The
Colony of Fiji was a
British colony that existed from 1874 to 1970 in present-day
Fiji. The
United Kingdom declined its first opportunity to annex
Fiji in 1852.
Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau had offered to cede the islands, subject to being allowed to retain his
Tui Viti (King of Fiji) title, a condition unacceptable to both the British and to many of his fellow chiefs, who regarded him only as
first among equals, if that. Mounting debts and threats from the
United States Navy had led Cakobau to establish a
constitutional monarchy with a government dominated by European settlers in 1871, following an agreement with the
Australian Polynesia Company to pay his debts. The collapse of the new regime drove him to make another offer of cession in 1872, which the British accepted. On 10 October 1874, 96 years of British rule began in Fiji.