Native people had inhabited the islands for three thousand years before the first Europeans arrived in 1606 from a Spanish expedition led by Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós.

The two countries eventually signed an agreement making the islands an Anglo-French condominium that provided for joint sovereignty over the archipelago with two parallel administrations, one British, one French.

The New Hebrides was a rare form of colonial territory in which sovereignty was shared by two powers, Britain and France, instead of being exercised by just one.

The residency structure greatly emphasised dualism, with both consisting of an equal number of French and British representatives, bureaucrats and administrators.

[clarification needed] While initial settlers were predominantly British living in Australia, the late 19th century saw an influx of French.

In addition to these two legal systems, a third Native Court existed to handle cases involving Melanesian customary law.

The police force was technically unified but consisted of two chiefs and two equal groups of officers wearing two different uniforms.

"[4] Inevitably, that led to discontent across the islands, with a multitude of revolutionary groups forming in an attempt to create agency and self-government for themselves.

The mass participation of Ni-Vanuatu men in the Labor Corps had a significant effect on the John Frum movement, giving it the characteristics of a cargo cult.