3 200 à 3 300 ans
Austronesians who initially came from China, via the Philippines and Timor, arrived in New Caledonia and populated the territory.
The pottery found allows the prehistory of the archipelago to be divided into two periods. The Kone period is marked by Lapita pottery and Podtanean pottery.
Fin du XVe siècle
It is the time of the explorers.
1774
Situated away from the sea routes, New Caledonia was not located until later, two hundred years after Australia. James Cook and Antoine Bruny d'Entrecasteaux were the first Europeans to draw up accurate maps of the island. On September 4, 1774, in a ship commanded by Cook, New Caledonia was discovered.
1792
In search of La Pérouse's ships that had disappeared four years earlier in the Pacific, d'Entrecasteaux and Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec landed in New Caledonia in 1792.
1827
D'Entrecasteaux, died at sea, on July 20, 1793, off the coast of New Guinea. Jules-Sébastien Dumont d'Urville followed in the footsteps of La Pérouse between 1822 and 1829. His name remains attached to the conquest of the South Pole, which he named Terre Adélie in homage to his wife. He discovered the Loyalty Islands: Britannia Island (Maré), Chabrol Island (Lifou) and Halgan Island (Ouvéa), before the arrival of sandalwood traders.
1840
It was the beginning of evangelization. Two Polynesian missionaries were installed on Grande Terre and the conversion to Protestantism took place in the Loyalty Islands. Even today, the majority of the inhabitants of the Loyalty Islands are Protestants.
1853
Napoleon III sent Admiral Auguste Febvrier-Despointes to formalize the attachment of the islands, which was deemed effective as of September 24, 1853. Napoleon III was indeed looking for land to accommodate a new penal colony.
At the same time, the French presence in the Pacific was affirmed.
1854 - 1866
It is at the rate of 40 civilians per year since 1862, that France takes possession of the archipelago. The Kanaks obviously did not appreciate the expansion of Europeans on their lands, as evidenced by the attacks on the mission of Saint-Louis and the concession of Mont-Dore.
And for manpower, France circumvented the problem of immigration with the convicts.
More than 20,000 of them were transported to the Pebble. The first 248 transported, who arrived on May 9, 1864 after one hundred and thirty days at sea, built the prison facilities intended to accommodate their future "comrades. The next ones were assigned to major public works: road construction, filling in of marshes...
For practical and strategic reasons, Tardy de Montravel created Fort Constantine (named after his ship) and at the same time founded Port-de-France in June 1854, which was renamed Nouméa in March 1866.
1871-1879
Louise Michel, a famous deportee
1873-1874
Henri Rochefort
His deportation to the penal colony of New Caledonia was political; Marquis de Rochefort-Luçay, he launched a career as a journalist and founded La Lanterne where he vigorously attacked the imperial regime. He was a member of parliament for Paris and was appointed to the government of the Commune. He was sentenced to deportation, but escaped from Ducos in 1874 after four months, the only successful escape from the prison of New Caledonia. Upon his return to France in 1880, he was amnestied and began writing his adventures in New Caledonia. His escape will even provide the theme of a painting to Manet.
1874-1881
The Indigenat Code was established and definitively validated in 1887, making the indigenous populations "subjects of France" but without any civil rights.
The Kanak insurrection began on the west coast. On June 19, 1878, a settler was murdered, the starting point of the great Kanak revolt. Ataï, chief of the village of Kowalé, led the rebellion for seven months around the region of La Foa and Bourail. The uprising led to the death of two hundred people on the French side, and nearly two thousand Kanaks died during the fighting or as a result of the repression. Ataï was finally decapitated by Kanaks from Canala who were auxiliaries of the French military. His head will be sent to the Musée de l'Homme in Paris... It will return to New Caledonia in 2014 and will be given to the customary authorities.
The discovery of nickel
The closing of the prison in 1897, by decision of Governor Feillet, opened a new cycle in the process of colonization of the territory and confirmed the changes at work.
Indeed, as early as 1870, adventurers from all walks of life flocked to New Caledonia in search of gold, copper, chromium and cobalt, well before the interest aroused by nickel. However, it was in 1864 that Jules Garnier discovered the precious ore, which would make the archipelago rich and whose exploitation did not really begin until 1874. A few years passed before the creation of the Le Nickel company (SLN) in 1880. Until 1890, New Caledonia provided 90% of the world's needs. The arrival of a new producer, Canada, at the beginning of the 20th century disrupted the world market. The price of ore collapsed. One third of the territory's mines remained in operation, but the others closed down one after the other.
The Second World War
The Pacific Battalion was reformed in 1940. New Caledonia was one of the first colonies to join the Free French Forces. This fighting unit, which was also made up of Tahitians, was to win glory on all fronts.
The population in Nouméa and in the bush was largely in favor of General de Gaulle's appeal. Volunteers joined the Pacific battalion. The attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 extended the Second World War to the whole of the Pacific.
In 1942, the United States chose New Caledonia as a base for the counter-offensive against Japan.
On March 12, 1942, 17,000 American soldiers landed on New Caledonian soil and spread their culture: a different way of living, having fun, consuming and thinking. It was the "Ouaco" era, named after a can from the Caledonian village of the same name, of Coca-Cola, Hollywood films, snack bars, whisky, Jeeps, pin-ups, half-moon hangars, metal bridges... At the height of the battle of the Pacific, one hundred and thirty thousand men were stationed on the archipelago, twice the native population.
The Japanese during the Second World War
The Japanese, who came mainly for work, settled in New Caledonia with their families at the beginning of the 20th century, particularly in nickel-related companies looking for cheap labor.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, America asked its allies to imprison its Japanese nationals in camps. About 1,200 Japanese civilians living in New Caledonia were interned and transferred to Australia. Deprived of all their possessions, they could not return to New Caledonia. Some had lived in New Caledonia for more than 30 years. Although they were of Japanese origin, they lived with their families in the colony. Later, their request to return to New Caledonia was denied. Most of them were in Japan, some did not speak the language, and all were in total distress. They left to seek their fortune in New Caledonia, returned defeated and remained silent in their new war-torn country. At the time, Caledonian wives, who were said to have pacted with their enemies, were stigmatized by society and suffered all sorts of psychological effects. They and their children were evicted from their homes or forced to buy back their property.
1956
The law of 23 July 1956 led to greater autonomy for New Caledonia. At the same time, Maurice Lenormand, a member of parliament, created the Union calé- donienne (UC) movement, with the unifying slogan: "Two colors, one people. The question of independence then emerged.
1978 - 1987
The pro-independence movement is becoming more radical.
In March 1982, the pro-independence movement gains territorial power and Jean-Marie Tjibaou becomes President of the Government Council.
In 1984, the FLNKS (Kanak National Liberation and Socialist Fund) unilaterally set up a provisional government, which led to the beginning of the so-called 1984-1988 events.)
In December, ten Kanaks were murdered in an ambush near Hienghène. This followed numerous incidents on the east coast.
1936-1989
Jean-Marie Tjibaou
Born in 1936 in Tiendanite, this strong personality remained attached to the cultural values of his land all his life. A student at the minor seminary of Canala, he was destined to be a priest and was ordained in 1965 in Hienghène. Attracted by the humanities, he took advantage of a grant to study sociology in Lyon, then ethnology in Paris. At the same time, tension was rising in New Caledonia and Jean-Marie intended to participate in the changes in his country. In 1975, he gave concrete expression to his political vision by organizing the Melanesia 2000 festival in Nouméa, which honored Kanak culture. In 1977, Jean-Marie Tjibaou won the municipal elections in Hienghène, and was appointed vice-president of the 8th Congress of the Caledonian Union, the main pro-independence party. Two years later, he created the Independence Front, then the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS). On April 26, 1988, Jean-Marie Tjibaou took part in the negotiations of the Matignon agreements with Prime Minister Michel Rocard and Jacques Lafleur. He signed these agreements which provided for a gradual autonomy of Caledonia over a period of ten years. This decision cost him his life, as one year later, on May 4, 1989, Jean-Marie Tjibaou was assassinated by a pro-independence extremist.
1988
On February 22, 1988, a group of pro-independence fighters attacked 22 gendarmes in Poindimié; nine of them were taken hostage for 12 hours.
On April 22, 1988, another pro-independence group launched an assault on the gendarmerie of Fayaoué on the island of Ouvéa. Four gendarmes were killed and 30 taken hostage in one of the island's caves. Nineteen separatists and two soldiers were killed during the confrontation.
1932-2010
Jacques Lafleur
Born in 1932 and the son of Henri Lafleur (an important politician and businessman), he is the head of a vast commercial and industrial group and for 25 years was the "strong man" of the territory. Founder in 1978 of the Rassemblement pour la Calédonie dans la République (RPCR, liberal right-wing tendency), he signed the Matignon Accords in 1988 (we remember his historic handshake with the pro-independence leader Jean-Marie Tjiabou) and the Nouméa Accord ten years later, which granted substantial autonomy to New Caledonia. For a long time he was considered irremovable and too authoritarian by his opponents, but he lost the provincial elections in May 2004: it was the end of his reign over the archipelago. Jacques Lafleur returned to his loyalist family and founded a new party in July 2006, the Rassemblement pour la Calédonie. But in 2007, he lost his seat as a deputy against the official UMP candidate Gaël Yanno. In April 2010, after forty years of political career, Jacques Lafleur resigned from his last mandates in the Assembly of the Southern Province and the Congress of New Caledonia. He died in Australia on December 4, 2010.
26 juin 1988
Matignon Agreements
Jacques Lafleur and Jean-Marie Tjibaou signed the Matignon Accords stipulating that the French government would manage the territory's affairs until July 1989.
Ten years later, on May 5, 1998, the Nouméa Accord was signed, extending the interim period of the Matignon Accords by 20 years.
1998 - 2008
On November 6, the referendum on self-determination was accepted by 72%.
At the beginning of January 2000, it was the beginning of the transfer of certain competences from the French State to New Caledonia, elementary school, mining law, maritime law...
In 2008, it was the double anniversary of two historic agreements: the Nouméa Accord signed 10 years ago, and the Matignon Accords of 1988 which put an end to the quasi-civil war between loyalists and independents, the majority of whom were Kanaks.
Eté 2010
The Congress is making progress on the identity signs provided for in the Nouméa Accord: the anthem (Soyons unis, devenons frères), the motto (Terre de parole, terre de partage), the design of banknotes, and the flag. There will be no common flag, but according to the wish of Pierre Frogier, then president of the South Province and of the Rassemblement-UMP, two flags flying side by side: the French flag and that of the FLNKS. This choice will remain very controversial.
2013
FLNKS takes over the rotating presidency of the Melanesian group Fer de Lance, a political organization in the South Pacific.
february 27, 2013: Jean-Jacques Brot takes office as High Commissioner of the Republic.
april 10, 2013: First nickel pour in the northern plant at Koniambo Nickel.
May 2013: A general strike against the high cost of living paralyzes the country. The government agrees to take the necessary measures for an immediate reduction in prices.
2018 - 2021
Referendums
Three referendums were held to answer the question "Do you want New Caledonia to achieve full sovereignty and independence?"
In 2018, the "no" vote won by 78,734 votes to 60,199.
The law provides, in case of a victory of the "No", a mechanism where one third of the members of the Congress of New Caledonia can request the organization of two new consultations within two and four years after the first referendum.
In 2020, the "No" to independence obtained 56.4%, the "Yes" collected 43.6%.
The December 2021 consultation is the last one planned in the self-determination process.
The "No" won with 96.50% of the vote, with a participation of 43.87%.
2023
Independents, who boycotted the third referendum on self-determination in December 2021 because of the Covid-19 crisis, are challenging the legitimacy of the vote won by 96.5 percent by France's supporters.
Supporters of New Caledonian independence and opponents should meet in Paris in mid-April, at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, announced Gerald Darmanin in Le Figaro Monday, March 6.
This meeting aims to rule on the opening of the electoral body, a sensitive subject in New Caledonia.
"The Noumea Agreement signed in 1998 provides that only natives and residents who can prove ten years of residence on that date can vote in provincial elections. Loyalists have long called for the opening of the electoral body, but independents are fiercely opposed. The minister repeated during his visit that he wanted the provincial elections scheduled for May 2024 to be held with a modified electorate. "We cannot operate with an electoral body that remained blocked in 1998," he pleaded."
