Tonga

The Tongan Islands were probably settled from Fiji about 3500 years ago. Tonga developed as a highly stratified society with social classes and paramount chiefs. Warfare was common as chiefs competed to expand their respective domains. In 1616 Dutch explorers became the first Europeans to visit Tonga. They were followed by the British explorer Captain James Cook, who made three visits between 1773 and 1777; Cook named Tonga the Friendly Islands, due to the welcome he received. Wesleyan Methodist missionaries arrived from England in the 1820s and began a successful conversion of the islanders. The missionaries converted paramount chief Taufa'ahau Tupou in the 1830s and he persuaded others to follow. Tupou, who became known as George Tupou I, consolidated three chiefly lines and founded the monarchy in 1875. Upon his death, he was succeeded by his grandson, George Tupou II. Owing to internal strife on the islands, Tonga and Great Britain negotiated a Treaty of Friendship and Protection in 1900, establishing Tonga as a British Protected State. Great Britain had great influence over the kingdom for the next seven decades, but the country was never formally colonized. When Tupou II died in 1918, his daughter Queen Salote Tupou III succeeded to the throne. She in turn was succeeded by her son, the current monarch, King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV. On June 4, 1970, Tonga became completely independent of Great Britain. Recent Developments Tonga's relatively high level of education has made some Tongans dissatisfied with the current political structure. Insisting that the monarchy in its present form has outlived its time, these Tongans organized a political organization, the Pro-Democracy Movement, in November 1992 and held a pro-democracy convention that same month. It was boycotted by the monarchy and the government refused to allow publicity of the event or grant visas to foreign speakers. The Pro-Democracy Movement formed the People's Party in 1994, Tonga's first political party.