WI: Musket Wars lead to State consolidation in New Zealand

[Nassirisimo]

The Musket Wars between various Maori tribes in the first half of the 19th century had enormous consequences for New Zealand, reducing the Maori population as well as causing territorial changes and migrations.

In other parts of the world though, muskets had led to the consolidation of larger states, something that they did not do in New Zealand for the most part. Simply put, is there a way for the Musket Wars in New Zealand to lead to the consolidation of a few large Maori tribes/states? And if so, what would the effect of this be on New Zealand's history in the rest of the 19th century and beyond?

 

[SwampTiger]

The problem for the Maori is no one tribe controls the supply of muskets. Of more importance for power consolidation is the organization of the society. You need a strong leader or group of leaders willing to work together. A group of nearly equal tribes is not going to coalesce into a centralized power on its own without some external threat.