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When did Tahiti become a French protectorate?
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Tahiti became a French protectorate in 1842. Following the deportation of two French Roman Catholic missionary priests by Queen Pomare IV in 1836, France dispatched a warship in 1842 to demand reparations and arrange for the protectorate. While the protectorate was arranged in 1842, it was formally granted in 1843. Tahiti later became a French colony in 1880 following the abdication of Pomare V.123