Before the Dutch region before the arrival of Europeans depicts a boat on the
Bengawan Solo River. At the time when Europeans arrived, the
Indonesian archipelago supported various states, including commercially oriented coastal trading states and inland agrarian states (the most important were
Srivijaya and
Majapahit). Since centuries BCE the islands were part of migratory and commercial exchange within
Southeast Asia,
India,
Arabian peninsula and
east-Africa. From
classical antiquity onwards the archipelago was also a major part of the global
spice trade. For centuries
Hindu-Buddhist civilizations were dominant; however, increasing trade links instigated the
spread of Islam. By the 16th century, a large part of the archipelago was ruled under
Islamic kingdoms, except
Bali that retained a Hindu majority. Sultanates,
city states, local kingdoms and tribes were all connected through trade, creating a mixed
Hindu-Buddhist-Islamic culture, and
Malay as a
lingua franca throughout the region. The islands were known to the Europeans and were sporadically visited by expeditions such as that of Italians
Marco Polo in 1292 and
Odoric of Pordenone in 1321. The first Europeans to establish themselves in Indonesia were the
Portuguese in 1512 who established a network of
trading posts and fortresses throughout the region, including at the
Spice Islands of the
Maluku Islands. In 1580,
Portugal formed a union with Spain, and therewith entered
the war with the
Dutch Republic.
Dutch East Indies Company rule Following disruption of
Dutch access to spices,
the first Dutch expedition set sail to reach the East Indies in 1595 to access spices directly from Asia. After many skirmishes and hardships, only one third of the original crew made it back to Holland and other Dutch expeditions soon followed. Recognising the potential of the
East Indies trade, the Dutch government amalgamated the competing companies into the
United East India Company (
Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC). A capital was established in
Batavia (now
Jakarta), which became the centre of the VOC's Asian trading network. To their original monopolies on
nutmeg,
peppers,
cloves and
cinnamon, the company and later colonial administrations introduced non-indigenous
cash crops like coffee, tea, cacao, tobacco, rubber, sugar and opium, and safeguarded their commercial interests by taking over surrounding territory.
Slavery When the VOC arrived in the Indonesian archipelago, they started to use and expand upon the then-existing indigenous system of slavery. In certain places, slaves were used on plantations such as on the Maluku islands, namely the
Banda islands where most of the local population had been
deported or exterminated by the VOC to be replaced with slaves. Dutch slaves worked in agriculture, manufacturing, and services, but most were used as domestic servants including housemaids and houseboys, cooks, seamstresses, musicians, and concubines. Slaves could be acquired through trade at indigenous slave markets or captured on raids. In certain cases, the VOC stirred up ethnic tensions between rivalling populations in the hope they could cheaply buy war captives at slave markets after the conflict. Slaves were transported from islands in Indonesia itself, or from other countries such as India and China. Estimates of the scale of the slave trade in the Dutch East Indies are scant, but it is suggested that around 1 million slaves were active during its peak in the 17th and 18th century. Punishments for slaves could be extremely harsh— for instance, runaway slaves and their accomplices could be subject to whipping, chain gangs, or death. Other punishments included the cutting of hands, ears, breasts and noses, forms of
scaphism, being burned alive and the
breaking wheel. In theory, slave masters did not have free rein to punish their own slaves as they wished. Punishments of slaves had to be decided in court, and certain punishments could only be applied when the slave was found guilty in an official court case. In reality, however, abuse of slaves by their masters was rampant and often went unpunished. Beatings and whippings were a commonplace punishment for disobedient slaves. Rape of female slaves by their masters was a common occurrence as well, as these women and girls were obliged to provide sexual services for their masters. Refusing to do so could result in severe physical punishment. Slavery and its excesses did not end with the bankruptcy of the VOC in 1798, but continued under Dutch state rule. Due to growing international criticism slavery was eventually abolished in the Dutch East Indies in 1860. In reality, this was mostly limited to the slaves present on Java and Madura, whose masters were financially compensated for the loss of their workforce. However, on many other islands where slave masters were more often indigenous rulers, little changed. The main reason for this was financial, as the Dutch state at that time did not want to spend the money necessary to free the slaves on the more distant islands. Another reason was to appease local rulers and to prevent political turmoil. Due to the lax policy of the Dutch state slavery persisted in parts of the Dutch East Indies well into the 20th century.
Dutch conquests , who fought the
Java War against the Dutch From the arrival of the first Dutch ships in the late 16th century, to the declaration of independence in 1945, Dutch control over the Indonesian archipelago was always tenuous. many areas remained independent throughout much of this time, including
Aceh,
Bali,
Lombok and
Borneo. There were numerous wars and disturbances across the archipelago as various indigenous groups resisted efforts to establish Dutch hegemony, which weakened Dutch control and tied up its military forces. Piracy remained a problem until the mid-19th century. In 1811 Daendels was replaced by Governor-General
Jan Willem Janssens, but shortly after his arrival, British forces occupied several Dutch East Indies ports including
the Spice islands in 1810 and
Java the following year, leading to
Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles becoming Lieutenant Governor. Following Napoleon's defeat at the 1815
Battle of Waterloo and the
Congress of Vienna, independent Dutch control was restored in 1816 on the basis of the
Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814. The
Commissioners-General of the Dutch East Indies reformed the public finances of the colony and drew up a new
Regeringsreglement that would define the government of the colony for a century. Under the 1824
Anglo-Dutch Treaty the Dutch secured the
Kepaksian Pernong Sekala Brak and British settlements such as
Bengkulu, both in
Sumatra, and the British secured the Dutch settlement of
Singapore as well as Dutch possessions in the
Malay Peninsula (
Malaya) and
Dutch India. The resulting borders between former British and Dutch possessions remain today between modern Malaysia and Indonesia. Since the establishment of the VOC in the 17th century, the expansion of Dutch territory had been a business matter.
Graaf van den Bosch's governor-generalship (1830–1835) confirmed profitability as the foundation of official policy, restricting its attention to Java, Sumatra and
Bangka. Motivations included the protection of areas already held, the intervention of Dutch officials ambitious for glory or promotion, and the aim to establish Dutch claims throughout the archipelago to prevent intervention from other Western powers during the
European push for colonial possessions. As exploitation of Indonesian resources expanded off Java, most of the outer islands came under direct Dutch government control or influence. ,'' by
Nicolaas Pieneman The Dutch subjugated the
Minangkabau of Sumatra in the
Padri War (1821–38) and the
Java War (1825–30) ended significant Javanese resistance. After failed expeditions to conquer Bali in
1846 and
1848, an
1849 intervention brought northern Bali under Dutch control. The most prolonged military expedition was the
Aceh War in which a Dutch invasion in 1873 was met with indigenous guerrilla resistance and ended with an Acehnese surrender in 1912. Disturbances continued to break out on both Java and
Sumatra during the remainder of the 19th century. However, the island of
Lombok came under Dutch control in 1894, and
Batak resistance in northern Sumatra was quashed in 1895. Although Indonesian rebellions broke out, direct colonial rule was extended throughout the rest of the archipelago from 1901 to 1910 and control taken from the remaining independent local rulers. Southwestern
Sulawesi was occupied in 1905–06, the island of Bali was subjugated with military conquests in
1906 and
1908, as were the remaining independent kingdoms in Maluku, Sumatra, Kalimantan and
Nusa Tenggara.
Cultivation System and Coolie Ordinances during the Dutch colonial period, which was previously Sunda Kelapa, owned by the
Banten Sultanate. Due to the high monetary costs of several Dutch conquests in the 19th century, the Cultivation System ("Cultuurstelsel") was implemented in 1830. Under this system it was stipulated that Indonesian farmers had to use 20% of their farmland for the cultivation of cash crops for export such as indigo, coffee and sugar. Through this system considerable profits were made; the net profit for the Dutch treasury is estimated at 4% of the Dutch GDP at the time and around 50% of total state revenue. The system proved disastrous for the local population; at its height, over 1 million farmers worked under the
Cultuurstelsel and the extreme incentive for profit resulted in widespread abuses. Farmers were often forced to either use more than 20% of their farmland, or the most fertile land, for cultivation of cash crops. Due to widespread criticism of the system, it was abolished in 1870. According to one study, the mortality rate in Java would have been 10–20% higher by the late 1870s if the Cultivation system had not been abolished. Another source of profit were the so-called
coolies, a name for low-wage indentured labourers. After the abolition of the Cultivation System in 1870, the economy shifted to private companies such as the
Deli Company, which was founded on Sumatra in 1869. Large-scale plantations were built to grow cash crops and Javanese, Chinese, Malay, Batak and Indian people were shipped to the plantations in Sumatra and Java to perform harsh labour. It is estimated that over 500,000 coolies were transported to Sumatra during the late 19th and early 20th century. The precise death rate among coolie labourers is hard to estimate due to scarce or unreliable records but has been estimated to be as high as 25% in certain places, with a possible death toll of many tens of thousands. While coolies were often paid labourers who worked out of free will, in practice their circumstances often involved forced labour and more closely resembled slavery. They were often misled when signing work contracts or even forced to sign contracts. Others were kidnapped or forced to work due to debts or were criminals sentenced to forced labour by the colonial justice system. The
Coolie Ordinances ("Poenale sanctie") of 1880, which allowed the plantation owners to serve as judge, jury and executioner resulted in widespread atrocities. It included a penal sanction which allowed owners to physically punish their coolies as they saw fit. Punishments that were used against coolies included whippings or beatings, after which the open wounds were rubbed with salt. Other punishments used were electrocution, crucifixion and suspending coolies by their toes or thumbs until they broke. Medical care for the coolies was scarce and often aimed at healing punished coolies so they could return to work or be tortured more extensively. Rape of adult female coolies as well as their children was also common. The coolie system was heavily criticized, especially after 1900 with the rise of the so-called "Ethical Politics". A critical pamphlet named "De miljoenen uit Deli" was published by J. van den Brand. The document described abuses committed against coolies including the torture and sexual abuse of a 15-year-old female coolie who had rejected sexual advances of a Dutch plantation overseer. The penal sanction was eventually abolished in 1931 and the Coolie Ordinances ended in the early 1940s.
Njai System During earlier stages of colonization female indigenous
sex slaves were bought by Dutch colonials, but this practice was cut short after 1860 with the abolition of slavery. In the late 19th century, increasing numbers of Dutch immigrants arrived in colonial Indonesia, leading to a shortage of available women, as most immigrants were men. The Dutch then bought the "Njai", who were indigenous women who officially served as maids but were often also used as
concubines. While officially contract workers, these women enjoyed few rights. They could be bought and sold together with the house they worked in as so-called "Indigenous Furniture" (
Inlands Meubel). Njai were also not allowed custody of the children they had with their Dutch masters, and when they were fired, their children would be taken away. By the 1910s the number of Njai had decreased, although prostitution had become more prevalent. The practice had not died out, however, by the time the
Empire of Japan invaded and occupied the Indies. During the occupation, the Njai and their
mixed-race children were forcefully separated from European men, who were put into internment camps. After Sukarno proclaimed an independent Indonesia, the Njai were forced to choose between going with their partners to Europe, or staying in Indonesia.
World War II and independence and
B. C. de Jonge, the last and penultimate
governor-general of the Dutch East Indies, before the
Japanese invasion The Netherlands capitulated their European territory to
Germany on May 14, 1940. The royal family fled to exile in Britain. Germany and Japan were Axis allies. On 27 September 1940, Germany,
Hungary,
Italy and
Japan signed a treaty outlining "spheres of influence". The Dutch East Indies fell into Japan's sphere. when Japanese Prime Minister
Hideki Tojo visited the island of Java. The Netherlands, Britain and the United States tried to defend the colony from the Japanese forces as they moved south in late 1941 in search of Dutch oil. On 10 January 1942, during the
Dutch East Indies Campaign, Japanese forces invaded the Dutch East Indies as part of the
Pacific War. The rubber plantations and oil fields of the Dutch East Indies were considered crucial for the Japanese war effort. Allied forces were quickly overwhelmed by the Japanese and on 8 March 1942 the
Royal Dutch East Indies Army surrendered in Java. Fuelled by the Japanese
Light of Asia war propaganda and the
Indonesian National Awakening, a vast majority of the indigenous Dutch East Indies population first welcomed the Japanese as liberators from the colonial Dutch empire, but this sentiment quickly changed as the occupation turned out to be far more oppressive and ruinous than the Dutch colonial government. The
Japanese occupation during World War II brought about the fall of the colonial state in Indonesia, as the Japanese removed as much of the Dutch government structure as they could, replacing it with their own regime. Although the top positions were held by the Japanese, the internment of all Dutch citizens meant that Indonesians filled many leadership and administrative positions. In contrast to Dutch repression of Indonesian nationalism, the Japanese allowed indigenous leaders to forge links among the masses, and they trained and armed the younger generations. According to a UN report, four million people died in Indonesia as a result of the Japanese occupation. Following the Japanese surrender in August 1945, nationalist leaders
Sukarno and
Mohammad Hatta declared Indonesian independence. A
four-and-a-half-year struggle followed as the Dutch tried to re-establish their colony; although Dutch forces re-occupied most of Indonesia's territory a guerrilla struggle ensued, and the majority of Indonesians, and ultimately international opinion, favoured Indonesian independence. The Netherlands committed war crimes: summary and arbitrary killings of Indonesian villagers and farmers, torture of Indonesian prisoners and execution of prisoners. Ad van Liempt documented the mass murder of 364 Indonesians by Dutch soldiers in the village of Galoeng Galoeng. Alfred Edelstein and Karin van Coevorden, documented later the
execution of hundreds of men in the village of Rawagede. The independence movement during the later phases of the
Bersiap also targeted Dutch and Eurasian civilians, particularly under the direction of
Sutomo who personally supervised the summary executions of hundreds of civilians. After the political situation in Indonesia devolved into a deadlock the new Dutch government, led by
Louis Beel of the Catholic People's Party, formed a
Commissie-Generaal voor Nederlands-Indië (Commission General for the Dutch Indies) on 14 September 1946. This Commission-General consisted of
Willem Schermerhorn, Dutch Prime Minister from 1945 to 1946; F. De Boer, Liberal politician; Max van Poll, Catholic Party politician; and
Hubertus van Mook, Lieutenant-Governor General (ex officio). The Commission achieved a cease-fire on 14 October (a month after its arrival in Batavia) and a draft agreement on 15 November with the negotiators for the Republik
Sutan Sjahrir, Prime Minister,
Amir Sjarifuddin, Defense Minister, and
Johannes Leimena, Junior Minister of Health, chairman of the Indonesian Christian Party. This so-called
Linggadjati Agreement was first "elucidated" by the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs
Jan Jonkman on 10 December, and in this form accepted by the Dutch Parliament on 20 December 1946. It was formally signed by the parties on 25 March 1947 in Djakarta, with the Indonesian side rejecting the "elucidation". After this high point in the relations between the two countries, the situation rapidly deteriorated. On both sides more extreme parties got the upper hand. The Dutch unilaterally instituted an interim government for the colony on a "federal" basis, with representation for the parts of the colony not represented by the Republik. This was unacceptable to Sukarno. Sjahrir proposed a compromise, but this was rejected by the Dutch. Sjahrir resigned and was replaced by Sjarifuddin. Sukarno declared a state of emergency in the areas that were in the hands of the Republik and assumed charge of the negotiations. The situation deteriorated further, and the Dutch resorted to military intervention under
Operation Product (or
first "politionele actie"). The Commission General was dissolved on 15 November 1947 after Schermerhorn and Van Poll resigned. The
Politionele Actie did not achieve its goals, and international pressure forced the Dutch government to accept a cease-fire and the
Renville Agreement (17 January 1948). This agreement, however, did not lead to a solution. Provocative actions from both sides led to a tense military situation, and the Dutch for the second time resorted to military intervention with the second
politionele actie, or
Operation Kraai, in December 1948. This was militarily successful (the Dutch managed to capture Sukarno), but again international political pressure forced the Dutch to back down and be party to the
Roem–Van Roijen Agreement (7 May 1949). The
Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference then started on 22 August 1949, which led to the agreement to transfer sovereignty to a Republic of the
United States of Indonesia. To this day, the colonial war is commonly referred to as "police actions" in the Netherlands. ==Government==