The Colony of Fiji was a British crown colony that existed from 1874 to 1970 in the

territory of the present-day nation of Fiji. The United Kingdom declined its first
opportunity to annex the Kingdom of Fiji in 1852. Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau had
offered to cede the islands, subject to being allowed to retain his Tui Viti (King
of Fiji) title, a condition unacceptable to both the British and to many of his
fellow chiefs, who regarded him only as first among equals, if that. Mounting debts
and threats from the United States Navy had led Cakobau to establish a
constitutional monarchy with a government dominated by European settlers in 1871,
following an agreement with the Australian Polynesia Company to pay his debts. The
collapse of the new regime drove him to make another offer of cession in 1872,
which the British accepted. On 10 October 1874, Britain began its rule of Fiji,
which lasted until 10 October 1970.

Contents [hide]
1 "Fiji for the Fijians"
2 Fiji in World War I
3 Fiji in World War II
4 The development of political institutions
5 Responsible government
6 See also
7 References
"Fiji for the Fijians"[edit]
Sir Hercules Robinson, who had arrived on 23 September 1874, was appointed as
interim Governor. He was replaced in June 1875 by Sir Arthur Gordon. Rather than
establish direct rule in all spheres, Gordon granted autonomy over local affairs to
Fiji's chiefs, though they were now forbidden to engage in tribal warfare. The
colony was divided into four regions, each under the control of a Roko; these
regions were further subdivided into twelve districts, each ruled by a traditional
chief. A Great Council of Chiefs was established in 1876 to advise the Governor.
This body remained in existence until being suspended by the Military-backed
interim government in 2007 and abolished in 2012. Under the 1997 Constitution, it
functioned as an electoral college that chose Fiji's President, Vice-President, and
14 of the 32 Senators. In its early days, the Great Council was supplemented by a
Native Regulation Board (now the Fijian Affairs Board); these two bodies together
made laws for the Fijians. (European settlers, however, were not subject to its
laws). In 1882, the capital was moved from Levuka to the more accessible Suva.

Adopting a "Fiji for the Fijians" policy, Gordon prohibited further sales of land,
although it could be leased. This policy has been continued, hardly modified, to
this day, and some 83 percent of the land is still natively owned. He also banned
the exploitation of Fijians as labourers, and following the failure of the cotton-
growing enterprise in the early 1870s, Gordon decided in 1878 to import indentured
labourers from India to work on the sugarcane fields that had taken the place of
the cotton plantations. The 463 Indians arrived on 14 May 1879 - the first of some
61,000 that were to come before the scheme ended in 1916. The plan involved
bringing the Indian workers to Fiji on a five-year contract, after which they could
return to India at their own expense; if they chose to renew their contract for a
second five-year term, they would be given the option of returning to India at the
government's expense, or remaining in Fiji. The great majority chose to stay. The
Queensland Act, which regulated indentured labour in Queensland, was made law in
Fiji also.

Fiji in World War I[edit]

Fiji was only peripherally involved in World War I. One memorable incident occurred
in September 1917 when Count Felix von Luckner arrived at Wakaya Island, off the
eastern coast of Viti Levu, after his raider, the Seeadler, had run aground in the
Cook Islands following the shelling of Papeete in the French territory of Tahiti.
On 21 September, the district police inspector took a number of Fijians to Wakaya,
and von Luckner, not realizing that they were unarmed, unwittingly surrendered.
Citing unwillingness to exploit the Fijian people, the colonial authorities did not
permit Fijians to enlist. One Fijian of chiefly rank, a greatgrandson of Cakobau's,
did join the French Foreign Legion, however, and received France's highest military
decoration, the Croix de Guerre. After going on to complete a Law degree at Oxford
University, this same chief returned to Fiji in 1921 as both a war hero and the
country's first-ever university graduate. In the years that followed, Ratu Sir Lala
Sukuna, as he was later known, established himself as the most powerful chief in
Fiji and forged embryonic institutions for what would later become the modern
Fijian nation.

Fiji in World War II[edit]

Main article: British Empire in World War II
By the time of World War II, the United Kingdom had reversed its policy of not
enlisting natives, and many thousands of Fijians volunteered for the Fiji Infantry
Regiment, which was under the command of Ratu Sir Edward Cakobau, another
greatgrandson of Seru Epenisa Cakobau. The regiment was attached to New Zealand and
Australian army units during the war.

The Empire of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, on 8 December 1941 (Fiji time),
marked the beginning of the Pacific War. Japanese submarines launched seaplanes
that flew over Fiji; Japanese submarine I-25 on 17 March 1942 and Japanese
submarine I-10 on 30 November 1941.

Because of its central location, Fiji was selected as a training base for the
Allies. An airstrip was built at Nadi (later to become an international airport),
and gun emplacements studded the coast. Fijians gained a reputation for bravery in
the Solomon Islands campaign, with one war correspondent describing their ambush
tactics as "death with velvet gloves." Corporal Sefanaia Sukanaivalu, of Yucata,
was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, as a result of his bravery in the
Battle of Bougainville.

Indo-Fijians, however, generally refused to enlist,[citation needed] after their

demand for equal treatment to Europeans was refused.[1] They disbanded a platoon
they had organized, and contributed nothing more than one officer and 70 enlisted
men in a reserve transport section, on condition that they not be sent overseas.
The refusal of Indo-Fijians to play an active role in the war efforts become part
of the ideological construction employed by Fijian ethno-nationalists to justify
interethnic tensions in the post-war years.

The development of political institutions[edit]

A Legislative Council, initially with advisory powers, had existed as an appointed
body since 1874, but in 1904 it was made a partly elective body, with European male
settlers empowered to elect 6 of the 19 Councillors. 2 members were appointed by
the colonial Governor from a list of 6 candidates submitted by the Great Council of
Chiefs; a further 8 "official" members were appointed by the Governor at his own
discretion. The Governor himself was the 19th member. The first nominated Indian
member was appointed in 1916; this position was made elective from 1929. A four-
member Executive Council had also been established in 1904; this was not a
"Cabinet" in the modern sense, as its members were not responsible to the
Legislative Council.

After World War II, Fiji began to take its first steps towards internal self-
government. The Legislative Council was expanded to 32 members in 1953, 15 of them
elected and divided equally among the three major ethnic constituencies (indigenous
Fijians, Indo-Fijians, and Europeans). Indo-Fijian and European electors voted
directly for 3 of the 5 members allocated to them (the other two were appointed by
the Governor); the 5 indigenous Fijian members were all nominated by the Great
Council of Chiefs. Ratu Sukuna was chosen as the first Speaker. Although the
Legislative Council still had few of the powers of the modern Parliament, it
brought native Fijians and Indo-Fijians into the official political structure for
the first time, and fostered the beginning of a modern political culture in Fiji.

These steps towards self-rule were welcomed by the Indo-Fijian community, which by
that time had come to outnumber the native Fijian population. Fearing Indo-Fijian
domination, many Fijian chiefs saw the benevolent rule of the British as preferable
to Indo-Fijian control, and resisted British moves towards autonomy. By this time,
however, the United Kingdom had apparently decided to divest itself of its colonial
empire, and pressed ahead with reforms. The Fijian people as a whole were
enfranchised for the first time in 1963, when the legislature was made a wholly
elective body, except for 2 members out of 36 nominated by the Great Council of
Chiefs. 1964 saw the first step towards responsible government, with the
introduction of the Member system. Specific portfolios were given to certain
elected members of the Legislative Council. They did not constitute a Cabinet in
the Westminster sense of the term, as they were officially advisers to the colonial
Governor rather than ministers with executive authority, and were responsible only
to the Governor, not to the legislature. Nevertheless, over the ensuing three year,
the then Governor, Sir Derek Jakeway, treated the Members more and more like
ministers, to prepare them for the advent of responsible government.

Responsible government[edit]
A constitutional conference was held in London in July 1965, to discuss
constitutional changes with a view to introducing responsible government. Indo-
Fijians, led by A. D. Patel, demanded the immediate introduction of full self-
government, with a fully elected legislature, to be elected by universal suffrage
on a common voters' roll. These demands were vigorously rejected by the ethnic
Fijian delegation, who still feared loss of control over natively owned land and
resources should an Indo-Fijian dominated government come to power. The British
made it clear, however, that they were determined to bring Fiji to self-government
and eventual independence. Realizing that they had no choice, Fiji's chiefs decided
to negotiate for the best deal they could get.

A series of compromises led to the establishment of a cabinet system of government

in 1967, with Ratu Kamisese Mara as the first Chief Minister. Ongoing negotiations
between Mara and Sidiq Koya, who had taken over the leadership of the mainly Indo-
Fijian National Federation Party on Patel's death in 1969, led to a second
constitutional conference in London, in April 1970, at which Fiji's Legislative
Council agreed on a compromise electoral formula and a timetable for independence
as a fully sovereign and independent nation with the Commonwealth. The Legislative
Council would be replaced with a bicameral Parliament, with a Senate dominated by
Fijian chiefs and a popularly elected House of Representatives. In the 52-member
House, Native Fijians and Indo-Fijians would each be allocated 22 seats, of which
12 would represent Communal constituencies comprising voters registered on strictly
ethnic roles, and another 10 representing National constituencies to which members
were allocated by ethnicity but elected by universal suffrage. A further 8 seats
were reserved for "General electors" - Europeans, Chinese, Banaban Islanders, and
other minorities; 3 of these were "communal" and 5 "national." With this
compromise, Fiji became independent on 10 October 1970.