New Zealand joins.

Here’s some ideas for a New Zealand “empire”, though it could be construed as being somewhat ‘wankish’.

Firstly, in 1839 NZ was annexed by New South Wales, perhaps if the treaty of Waitangi is not signed, and then the New South Wales Continuance Act is not passed the following year and both remain the same colony. I’m not really sure where to go from here, as this creates more of a New South Wales empire (if you could even call it that!) than a New Zealand “empire”. Also, I don’t know how the treaty of Waitangi is not signed without an earlier POD, and if it isn’t you’ll probably have a French Colony in modern day Canterbury (which really is the best bit of New Zealand- I swear! ) as well as the British having no real control over most of the country, especially the Maori-chiefdoms.

But let’s say this does happen, and several years later, as the French colony grows to engulf most of the South Island, New South Wales makes moves to formally assume control of all the North Island and monopolize Maori trade. (There was a relatively small population of Maori in the South Island, and they would have been incapable of resisting the French attempts at purchasing or forcibly confiscating their land unlike the North Island Maori). New South Wales invades the Waikato (the fertile river valley south of Auckland)- the Maori stronghold in much the same way the Crown did so in the 1860s during the Land Wars. Fierce fighting takes place, and the crown finds the going much tougher than expected. However after a decade of brutal warfare most Maori tribes are crushed or assimilated.

The situation is now a British (NSW) North Island and all but a small part of the South Island under French control. The Maori culture is slowly being eliminated in both islands (though more so in the North- this is similar to OTL). Around 1870 the relationship between NSW and NZ was formalized, (British) NZ would become a part of New South Wales. This Tasman-Centric colony would change the how Australia would federalize. Traders in New Zealand would eventually sway the vote, fearing tariffs from a united Australian commonwealth. Thus NSW would not become a part of the Commonwealth in the 1890s. This also upset the process of other states joining the federation. In 1906 the threat of Japan, Russia, Germany, France et al caused a new conference on federation, the result was Victoria and Tasmania joining a New South Wales lead commonwealth. Fiji would later join as well. The new colony was named Federation of Australia. Queensland and Western Australia would remain as separate colonies. The Federation of Australia was given dominion status.

World War One goes in much the same way as in OTL, though after the war Samoa and New Guinea would join the Federation. Before World War Two Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland would too.


Okay, I’ve just realized that this has little to do with New Zealand at all, just that there is a larger ‘Australia’ and the South Island is a separate French Colony (which I haven’t mentioned much at all…). Meh.

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