Tongan Civil War of Independence

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The Tongan Civil War of Independence was a civil war fought in Tonga from 1799 to 1845. The war resulted in the Tongan Islands being unifed as an independent kingdom state.

The war began in 1799 when Tukuʻaho, the 14th Tu'i Kanokupolu, was assassinated. The Tu'i Tonga Empire had been in decline for some time, and after the assassination Tonga became a battleground for rival chieftains heading small, island-based tribes. The war effectively ended in 1845 when Tāufaʻāhau — who was backed by Christian missionaries after his conversion to Christianity and being baptized with the Christian name George Tupou — unified all of the Tongan Islands into a kingdom. However, the last chieftan who claimed independence from Tāufaʻāhau's rule did not die until 1852, and it was not until 1875 that a constitution was promulgated by the king which formally established Tonga as a kingdom.