The Bombing of the Rainbow Wrrior
The bombing of the Rainbow Warrior for New Zealanders was seen as an act of terrorism. Despite the fact that it was an International organisations boat, the New Zealand public still saw it as a stamp on the prestige of the country trying to diversify itself and become nuclear free, and encourage the rest of the world to do the same.
The sinking of the Rainbow Warrior was given the name Operation Santique. It was carried out by the French DGSE, who posed as environmentalists hoping to join Greenpeace, in doing so they gathered the necessary information attached two limpet mines to the hull ten minutes apart in the hope that those on board could get off the boat before it went down, however this was not the case as some of the Rainbow Warrior crew went below deck again to film the damage as well as retrieve belongings. Portuguese-Dutch photographer Fernando Pereira returned as well below deck to retrieve his camera to film but the second explosion went off and drowned with the ship, other crew members on board were flung off the side of the boat into the water.
The two DGSE agents were eventually caught in New Zealand with Swiss passports with the help of a Neighbourhood Watch group, three others were caught in Australia, but were released, and the sixth member Louis-Pierre Dillais escaped and didn't face charges. However for the two that were caught, Dominique Prieur, and Alain Mafart were charged with arson, conspiracy to commit arson, wilful damage and murder, but the two pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received ten years and agreed to do three on Hao Island but were released after two and a half which directly violated the 1986 agreement. The New Zealand Government received an apology as well as $13 million compensation. Defence Minister of France Charles Hemu also resigned, Admiral Pierre Lacoste was also fired, and eventually after sometime the French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius admitted to the truth saying that the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior was an operation.
New Zealand became very anti French as well following the attack on the Rainbow Warrior, they were previously only against the testing of the nuclear
weapons but the blowing up of the Rainbow Warrior just to prevent it from protesting against a planned nuclear explosion in the Pacific angered New
Zealand, not only against the French but also the Untied States, who we also felt were largely to blame through their consistent pressure of nuclear
testing's and arrival of nuclear warships.
The sinking of the Rainbow Warrior was given the name Operation Santique. It was carried out by the French DGSE, who posed as environmentalists hoping to join Greenpeace, in doing so they gathered the necessary information attached two limpet mines to the hull ten minutes apart in the hope that those on board could get off the boat before it went down, however this was not the case as some of the Rainbow Warrior crew went below deck again to film the damage as well as retrieve belongings. Portuguese-Dutch photographer Fernando Pereira returned as well below deck to retrieve his camera to film but the second explosion went off and drowned with the ship, other crew members on board were flung off the side of the boat into the water.
The two DGSE agents were eventually caught in New Zealand with Swiss passports with the help of a Neighbourhood Watch group, three others were caught in Australia, but were released, and the sixth member Louis-Pierre Dillais escaped and didn't face charges. However for the two that were caught, Dominique Prieur, and Alain Mafart were charged with arson, conspiracy to commit arson, wilful damage and murder, but the two pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received ten years and agreed to do three on Hao Island but were released after two and a half which directly violated the 1986 agreement. The New Zealand Government received an apology as well as $13 million compensation. Defence Minister of France Charles Hemu also resigned, Admiral Pierre Lacoste was also fired, and eventually after sometime the French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius admitted to the truth saying that the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior was an operation.
New Zealand became very anti French as well following the attack on the Rainbow Warrior, they were previously only against the testing of the nuclear
weapons but the blowing up of the Rainbow Warrior just to prevent it from protesting against a planned nuclear explosion in the Pacific angered New
Zealand, not only against the French but also the Untied States, who we also felt were largely to blame through their consistent pressure of nuclear
testing's and arrival of nuclear warships.
Key Historical Idea
The people of New Zealand already felt antagonism towards the French however despite the fact that the Rainbow Warrior was an international vessel, New Zealanders saw it as an act of terrorism against New Zealand. This was because New Zealanders felt that it was just as much their cause as Greenpeace's. The fact that the French bombed the Rainbow Warrior destroyed relations between, not just New Zealand and France but also America as well as Britain. Despite the fact that they hadn't bombed the Rainbow Warrior, their overall general forcefulness with the issue led many New Zealanders to believe that it was indeed partly their fault. However despite this we were able to prove to the nuclear powered nations that we were of brave and strong heart to stand up for these issues that affected us, despite the overall consequences.