 Influenced by British missionary George Pritchard, Queen Pōmare IV expelled French Catholic missionaries from her kingdom in 1836 and incurred the ire of France.Between 1838 and 1842, French naval commander Abel Aubert Dupetit Thouars responded to French complaints of mistreatment and forced the queen and the Tahitian chiefs to sign over Tahiti as a protectorate.Pritchard and Pōmare IV attempted to resist French rule and to convince the British to intervene in favor of the Tahitian.