In the 1800s, people from many countries immigrated to Samoa. In 1857, German traders established plantations on the island of Upolu. The plantations flourished, and the German settlers gained more power. They then negotiated with the United States, Great Britain, and Tonga and signed the Berlin Agreement. As a result, the great chief of Upolu was overthrown, and the German settlers proclaimed themselves as kings.
In 1914, World War I broke out, and New Zealand invaded Samoa, which was a German territory. After the war, Samoa became a colony of the British Empire under New Zealand’s administration.
The arrival of Europeans also brought diseases to the Pacific paradise. Around this time, influenza outbreak killed 8,000 Samoans.