The Kingdom Colonial Powers Couldn’t Break

They came for Tonga the way they came for so many Pacific islands, with treaties, pressure, and empire behind them. But Tonga did something almost no kingdom in the Pacific managed to do: it bent just enough to survive, without fully surrendering its crown.

A British protectorate, yes. A colony, no. Tonga kept its monarchy, its identity, and its kingdom when the colonial era swallowed nearly everyone around it.