Editing Samoa (section)

===German Samoa (1900–1914)===
[[File:Funeral of Tamesese.jpg|thumb|Chiefs from all around Samoa mourning the 1929 death of Mau Movement leader, Tupua Tamesese Lealofi III, after the Black Saturday killings by NZ soldiers]]
{{Main|German Samoa}}
The [[German Empire]] governed the western part of the Samoan archipelago from 1900 to 1914. [[Wilhelm Solf]] was appointed the colony's first governor. In 1908, when the non-violent [[Mau movement|Mau a Pule]] resistance movement arose, Solf did not hesitate to banish the Mau leader [[Lauaki Namulauulu Mamoe|Lauaki Namulau'ulu Mamoe]] to Saipan in the German [[Northern Mariana Islands]].<ref>[http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/pacific/wsamoa18991918.html World History at KMLA] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217013354/http://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/pacific/wsamoa18991918.html |date=17 December 2013 }}, zum.de</ref>

The German colonial administration governed on the principle that "there was only one government in the islands."<ref>Lewthwaite, Gordon R. "Life, Land and Agriculture to Mid-Century," in ''Western Samoa''. Edited by James W. Fox and Kenneth Brailey Cumberland. Christchurch, New Zealand: Whitcomb & Tombs Ltd. 1962, p. 148</ref> Thus, there was no Samoan ''Tupu'' (king), nor an ''alii sili'' (similar to a governor), but two ''Fautua'' (advisors) were appointed by the colonial government. ''Tumua'' and ''Pule'' (traditional governments of Upolu and Savai'i) were for a time silent; all decisions on matters affecting lands and titles were under the control of the colonial Governor.

In the first month of [[World War I]], on 29 August 1914, troops of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force landed unopposed on Upolu and [[Occupation of German Samoa|seized control]] from the German authorities, following a request by Great Britain for New Zealand to perform this "great and urgent imperial service."<ref>{{cite news |title=New Zealand goes to war: The Capture of German Samoa |url=http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/new-zealand-goes-to-war-first-world-war |work=nzhistory.net.nz |access-date=27 November 2007 |archive-date=14 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114222018/http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/new-zealand-goes-to-war-first-world-war |url-status=live }}</ref>