a theological rationale and drawing upon a prevailing set of spiritual sentiments that encouraged personal activism, consecration and practical loving service. Theological and spiritual motivation was intertwined with a complex mix of extra-religious factors. Therefore motivation was partly differentiated along lines of gender and intersected with prevailing imperialist sentiments. The New Zealand Protestant missionary movement, set in these terms, was both an integral part of the wider international missionary movement, and an important way by which New Zealand's emerging religious identity was shaped in the late colonial period.
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    Trading our way : developments in New Zealand's trade policy 1930s to 1980s : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2010) Neill, Carol May
    This thesis examines developments in New Zealand trade policy from the 1930s to late 1980s. Over this period New Zealand’s trade activities changed from being very narrow in scope and highly controlled, to being greatly diversified and liberalised. This thesis investigates successive New Zealand governments’ ideas about how external trade should be developed over that period, and why they instigated substantial changes in the nature of trade policy. The research identifies the dominant ideas, and influences, that shaped those changes. Because trade has been so central to the New Zealand economy, this thesis holds that ideas about trade development have been intrinsically linked to more general economic, political and social objectives for the country. This research has been built on an understanding that trade policy over this time had many dimensions that were located in both the domestic and foreign policy realms. In domestic terms, trade policy was focused on achieving economic and industrial development objectives. From these perspectives, trade policy was developed in ways that sought to ensure security and opportunity for the domestic economy and for New Zealand society. The substantial changes from regulated trade to liberal trading within the domestic context can be viewed in relation to the story of import licensing’s existence. The growth of diversity of goods traded can be viewed in terms of the changes in domestic production priorities. In the realm of foreign policy, diplomatic pursuits focused on pursuing New Zealand’s national interest through trade development. Trade policy was focused on achieving access for markets through political means, and advancing New Zealand’s interests in the economic and political international arenas. From this perspective, trade policy informed diplomatic strategies that sought to enhance New Zealand’s ‘place in the world’. The research highlights the challenges for New Zealand of pursuing external trade to meet its own objectives while operating within economic and political contexts over which it had little influence. Most ideas and policy decisions made over the period can be viewed as stemming from some form of external influence. Trade policy tended to develop in response to external changes rather than through independent initiative.
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    From coal pit to leather pit : life stories of Robert Semple : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of a PhD in History at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2010) Hickey, Carina
    In the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography Len Richardson described Robert Semple as one of the most colourful leaders of the New Zealand labour movement in the first half of the twentieth century. Semple was a national figure in his time and, although historians had outlined some aspects of his public career, there has been no full-length biography written on him. In New Zealand history his characterisation is dominated by two public personas. Firstly, he is remembered as the radical organiser for the New Zealand Federation of Labour (colloquially known as the Red Feds), during 1910-1913. Semple’s second image is as the flamboyant Minister of Public Works in the first New Zealand Labour government from 1935-49. This thesis is not organised in a chronological structure as may be expected of a biography but is centred on a series of themes which have appeared most prominently and which reflect the patterns most prevalent in Semple’s life. The themes were based on activities which were of perceived value to Semple. Thus, the thematic selection was a complex interaction between an author’s role shaping and forming Semple’s life and perceived real patterns visible in the sources. Chapter one explores Semple as an Australian New Zealander whose relationship with his homeland was a complex one, continually affected by issues such as time, place and political expediency. Chapter two considers Semple in the identity which was arguably the most radical in New Zealand historiography – the Socialist. Several facets of Semple’s socialism will be examined including militant socialism, from which his radical persona was formed, state socialism and practical socialism. To improve the lives of working people was Semple’s aim in life, so the third thematic chapter examines Semple’s role as a union organiser – this was a vehicle through which he pursued this aim. It was from this image that Semple’s public career was founded and then sustained. In the fourth chapter Semple, the Labour politician will be examined. Here his ultimate aim was to improve conditions for all New Zealanders and the several arenas in which Semple pursued this end included party activities, municipal politics and ministerial office. In these two chapters changes in Semple’s political perspectives can be seen as labour concerns became subservient to national concerns when he became part of the Labour government. Chapter five examines Semple as an anti-militarist which was the image where the greatest change in political perspective was evidenced. Semple, the anti-conscriptionist of one world war, drew the marble for the first conscription ballot in the next. These themes are not the only ones in Semple’s life but appear most consistently during his lifetime.
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    Entrepreneurship and economic development in New Zealand, 1880-1910 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2004) Hunter, Ian
    This study investigates entrepreneurial activity in New Zealand between 1880 and 1910. Economic indicators, population, import and export patterns, provincial differences, and industrial development are examined to understand entrepreneurship and its relationship to economic growth. In addition, a case analysis of 133 entrepreneurs is presented, which analyses the backgrounds, education, reasons for venture start-up, venture types, methods of growth, incidence of failure, and sources of capital for nineteenth-century New Zealand entrepreneurs. This study suggests that a range of structural characteristics present in the New Zealand economy at this time, such as rapid population growth, technological innovation, isolation of markets, business structures, public works investment, immigration, and fiscal policies, encouraged and fostered entrepreneurial activity. Common characteristics among those who undertook new ventures over this period are highlighted; these include skill, commercial experience, limited capital, partnership, networks and the propensity to undertake multiple business ventures. Overall, entrepreneurial activity by small and medium-sized enterprises emerged as an important mechanism by which the colonial economy expanded both in scale and scope.
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    Revisiting James Cowan : a reassessment of The New Zealand Wars (1922-23) : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Philosophy in English at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2010) Wood, Gregory
    Widely differing perceptions of the early twentieth century New Zealand writer James Cowan have led to confusion over how he should be best remembered – as a journalist, an historian, or a combination of both. Most of the previous scholarly assessments of Cowan have focused on his greatest achievement, The New Zealand Wars (1922-23), and not sought further connections with his other works to reveal the existence of a coherent historiography. This thesis fleshes out Cowan’s historiography by including and reviewing three other books in his oeuvre, two written immediately before the release of The New Zealand Wars (The Maoris of New Zealand and The Adventures of Kimble Bent), and one shortly afterwards (The Maoris in the Great War). All four books contributed in their own unique way to an early goal of Cowan’s to write a history of Maori-Pakeha interaction and reconciliation following the turmoil of the New Zealand Wars of the nineteenth century. They also reveal a progressive attempt by Cowan to write history of a suitable standard to ultimately earn him the dual status of firstly, ‘oral historian’ and secondly, ‘public historian’, that is, ‘an historian writing outside academia’. The terms did not exist in Cowan’s era, so his research methods must be considered advanced for the time. My subsequent review of Cowan’s major work The New Zealand Wars shows that his writing transcended journalism in its creation, and has led to this reassessment of Cowan as a much more significant writer for his era than has been accorded to him so far.
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    Two to tango: the partnership between charity and the welfare state in New Zealand 1940-1970
    (University of Auckland, 2008) Tennant, Margaret
    The article examines the interdependence between the state and the voluntary social services during the period of the classic welfare state from the 1940s to the 1970s in New Zealand. It says that historiography is most neglectful of charity and voluntary welfare, the state's hegemony seeming most securely entrenched from the 1940s to the 1970s. It focuses on the general niche claimed by established voluntary organizations as the welfare state expanded and at their mutually dependent relationship with government agencies and administrators.
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    Jesus in New Zealand, 1900-1940 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2007) Troughton, Geoffrey M.
    This thesis addresses pervasive ways in which New Zealanders thought about Jesus during the years from approximately 1900 to 1940. In particular, it considers ways that he appeared within discourse, contexts in which he was especially invoked, and ends for which he was employed. It examines Jesus as a religious icon, but also as a reflexive tool for examining the place of religion in New Zealand culture and society. In this sense, it addresses Jesus as a phenomenon of social and cultural history. The thesis draws on a wide range of sources and methodologies, and is organised thematically into chapters that highlight predominant images of Jesus and important contexts that helped shape them. It considers Jesus in the languages of doctrine and devotion, social reform, and for children. It further assesses images of Jesus' masculinity, and representations of him as an 'anti-Church' prophet. The overarching argument is that Jesus constituted an increasingly important focal point in New Zealand religiosity during the period under investigation. Especially within Protestant Christianity, Jesus became a more important discursive focus and acquired new status as a source of authority. This movement reflected wider social and cultural shifts, particularly related to understandings of the nature of society and notions of personality. The increasingly Jesus-centred orientation of Protestant religiosity was fundamentally an attempt to modernise Christianity and extend its reach into the community. In particular, Jesus was invoked as the simple core of Christianity - the attractive essence of 'true religion'. Jesus-centred religiosity provided evidence of a changing social and cultural situation, demonstrating that religious language and ideals could be sensitive indicators of such shifts. The rise of Jesus as a focal point in religion was a response to change that reoriented Protestant Christianity in the process.