Quote:
Originally Posted by atiff
In defense of all concerned, I must say that the 'average' Kiwi in WWII should only be rated so highly because of the enhancement to the average made by the men in the Maori battalion.
Scary thought for the day - men of the Maori battalion vs. Ghurkas.
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Just one of the many fundamental and important differences in the ways that the indigenous peoples of New Zealand and Australia were treated. Australian Aborigines came perilously close to being wiped from the face of the earth during the 1800s and the shattered survivors were literally wards of the state (legally speaking) even as adults until the 1960s when they were finally recognised with citizenship and voting rights. An appalling dark stain on Australia's collective soul. The situation in New Zealand was completely different. The Maori, as individual tribes and in large-scale united resistance, fought three major and dozens of minor wars with the British Empire during the 1800s and in the end were only defeated because they were outnumbered 20 to one and the Redcoats took to burning their villages and slaughtering their non-combatants.
The beginning of the end of the Maori Wars came with the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi under which the Maori were recognised as equal subjects of the British Empire and had all the requisite rights under the law. Then New Zealand became the first modern democracy to grant all adult citizens, male and female, the vote when it became an independent nation.
From even before independence Maori men were welcomed into the British Army and associated colonial forces. It's a very similar situation to the Nepalis - they excel at warfare, proved exceedingly difficult and costly to fully vanquish, they volunteer to wage war for you so you arm them, transport them to the vicinity of the enemy, point them in the right direction and give them heaps of room.
The 19th century Maori probably thought it was an excellent deal, being provided with firearms and ammunition to go kill people AND get paid to engage in their favourite hobby!