HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. It was formed from the nationalised
trading posts A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...
of the
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
, which came under the administration of the
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
government in 1800. During the 19th century, the Dutch possessions and
hegemony Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one State (polity), state over other states. In Ancient Greece (8th BC – AD 6th ), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the ''hegemon'' city-state over oth ...
expanded, reaching the greatest territorial extent in the early 20th century. The Dutch East Indies was one of the most valuable colonies under European rule, and contributed to Dutch global prominence in spice and cash crop trade in the 19th to early 20th centuries. The colonial social order was based on rigid racial and social structures with a Dutch elite living separate from but linked to their native subjects. The term ''Indonesia'' came into use for the geographical location after 1880. In the early 20th century, local intellectuals began developing the concept of
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
as a
nation state A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group. A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may i ...
, and set the stage for an independence movement. Japan's World War II occupation dismantled much of the Dutch colonial state and economy. Following the Japanese surrender in August 1945, Indonesian nationalists declared
independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
which they fought to secure during the subsequent Indonesian National Revolution. The Netherlands formally recognised Indonesian sovereignty at the 1949
Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference was held in The Hague from 23 August to 2 November 1949, between representatives of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of Indonesia and the Federal Consultative Assembly, representing va ...
with the exception of the
Dutch New Guinea Dutch New Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea ( nl, Nederlands-Nieuw-Guinea, id, Nugini Belanda) was the western half of the island of New Guinea that was a part of the Dutch East Indies until 1949, later an overseas territory of the Kingd ...
(
Western New Guinea Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, or Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the Melanesian island of New Guinea which is administered by Indonesia. Since the island is alternatively named as Papua, the region ...
), which was ceded to Indonesia 14 years later in 1963 under the provisions of the
New York Agreement The New York Agreement is an agreement signed by the Netherlands and Indonesia regarding the administration of the territory of Western New Guinea. The first part of the agreement proposes that the United Nations assume administration of the terr ...
.


Etymology

The word ''Indies'' comes from la, Indus (
Names for India The Republic of India has two principal short names, each of which is historically significant, "India" and "Bharata". A third name, "Hindustān", is sometimes an alternative name for the region comprising most of the modern Indian states o ...
). The original name ''Dutch Indies'' () was translated by the English as the ''Dutch East Indies'', to keep it distinct from the ''
Dutch West Indies The Dutch Caribbean (historically known as the Dutch West Indies) are the territories, colonies, and countries, former and current, of the Dutch Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean Sea. They are in the north and south-wes ...
''. The name ''Dutch Indies'' is recorded in the
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
's documents of the early 1620s. Scholars writing in English use the terms ''Indië'', ''Indies'', the ''Dutch East Indies'', the ''Netherlands Indies'', and ''colonial Indonesia'' interchangeably.


History


Company rule

Centuries before Europeans arrived, the
Indonesian archipelago The islands of Indonesia, also known as the Indonesian Archipelago ( id, Kepulauan Indonesia) or Nusantara, may refer either to the islands comprising the country of Indonesia or to the geographical groups which include its islands. History ...
supported various states, including commercially oriented coastal trading states and inland agrarian states (the most important were Srivijaya and Majapahit). The islands were known to the Europeans and were sporadically visited by expeditions such as that of Marco Polo in 1292, and his fellow Italian
Odoric of Pordenone Odoric of Pordenone, OFM (1286–1331), also known as Odorico Mattiussi/Mattiuzzi, Odoricus of Friuli or Orderic of Pordenone, was an Italian late-medieval Franciscan friar and missionary explorer. He traveled through India, the Greater Sunda Is ...
in 1321. The first Europeans to establish themselves in Indonesia were the Portuguese in 1512. Following disruption of Dutch access to spices,Ricklefs (1991), p. 27 the first
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
expedition set sail for the East Indies in 1595 to access spices directly from Asia. When it made a 400% profit on its return, other Dutch expeditions soon followed. Recognising the potential of the
East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around ...
trade, the Dutch government amalgamated the competing companies into the United East India Company (''Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie'' or VOC). The VOC was granted a charter to wage war, build fortresses, and make treaties across Asia. A capital was established in
Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
(now Jakarta), which became the center of the VOC's Asian trading network.Vickers (2005), p. 10 To their original monopolies on
nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...
,
peppers Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...
, 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. Smuggling, the ongoing expense of war, corruption, and mismanagement led to bankruptcy by the end of the 18th century. The company was formally dissolved in 1800 and its colonial possessions in the Indonesian archipelago (including much of
Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...
, parts of Sumatra, much of Maluku, and the hinterlands of ports such as Makasar,
Manado Manado () is the capital city of the Indonesian province of North Sulawesi. It is the second largest city in Sulawesi after Makassar, with the 2020 Census giving a population of 451,916 distributed over a land area of 162.53 km2.Badan Pusa ...
and
Kupang Kupang ( id, Kota Kupang, ), formerly known as Koepang, is the capital of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. At the 2020 C ensus, it had a population of 442,758; the official estimate as at mid 2021 was 455,850. It is the largest ci ...
) were nationalized under the Dutch Republic as the Dutch East Indies.


Dutch conquests

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. Although Java was dominated by the Dutch, many areas remained independent throughout much of this time, including Aceh, Bali,
Lombok Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east. It is ...
and
Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...
.* There were numerous wars and disturbances across the archipelago as various indigenous groups resisted efforts to establish a Dutch hegemony, which weakened Dutch control and tied up its military forces. Piracy remained a problem until the mid-19th century. Finally, in the early 20th century, imperial dominance was extended across what was to become the territory of modern-day Indonesia. In 1806, with the Netherlands under Imperial French domination, Emperor
Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
appointed his brother
Louis Bonaparte Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (born Luigi Buonaparte; 2 September 1778 – 25 July 1846) was a younger brother of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French. He was a monarch in his own right from 1806 to 1810, ruling over the Kingdom of Holland (a French cl ...
to the Dutch throne, which led to the 1808 appointment of Marshal Herman Willem Daendels as Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. 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 Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British statesman who served as the Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816, and Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. He is ...
becoming Lieutenant Governor. Following Napoleon's defeat at the 1815
Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
and the
Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
, independent Dutch control was restored in 1816. Under the 1824 Anglo-Dutch Treaty, the Dutch secured British settlements such as
Bengkulu Bengkulu is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southwest coast of Sumatra. It was formed on 18 November 1968 by separating out the former Bencoolen Residency area from the province of South Sumatra under Law No. 9 of 1967 and was fi ...
, Kepaksian Pernong Sakala Brak in Sumatra, which was founded in the 13th century AD, the British secure the Dutch settement of
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
, in exchange for ceding control of their possessions in the Malay Peninsula ( Malaya) and
Dutch India Dutch India consisted of the settlements and trading posts of the Dutch East India Company on the Indian subcontinent. It is only used as a geographical definition, as there was never a political authority ruling all Dutch India. Instead, Dutc ...
. 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. However, from about 1840, Dutch national expansionism saw them wage a series of wars to enlarge and consolidate their possessions in the outer islands. Motivations included: the protection of areas already held; the intervention of Dutch officials ambitious for glory or promotion; and to establish Dutch claims throughout the archipelago to prevent intervention from other Western powers during the European push for colonial possessions.Ricklefs (1991), p. 131 As exploitation of Indonesian resources expanded off Java, most of the outer islands came under direct Dutch government control or influence. The Dutch subjugated the
Minangkabau Minangkabau may refer to: * Minangkabau culture, culture of the Minangkabau people * Minangkabau Culture Documentation and Information Center * Minangkabau Express, an airport rail link service serving Minangkabau International Airport (''see belo ...
of Sumatra in the
Padri War The Padri War (also called the Minangkabau War) was fought from 1803 until 1837 in West Sumatra, Indonesia between the Padri and the Adat. The Padri were Muslim clerics from Sumatra who wanted to impose Sharia in Minangkabau country in West Su ...
(1821–38) and the
Java War The Java War ( jv, ꦥꦼꦫꦁꦗꦮ) or Diponegoro War () was fought in central Java from 1825 to 1830, between the colonial Dutch Empire and native Javanese rebels. The war started as a rebellion led by Prince Diponegoro, a leading member ...
(1825–30) ended significant Javanese resistance. The
Banjarmasin War The Banjarmasin War (in old spelling ''Bandjermasin War'', Dutch: ''Bandjermasinse Oorlog'', or formally ''Expeditie naar de Zuider- en Oosterafdeling van Borneo'') (1859–1863) was a war of succession in the Sultanate of Banjarmasin, as w ...
(1859–1863) in southeast Kalimantan resulted in the defeat of the Sultan. After failed expeditions to conquer Bali in
1846 Events January–March * January 5 – The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Country with the United Kingdom. * January 13 – The Milan–Venice railway's bridge, over the Venetian Lagoon between ...
and
1848 1848 is historically famous for the wave of revolutions, a series of widespread struggles for more liberal governments, which broke out from Brazil to Hungary; although most failed in their immediate aims, they significantly altered the polit ...
, an 1849 intervention brought northern Bali under Dutch control. The most prolonged military expedition was the
Aceh War The Aceh War ( id, Perang Aceh), also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War (1873–1913), was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Kingdom of the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between represen ...
in which a Dutch invasion in 1873 was met with indigenous guerrilla resistance and ended with an Acehnese surrender in 1912.Friend (2003), p. 21 Disturbances continued to break out on both Java and Sumatra during the remainder of the 19th century. This included the Banten Peasant's Revolt in the aftermath of the tremendous eruption of
Krakatoa Krakatoa (), also transcribed (), is a caldera in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Indonesian province of Lampung. The caldera is part of a volcanic island group ( Krakatoa archipelago) comprising four islands. T ...
in 1883. However, the island of
Lombok Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east. It is ...
came under Dutch control in 1894, and Batak resistance in northern Sumatra was quashed in 1895. Towards the end of the 19th century, the balance of military power shifted towards the industrialising Dutch and against pre-industrial independent indigenous Indonesian
polities A polity is an identifiable political entity – a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of institutionalized social relations, and have a capacity to mobilize resources. A polity can be any other group of p ...
as the technology gap widened. Military leaders and Dutch politicians believed they had a moral duty to free the native Indonesian peoples from indigenous rulers who were considered oppressive, backward, or disrespectful of international law.Vickers (2005), p. 14 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.Reid (1974), p. 1. Southwestern Sulawesi was occupied in 1905–06, the island of Bali was subjugated with military conquests in
1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...
and
1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 4 ...
, as were the remaining independent kingdoms in Maluku, Sumatra, Kalimantan and
Nusa Tenggara The Lesser Sunda Islands or nowadays known as Nusa Tenggara Islands ( id, Kepulauan Nusa Tenggara, formerly ) are an archipelago in Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up t ...
. Other rulers including the Sultans of
Tidore Tidore ( id, Kota Tidore Kepulauan, lit. "City of Tidore Islands") is a city, island, and archipelago in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia, west of the larger island of Halmahera. Part of North Maluku Province, the city includes the island ...
in Maluku,
Pontianak Pontianak or Khuntien is the capital of the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan, founded first as a trading port on the island of Borneo, occupying an area of 118.31 km2 in the delta of the Kapuas River at a point where it is joined ...
(Kalimantan) and Palembang in Sumatra, requested Dutch protection from independent neighbours thereby avoiding Dutch military conquest and were able to negotiate better conditions under colonial rule. The
Bird's Head Peninsula The Bird's Head Peninsula ( Indonesian: ''Kepala Burung'', nl, Vogelkop) or Doberai Peninsula (''Semenanjung Doberai''), is a large peninsula that makes up the northwest portion of the island of New Guinea, comprising the Indonesian provinces ...
(
Western New Guinea Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, or Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the Melanesian island of New Guinea which is administered by Indonesia. Since the island is alternatively named as Papua, the region ...
), was brought under Dutch administration in 1920. This final territorial range would form the territory of the Republic of
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
.


Cultivation System and Coolie Ordinances

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 around 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. The system led to an increase in famine and disease among Javanese peasants in the 1840s. According to one estimate, the mortality rates increased by as much as 30% during this period.P. de Zwart, D. Gallardo-Albarrán, A.: ‘The Demographic Effects of Colonialism: Forced Labor and Mortality in Java 1834-1879’, Wageningen University & Research (WUR) & Universiteit Utrecht, 2021 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. The introduction of trucks, railways, telegraph systems, and more coordinated distribution systems all contributed to famine elimination in Java which had historically been common. Java experienced rapid population growth during the 19th century and there were no significant famines in Java after the 1840s. Another source of profit were the so-called
coolies A coolie (also spelled koelie, kuli, khuli, khulie, cooli, cooly, or quli) is a term for a low-wage labourer, typically of South Asian or East Asian descent. The word ''coolie'' was first popularized in the 16th century by European traders acros ...
, a name for low-wage indentured laborers. After the abolition of the Cultivation Sytem 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 labor. 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 laborers is unknown due to scarce or unreliable records but has been estimated to be as high as 25%. While coolies were often paid laborers who worked out of free will, in practice their circumstances often involved forced labor and more closely resembled slavery. They were often mislead when signing work contracts or even forced to sign contracts. Others were kidnapped or forced to work due to debts. The Coolie Ordinances ("Koelieordonnanties") of 1880, which allowed the plantation owners to serve as police and punish coolies under their employ, resulted in widespread abuses. It included a penal sanction which allowed owners to physically punish their coolies as they saw fit. Punishments that were used against coolies included, for example, whippings or beatings, after which salt was inserted into the wounds to increase suffering. Other punishments included 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. 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 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 abolished in 1931 and the Coolie Ordinances ended in the early 1940s.


Njai Sytem

During earlier stages of colonization female indigenous
sex slaves Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership right over one or more people with the intent of coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in sexual activities. This includes forced labor, reducing a person to a s ...
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 Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...
. 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 The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitu ...
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

The Netherlands capitulated their European territory to
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
on May 14, 1940. The royal family fled to exile in Britain. Germany and Japan were Axis allies. On 27 September 1940, Germany,
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
and Japan signed a treaty outlining "spheres of influence". The Dutch East Indies fell into Japan's sphere. 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 The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army ( nl, Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; KNIL, ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. The ...
surrendered in Java. Fuelled by the Japanese ''Light of Asia'' war propaganda and the
Indonesian National Awakening The Indonesian National Awakening ( id, Kebangkitan Nasional Indonesia) is a term for the period in the first half of the 20th century, during which people from many parts of the archipelago of Indonesia first began to develop a national conscio ...
, 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.Vickers (2005), page 85 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 amongst 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 Mohammad Hatta (; 12 August 1902 – 14 March 1980) was an Indonesian statesman and nationalist who served as the country's first vice president. Known as "The Proclamator", he and a number of Indonesians, including the first president of Indone ...
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 ''Bersiap'' is the name given by the Dutch to a violent and chaotic phase of the Indonesian National Revolution following the end of World War II. The Indonesian word ''bersiap'' means 'get ready' or 'be prepared'. The ''Bersiap'' period last ...
also targeted Dutch and Eurasian civilians, particularly under the direction of Sutomo who personally supervised the summary executions of hundreds of civilians. In December 1949, the Netherlands formally recognised Indonesian sovereignty with the exception of the
Dutch New Guinea Dutch New Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea ( nl, Nederlands-Nieuw-Guinea, id, Nugini Belanda) was the western half of the island of New Guinea that was a part of the Dutch East Indies until 1949, later an overseas territory of the Kingd ...
(
Western New Guinea Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, or Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the Melanesian island of New Guinea which is administered by Indonesia. Since the island is alternatively named as Papua, the region ...
). Sukarno's government campaigned for Indonesian control of the territory, and with pressure from the United States, the Netherlands agreed to the
New York Agreement The New York Agreement is an agreement signed by the Netherlands and Indonesia regarding the administration of the territory of Western New Guinea. The first part of the agreement proposes that the United Nations assume administration of the terr ...
which ceded the territory to Indonesian administration in May 1963. In 2013, the Netherlands government apologised for the violence used against the Indonesian people, an apology repeated by King
Willem-Alexander Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born ) is King of the Netherlands, having acceded to the throne following his mother's abdication in 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht as the oldest child of Princess Beat ...
on a state visit in 2020. To this day, the colonial war is commonly referred to as "police actions" in the Netherlands.


Government


Law and administration

Since the VOC era, the highest Dutch authority in the colony resided with the 'office of the governor-general'. During the Dutch East Indies era the governor-general functioned as chief executive president of colonial government and served as commander-in-chief of the colonial army (
KNIL The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army ( nl, Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; KNIL, ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. The ...
). Until 1903 all government officials and organisations were formal agents of the governor-general and were entirely dependent on the central administration of the 'office of the governor-general' for their budgets. Until 1815 the governor-general had the absolute right to ban, censor or restrict any publication in the colony. The so-called ''exorbitant powers'' of the governor-general allowed him to exile anyone regarded as subversive and dangerous to peace and order, without involving any Court of Law. Until 1848 the governor-general was directly appointed by the Dutch monarch, and in later years via the Crown and on advice of the Dutch metropolitan cabinet. During two periods (1815–1835 and 1854–1925) the governor-general ruled jointly with an advisory board called the ''Raad van Indie'' (Indies Council). Colonial policy and strategy were the responsibility of the Ministry of Colonies based in
The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
. From 1815 to 1848 the ministry was under direct authority of the Dutch king. In the 20th century the colony gradually developed as a state distinct from the Dutch metropole with treasury separated in 1903, public loans being contracted by the colony from 1913, and quasi diplomatic ties were established with Arabia to manage the Haji pilgrimage from the Dutch East Indies. In 1922 the colony came on equal footing with the Netherlands in the Dutch constitution, while remaining under the Ministry of Colonies. The governor-general led a hierarchy of Dutch officials; the residents, the assistant residents, and district officers called ''controllers''. Traditional rulers who survived displacement by the Dutch conquests were installed as regents and indigenous aristocracy became an indigenous civil service. While they lost real control, their wealth and splendour under the Dutch grew. This indirect rule did not disturb the peasantry and was cost-effective for the Dutch; in 1900, only 250 European and 1,500 indigenous civil servants, and 16,000 Dutch officers and men and 26,000 hired native troops, were required to rule 35 million colonial subjects. From 1910, the Dutch created the most centralised state power in
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
. Politically, the highly centralised power structure established by the Dutch administration, including the exorbitant powers of exile and censorship, was carried over into the new Indonesian republic. A People's Council called the '' Volksraad'' for the Dutch East Indies commenced in 1918. The ''Volksraad'' was limited to an advisory role and only a small portion of the indigenous population were able to vote for its members. The council comprised 30 indigenous members, 25 European and five from Chinese and other populations, and was reconstituted every four years. In 1925 the Volksraad was made a semilegislative body; although decisions were still made by the Dutch government, the governor-general was expected to consult the ''Volksraad'' on major issues. The ''Volksraad'' was dissolved in 1942 during the Japanese occupation. The legal system was divided by the three main ethnic groups classified under the Dutch colonial administration. The Europeans, Foreign Orientals (Arabs and the Chinese) and the indigenous; these three groups were subject to their own legal system, that were all simultaneously in force. The Dutch government adapted the Dutch codes of law in its colony. The highest court of law, the Supreme Court in Batavia, dealt with appeals and monitored judges and courts throughout the colony. Six councils of justice ''(Raad van Justitie)'' dealt mostly with crime committed by people in the European legal class and only indirectly with the indigenous population. The land councils ''(Landraden)'' dealt with civil matters and less serious offences like estate divorces, and matrimonial disputes. The indigenous population was subject to their respective adat law and to indigenous regents and district courts, unless cases were escalated before Dutch judges. Following Indonesian independence, the Dutch legal system was adopted and gradually a national legal system based on Indonesian precepts of law and justice was established. By 1920 the Dutch had established 350 prisons throughout the colony. The ''Meester Cornelis'' prison in Batavia incarcerated the most unruly inmates. In ''Sawah Loento'' prison on Sumatra prisoners had to perform manual labour in the coal mines. Separate prisons were built for juveniles (West Java) and for women. In the female ''Boeloe'' prison in Semarang inmates had the opportunity to learn a profession during their detention, such as sewing, weaving and making
batik Batik is an Indonesian technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to the whole cloth. This technique originated from the island of Java, Indonesia. Batik is made either by drawing dots and lines of the resist with a spouted tool called a ''ca ...
. This training was held in high esteem and helped re-socialise women once they were outside the correctional facility. In response to the communist uprising of 1926 the prison camp '' Boven-Digoel'' was established in
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...
. As of 1927, political prisoners, including indigenous Indonesians espousing Indonesian independence, were 'exiled' to the outer islands.


Administrative divisions

The Dutch East Indies was divided into three ''gouvernementen''—Groot Oost, Borneo and Sumatra—and three ''provincies'' in Java. ''Provincies'' and ''gouvernementen'' were both divided into residencies, but while the residencies under the provincies were divided again into ''regentschappen'', residencies under ''gouvermenten'' were divided into ''afdeelingen'' first before being subdivided into ''regentschappen''.


Armed forces

The
Royal Netherlands East Indies Army The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army ( nl, Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; KNIL, ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. Th ...
(KNIL) and its air arm, the
Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force ( nl, Militaire Luchtvaart van het Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger, ML-KNIL) was the air arm of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) from 1939 until ...
(ML-KNIL), were established in 1814 and 1915, respectively. Naval forces of the Royal Netherlands Navy were based in Surabaya, supplemented by the colonial
Government Navy The Government Navy (''Gouvernementsmarine'' in Dutch or GM) was a Dutch naval force which stemmed from the Colonial Navy in the former Dutch East Indies. It existed from 1861 to 1949 and operated in a civil-administrative role alongside the Roy ...
. The KNIL was not part of the Royal Netherlands Army, but a separate military arm commanded by the governor-general and funded by the colonial budget. The KNIL was not allowed to recruit Dutch conscripts and had the nature of a ' Foreign Legion' recruiting not only Dutch volunteers, but many other European nationalities (especially German, Belgian and Swiss mercenaries). While most officers were Europeans, the majority of soldiers were indigenous Indonesians, the largest contingent of which were Javanese and Sundanese. Dutch policy before the 1870s was to take full charge of strategic points and work out treaties with the local leaders elsewhere so they would remain in control and co-operate. The policy failed in Aceh, in northern Sumatra, where the Sultan tolerated pirates who raided commerce in the
Strait of Malacca The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connec ...
. Britain was a protector of Aceh and it granted the Dutch request to conduct their anti-piracy campaign. The campaign quickly drove out the Sultan, but across Aceh numerous local Muslim leaders mobilised and fought the Dutch in four decades of expensive guerrilla war, with high levels of atrocities on both sides. Colonial military authorities tried to forestall a war against the population by means of a 'strategy of awe'. When a guerrilla war did take place the Dutch used either a slow, violent occupation or a campaign of destruction. By 1900 the archipelago was considered "pacified" and the KNIL was mainly involved with military police tasks. The nature of the KNIL changed in 1917 when the colonial government introduced obligatory
military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job ( volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require ...
for all male conscripts in the European legal class and in 1922 a supplemental legal enactment introduced the creation of a 'Home guard' ( nl, Landstorm) for European conscripts older than 32. Petitions by Indonesian nationalists to establish military service for indigenous people were rejected. In July 1941 the ''Volksraad'' passed law creating a native militia of 18,000 by a majority of 43 to 4, with only the moderate Great Indonesia Party objecting. After the declaration of war with Japan, over 100,000 natives volunteered. The KNIL hastily and inadequately attempted to transform them into a modern military force able to protect the Dutch East Indies from Imperial Japanese invasion. On the eve of the Japanese invasion in December 1941, Dutch regular troops in the East Indies comprised about 1,000 officers and 34,000 men, of whom 28,000 were indigenous. During the Dutch East Indies campaign of 1941–42 the KNIL and the Allied forces were quickly defeated. All European soldiers, which in practice included all able bodied Indo-European males were interned by the Japanese as POWs. Twenty-five percent of the POWs did not survive their internment. Following World War II, a reconstituted KNIL joined with Dutch Army troops to re-establish colonial "law and order". Despite two successful military campaigns in 1947 and 1948, Dutch efforts to re-establish their colony failed and the Netherlands recognised Indonesian sovereignty in December 1949. The KNIL was disbanded by 26 July 1950 with its indigenous personnel being given the option of demobilising or joining the
Indonesian military , founded = as the ('People's Security Forces') , current_form = , disbanded = , branches = , headquarters = Cilangkap, Jakarta , website = , commander-in-chief = Joko Widodo , ...
. At the time of disbandment the KNIL numbered 65,000, of whom 26,000 were incorporated into the new Indonesian Army. The remainder were either demobilised or transferred to the Netherlands Army. Key officers in the Indonesian National Armed Forces that were former KNIL soldiers include: Suharto second president of Indonesia, A. H. Nasution, commander of the
Siliwangi Division Military Regional Command III/Siliwangi ( id, Komando Daerah Militer III/Siliwangi or Kodam III/Siliwangi) is an Indonesian Army Regional Military Command that covers Banten and West Java province. The division was formed during the Indonesia ...
and Chief of Staff of the Indonesian army and A. E. Kawilarang founder of the elite special forces
Kopassus The Kopassus ( id, Komando Pasukan Khusus, Special Forces Command) is an Indonesian Army (TNI-AD) special forces group that conducts special operations missions for the Indonesian government, such as direct action, unconventional warfare, sabot ...
.


Demographics

In 1898, the population of Java numbered 28 million with another 7 million on Indonesia's outer islands. The first half of 20th century saw large-scale immigration of Dutch and other Europeans to the colony, where they worked in either the government or private sectors. By 1930, there were more than 240,000 people with European legal status in the colony, making up less than 0.5% of the total population. Almost 75% of these Europeans were in fact native Eurasians known as Indo-Europeans. The Dutch colonialists formed a privileged upper social class of soldiers, administrators, managers, teachers and pioneers. They lived together with the "natives", but at the top of a rigid social and racial caste system. The Dutch East Indies had two legal classes of citizens; European and indigenous. A third class, Foreign Easterners, was added in 1920. In 1901 the Dutch adopted what they called the
Ethical Policy The Dutch Ethical Policy ( nl, Ethische Politiek) was the official policy of the colonial government of the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) during the four decades from 1901 until the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies, Japan ...
, under which the colonial government had a duty to further the welfare of the Indonesian people in health and education. Other new measures under the policy included irrigation programs, transmigration, communications, flood mitigation, industrialisation and protection of native industry. Industrialisation did not significantly affect the majority of Indonesians, and Indonesia remained an agricultural colony; by 1930, there were 17 cities with populations over 50,000 and their combined populations numbered 1.87 million of the colony's 60 million.


Education

The Dutch school system was extended to Indonesians with the most prestigious schools admitting Dutch children and those of the Indonesian upper class. A second tier of schooling was based on ethnicity with separate schools for Indonesians, Arabs, and Chinese being taught in Dutch and with a Dutch curriculum. Ordinary Indonesians were educated in Malay in Roman alphabet with "link" schools preparing bright Indonesian students for entry into the Dutch-language schools.Taylor (2003), p. 286 Vocational schools and programs were set up by the Indies government to train indigenous Indonesians for specific roles in the colonial economy. Chinese and Arabs, officially termed "foreign orientals", could not enrol in either the vocational schools or primary schools. Graduates of Dutch schools opened their own schools modelled on the Dutch school system, as did Christian missionaries, Theosophical Societies and Indonesian cultural associations. This proliferation of schools was further boosted by new Muslim schools in the Western mould that also offered secular subjects. According to the 1930 census, 6% of Indonesians were literate; however, this figure recognised only graduates from Western schools and those who could read and write in a language in the Roman alphabet. It did not include graduates of non-Western schools or those who could read but not write
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
, Malay or Dutch, or those who could write in non-Roman alphabets such as Batak, Javanese, Chinese or Arabic. Some higher education institutions were also established. In 1898 the Dutch East Indies government established a school to train medical doctors, named ''School tot Opleiding van Inlandsche Artsen'' (STOVIA). Many STOVIA graduates later played important roles in Indonesia's national movement toward independence as well in developing medical education in Indonesia, such as Dr. Wahidin Soedirohoesodo, who established the
Budi Utomo , native_name_lang = , logo = , logo_size = , logo_alt = , logo_caption = , image = , image_size = , alt = , caption = , map ...
political society. ''De Technische Hoogeschool te Bandung'' established in 1920 by the Dutch colonial administration to meet the needs of technical resources at its colony. One of ''Technische Hogeschool'' graduate is Sukarno whom later would lead the Indonesian National Revolution. In 1924, the colonial government again decided to open a new tertiary-level educational facility, the ''Rechts Hogeschool'' (RHS), to train civilian officers and servants. In 1927, STOVIA's status was changed to that of a full tertiary-level institution and its name was changed to ''Geneeskundige Hogeschool'' (GHS). The GHS occupied the same main building and used the same teaching hospital as the current Faculty of Medicine of
University of Indonesia The University of Indonesia ( id, Universitas Indonesia, abbreviated as UI) is a public university in Depok, West Java and Salemba, Jakarta, Indonesia. It is one of the oldest tertiary-level educational institutions in Indonesia (known as the D ...
. The old links between the Netherlands and Indonesia are still clearly visible in such technological areas as
irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...
design. To this day, the ideas of Dutch colonial irrigation engineers continue to exert a strong influence over Indonesian design practices. Moreover, the two highest-internationally ranking universities of Indonesia, the
University of Indonesia The University of Indonesia ( id, Universitas Indonesia, abbreviated as UI) is a public university in Depok, West Java and Salemba, Jakarta, Indonesia. It is one of the oldest tertiary-level educational institutions in Indonesia (known as the D ...
est.1898 and the
Bandung Institute of Technology The Bandung Institute of Technology ( id, Institut Teknologi Bandung, abbreviated as ITB) is a national research university located in Bandung, Indonesia. Since its establishment in 1920, ITB has been consistently recognized as Indonesia's premi ...
, established in 1920, were both founded during the colonial era. Education reforms, and modest political reform, resulted in a small elite of highly educated indigenous Indonesians, who promoted the idea of an independent and unified "Indonesia" that would bring together disparate indigenous groups of the Dutch East Indies. A period termed the
Indonesian National Revival The Indonesian National Awakening ( id, Kebangkitan Nasional Indonesia) is a term for the period in the first half of the 20th century, during which people from many parts of the archipelago of Indonesia first began to develop a national conscio ...
, the first half of the 20th century saw the nationalist movement develop strongly, but also face Dutch oppression.


Economy

The economic history of the colony was closely related to the economic health of the mother country. Despite increasing returns from the Dutch system of land tax, Dutch finances had been severely affected by the cost of the
Java War The Java War ( jv, ꦥꦼꦫꦁꦗꦮ) or Diponegoro War () was fought in central Java from 1825 to 1830, between the colonial Dutch Empire and native Javanese rebels. The war started as a rebellion led by Prince Diponegoro, a leading member ...
and the
Padri War The Padri War (also called the Minangkabau War) was fought from 1803 until 1837 in West Sumatra, Indonesia between the Padri and the Adat. The Padri were Muslim clerics from Sumatra who wanted to impose Sharia in Minangkabau country in West Su ...
, and the Dutch loss of Belgium in 1830 brought the Netherlands to the brink of bankruptcy. In 1830, a new governor-general, Johannes van den Bosch, was appointed to make the Indies pay their way through Dutch exploitation of its resources. With the Dutch achieving political domination throughout Java for the first time in 1830, it was possible to introduce an agricultural policy of government-controlled forced cultivation. Termed ''cultuurstelsel'' (cultivation system) in Dutch and ''tanam paksa'' (forced plantation) in Indonesia, farmers were required to deliver, as a form of tax, fixed amounts of specified crops, such as sugar or coffee.Taylor (2003), p. 240 Much of Java became a Dutch plantation and revenue rose continually through the 19th century which were reinvested into the Netherlands to save it from bankruptcy. Between 1830 and 1870, 840 million guilder (€8 billion in 2018) were taken from the East Indies, on average making a third of the annual Dutch government budget. The Cultivation System, however, brought much economic hardship to Javanese peasants, who suffered famine and epidemics in the 1840s. Critical public opinion in the Netherlands led to much of the Cultivation System's excesses being eliminated under the agrarian reforms of the "Liberal Period". According to one study, the mortality rate in Java would have been 10–20% higher by the late 1870s if the system of forced labor had not been abolished. Dutch private capital flowed in after 1850, especially in tin mining and plantation estate agriculture. The Martavious Company's tin mines off the eastern Sumatra coast was financed by a syndicate of Dutch entrepreneurs, including the younger brother of King William III. Mining began in 1860. In 1863 Jacob Nienhuys obtained a concession from the
Sultanate of Deli Sultanate of Deli ( Indonesian: ''Kesultanan Deli Darul Maimoon''; Jawi: ) was a 1,820 km² Malay state in east Sumatra founded in 1630. A tributary kingdom from 1630 it was controlled by various Sultanates until 1814, when it became an ...
(
East Sumatra The State of East Sumatra (''Negara Sumatera Timur'') was established by the Netherlands after the reoccupation of North Sumatra in July, 1947, during the first of the Dutch " police actions" against the fledgling Republic of Indonesia. In 1949, ...
) for a large tobacco estate ( Deli Company). From 1870, the Indies were opened up to private enterprise and Dutch businessmen set up large, profitable plantations. Sugar production doubled between 1870 and 1885; new crops such as tea and cinchona flourished, and rubber was introduced, leading to dramatic increases in Dutch profits. Changes were not limited to Java, or agriculture; oil from Sumatra and Kalimantan became a valuable resource for industrialising Europe. Dutch commercial interests expanded off Java to the outer islands with increasingly more territory coming under direct Dutch control or dominance in the latter half of the 19th century. However, the resulting scarcity of land for rice production, combined with dramatically increasing populations, especially in Java, led to further hardships. The colonial exploitation of Indonesia's wealth contributed to the industrialisation of the Netherlands, while simultaneously laying the foundation for the industrialisation of Indonesia. The Dutch introduced coffee, tea, cacao, tobacco and rubber, and large expanses of Java became plantations cultivated by Javanese peasants, collected by Chinese intermediaries, and sold on overseas markets by European merchants. In the late 19th century economic growth was based on heavy world demand for tea, coffee and cinchona. The government invested heavily in a railroad network ( long in 1873, in 1900), as well as telegraph lines, and entrepreneurs opened banks, shops and newspapers. The Dutch East Indies produced most of the world's supply of quinine and pepper, over a third of its rubber, a quarter of its coconut products, and a fifth of its tea, sugar, coffee and oil. The profit from the Dutch East Indies made the Netherlands one of the world's most significant colonial powers. The
Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij (Dutch for Royal Packet Navigation Company), better known as KPM, was a Dutch shipping company (1888–1966) in the Netherlands East Indies, now Indonesia. It was the dominant inter-island shipping line in Indo ...
shipping line supported the unification of the colonial economy and brought inter-island shipping through to Batavia, rather than through Singapore, thus focusing more economic activity on Java. The worldwide recession of the late 1880s and early 1890s saw the commodity prices on which the colony depended collapse. Journalists and civil servants observed that the majority of the Indies population were no better off than under the previous regulated Cultivation System economy and tens of thousands starved. Commodity prices recovered from the recession, leading to increased investment in the colony. The sugar, tin,
copra Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from co ...
and coffee trade on which the colony had been built thrived, and rubber, tobacco, tea and oil also became principal exports. Political reform increased the autonomy of the local colonial administration, moving away from central control from the Netherlands, whilst power was also diverted from the central Batavia government to more localised governing units. The world economy recovered in the late 1890s and prosperity returned. Foreign investment, especially by the British, were encouraged. By 1900, foreign-held assets in the Netherlands Indies totalled about 750 million guilders ($300 million), mostly in Java. After 1900 upgrading the infrastructure of ports and roads was a high priority for the Dutch, with the goal of modernising the economy, facilitating commerce, and speeding up military movements. By 1950 Dutch engineers had built and upgraded a road network with 12,000 km of asphalted surface, 41,000 km of metalled road area and 16,000 km of gravel surfaces. In addition the Dutch built, of railways, bridges, irrigation systems covering of rice fields, several harbours, and 140 public drinking water systems. Wim Ravesteijn has said that, "With these public works, Dutch engineers constructed the material base of the colonial and postcolonial Indonesian state."


Culture


Language and literature

Across the archipelago, hundreds of native languages are used, and Malay or
Portuguese Creole Portuguese creoles are creole languages which have Portuguese as their substantial lexifier. The most widely-spoken creoles influenced by Portuguese are Cape Verdean Creole, Guinea-Bissau Creole and Papiamento. Origins Portuguese overseas ...
, the existing languages of trade, were adopted. Prior to 1870, when Dutch colonial influence was largely restricted to Java, Malay was used in government schools and training programs such that graduates could communicate with groups from other regions who immigrated to Java. The colonial government sought to standardise Malay based on the version from Riau and Malacca, and dictionaries were commissioned for governmental communication and schools for indigenous peoples. In the early 20th century, Indonesia's independence leaders adopted a form of Malay from Riau, and called it Indonesian. In the latter half of the 19th century, the rest of the archipelago, in which hundreds of language groups were used, was brought under Dutch control. In extending the native education program to these areas, the government stipulated this "standard Malay" as the language of the colony.
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
was not made the official language of the colony and was not widely used by the indigenous Indonesian population. The majority of legally acknowledged Dutchmen were bilingual Indo-Eurasians. Dutch was used by only a limited educated elite, and in 1942, around two percent of the total population in the Dutch East Indies spoke Dutch, including over 1 million indigenous Indonesians. A number of Dutch
loan word A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because the ...
s are used in present-day Indonesian, particularly technical terms (see List of Dutch loan words in Indonesian). These words generally had no alternative in Malay and were adopted into the Indonesian vocabulary giving a linguistic insight into which concepts are part of the Dutch colonial heritage. Hendrik Maier of the University of California says that about a fifth of the contemporary
Indonesian language Indonesian ( ) is the official and national language of Indonesia. It is a standardized variety of Malay, an Austronesian language that has been used as a lingua franca in the multilingual Indonesian archipelago for centuries. Indonesia ...
can be traced to Dutch. Dutch language literature has been inspired by both colonial and postcolonial Indies from the Dutch Golden Age to the present day. It includes Dutch, Indo-European, and Indonesian authors. Its subject matter thematically revolves around the Dutch colonial era, but also includes
postcolonial Postcolonialism is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic legacy of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and exploitation of colonized people and their lands. More specifically, it is a ...
discourse. Masterpieces of this genre include
Multatuli Eduard Douwes Dekker (2 March 182019 February 1887), better known by his pen name Multatuli (from Latin ''multa tulī'', "I have suffered much"), was a Dutch writer best known for his satirical novel '' Max Havelaar'' (1860), which denounced the ...
's '' Max Havelaar: Or The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company'',
Louis Couperus Louis Marie-Anne Couperus (10 June 1863 – 16 July 1923) was a Dutch novelist and poet. His oeuvre contains a wide variety of genres: lyric poetry, psychological and historical novels, novellas, short stories, fairy tales, feuilletons and s ...
's ''Hidden Force'', E. du Perron's ''Country of Origin'', and Maria Dermoût's ''The Ten Thousand Things''. Most Dutch literature was written by Dutch and Indo-European authors. However, in the first half of the 20th century under the Ethical Policy, indigenous Indonesian authors and intellectuals came to the Netherlands to study and work. They wrote Dutch language literary works and published literature in literary reviews such as ''Het Getij'', ''De Gemeenschap'', ''Links Richten'' and ''Forum''. By exploring new literary themes and focusing on indigenous protagonists, they drew attention to indigenous culture and the indigenous plight. Examples include the Javanese prince and poet Noto Soeroto, a writer and journalist, and the Dutch language writings of Soewarsih Djojopoespito,
Chairil Anwar Chairil Anwar (26 July 1922 – 28 April 1949) was an Indonesian poet and member of the " 1945 Generation" of writers. He is estimated to have written 96 works, including 70 individual poems. Anwar was born and raised in Medan, North Sumatr ...
,
Kartini ''Raden Adjeng'' Kartini (21 April 1879 – 17 September 1904), also known as '' Raden Ayu'' Kartini, was a prominent Indonesian activist who advocated for women's rights and female education. She was born into an aristocratic Javanese fa ...
, Sutan Sjahrir and Sukarno. Much of the postcolonial discourse in Dutch Indies literature has been written by Indo-European authors led by the "avant garde visionary"
Tjalie Robinson Tjalie Robinson is the main alias of the Indo (Eurasian) intellectual and writer Jan Boon (born Nijmegen, 10 January 1911; died The Hague, 22 April 1974) also known as Vincent Mahieu. His father Cornelis Boon, a Royal Netherlands East Indies Arm ...
, who is the best-read Dutch author in contemporary Indonesia, and second generation Indo-European immigrants such as Marion Bloem.


Visual art

The natural beauty of East Indies has inspired the works of artists and painters, that mostly capture the romantic scenes of colonial Indies. The term ''Mooi Indië'' (Dutch for "Beautiful Indies") was originally coined as the title of 11 reproductions of Du Chattel's watercolor paintings which depicted the scene of East Indies published in Amsterdam in 1930. The term became famous in 1939 after S. Sudjojono used it to mock the painters that merely depict all pretty things about Indies. ''Mooi Indië'' later would identified as the genre of painting that occurred during the colonial East Indies that capture the romantic depictions of the Indies as the main themes; mostly natural scenes of mountains, volcanoes, rice paddies, river valleys, villages, with scenes of native servants, nobles, and sometimes bare-chested native women. Some of the notable ''Mooi Indië'' painters are European artists: F. J. du Chattel, Manus Bauer, Nieuwkamp, Isaac Israel, PAJ Moojen, Carel Dake and ; East Indies-born Dutch painters: Henry van Velthuijzen, Charles Sayers, Ernest Dezentje, Leonard Eland and Jan Frank; Native painters:
Raden Saleh Raden Saleh Sjarif Boestaman ( ar, ; ', jv, ꦫꦢꦺꦤ꧀ꦱꦭꦺꦃꦯ꦳ꦫꦶꦥ꦳꧀ꦨꦸꦱ꧀ꦠꦩꦤ꧀; EYD: ''Raden Saleh Syarif Bustaman''; 1811 – 23 April 1880) was a pioneering Indonesian Romantic painter of Arab- Javan ...
, Mas Pirngadi, Abdullah Surisubroto, Wakidi, Basuki Abdullah, Mas Soeryo Soebanto and Henk Ngantunk; and also Chinese painters: Lee Man Fong, Oei Tiang Oen and Siauw Tik Kwie. These painters usually exhibit their works in art galleries such as Bataviasche Kuntkringgebouw, Theosofie Vereeniging, Kunstzaal Kolff & Co and Hotel Des Indes.


Theatre and film

A total of 112
fictional film Narrative film, fictional film or fiction film is a motion picture that tells a fictional or fictionalized story, event or narrative. Commercial narrative films with running times of over an hour are often referred to as feature films, or feature ...
s are known to have been produced in the Dutch East Indies between 1926 and the colony's dissolution in 1949. The earliest motion pictures, imported from abroad, were shown in late 1900, and by the early 1920s imported serials and fictional films were being shown, often with localised names. Dutch companies were also producing documentary films about the Indies to be shown in the Netherlands. The first locally produced film, '' Loetoeng Kasaroeng'', was directed by L. Heuveldorp and released on 31 December 1926. Between 1926 and 1933 numerous other local productions were released. During the mid-1930s, production dropped as a result of the Great Depression. The rate of production declined again after the Japanese occupation beginning in early 1942, closing all but one film studio. The majority of films produced during the occupation were Japanese propaganda shorts. Following the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence in 1945 and during the ensuing
revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
several films were made, by both pro-Dutch and pro-Indonesian backers. Generally films produced in the Indies dealt with traditional stories or were adapted from existing works. The early films were silent, with '' Karnadi Anemer Bangkong'' (''Karnadi the Frog Contractor''; 1930) generally considered the first
talkie A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...
; later films would be in Dutch, Malay, or an indigenous language. All were
black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...
. The American visual anthropologist Karl G. Heider writes that all films from before 1950 are lost. However, JB Kristanto's ''Katalog Film Indonesia'' (''Indonesian Film Catalogue'') records several as having survived at
Sinematek Indonesia Sinematek Indonesia, or Sinematek for short, is a film archive located in Jakarta. Established in 1975 by Misbach Yusa Biran and Asrul Sani, the archive was the first in Southeast Asia, and remains the only one in Indonesia. It is home to rough ...
's archives, and Biran writes that several Japanese propaganda films have survived at the
Netherlands Government Information Service The Netherlands Government Information Service (''Dutch:'' Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst, abbrev.: RVD) is a Dutch government agency. The RVD is the official information service of the Dutch government and is the spokesbody for the prime minister, the ...
. Theatre plays by playwrights such as Victor Ido (1869–1948) were performed at the ''Schouwburg Weltevreden'', now known as
Gedung Kesenian Jakarta , image = Gedung Kesenian Jakarta, 2018.jpg , image_alt = , caption = Front entrance of ''Gedung Kesenian Jakarta'' , former_names = ''Batavia Schouwburg'' (Dutch colonial era), ''Sin'tsu Cekizyoo'' ...
. A less elite form of theatre, popular with both European and indigenous people, were the travelling
Indo Indo may refer to: * Indo-, a prefix indicating India or the Indian Subcontinent * Indonesia, a country in Asia ** INDO LINES, callsign of Indonesian Airlines ** Indo people, people of mixed European and Indonesian ancestry ** Indo cuisine, fusion ...
theatre shows known as
Komedie Stamboel ''Komedi Stambul'' (or simply ''Stambul''), spelled ''Komedie Stamboel'' during the Dutch colonial era, is a form of trans-ethnic Indonesian folk theatre developed lately 19th-century to the mid 20th-century. The theatre originated in Dutch East ...
, made popular by Auguste Mahieu (1865–1903).


Science

The rich nature and culture of the Dutch East Indies attracted European intellectuals, scientists and researchers. Some notable scientists that conducted most of their important research in the East Indies archipelago are Teijsmann, Junghuhn,
Eijkman Christiaan Eijkman ( , , ; 11 August 1858 – 5 November 1930) was a Dutch physician and professor of physiology whose demonstration that beriberi is caused by poor diet led to the discovery of antineuritic vitamins (thiamine). Together with S ...
, Dubois and Wallace. Many important art, culture and science institutions were established in Dutch East Indies. For example, the ''Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen'' (
Royal Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences The Royal Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijk Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen, 1778–1962) was a Dutch learned society in Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia). The society was founded in 1778 by naturalist Ja ...
), the predecessor of the
National Museum of Indonesia ) is an archeological, historical, ethnological, and geographical museum located in Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta, right on the west side of Merdeka Square. Popularly known as the Elephant Museum ( id, Museum Gajah) after the elepha ...
, was established in 1778 with the aim to promote research and publish findings in the field of arts and sciences, especially
history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
,
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...
, ethnography and
physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
. The
Bogor Botanical Gardens The Bogor Botanical Gardens ( id, Kebun Raya Bogor) is a botanical garden located in Bogor, Indonesia, 60 km south of central Jakarta. It is currently operated by Indonesian Institute of Sciences (Indonesian: ''Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Ind ...
with ''Herbarium Bogoriense'' and ''Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense'' was a major centre for botanical research established in 1817, with the aim to study the flora and fauna of the archipelago.
Java Man Java Man (''Homo erectus erectus'', formerly also ''Anthropopithecus erectus'', ''Pithecanthropus erectus'') is an early human fossil discovered in 1891 and 1892 on the island of Java (Dutch East Indies, now part of Indonesia). Estimated to be b ...
was discovered by
Eugène Dubois Marie Eugène François Thomas Dubois (; 28 January 1858 – 16 December 1940) was a Dutch paleoanthropologist and geologist. He earned worldwide fame for his discovery of ''Pithecanthropus erectus'' (later redesignated ''Homo erectus''), or "Java ...
in 1891. The
Komodo dragon The Komodo dragon (''Varanus komodoensis''), also known as the Komodo monitor, is a member of the monitor lizard family Varanidae that is endemic to the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, and Gili Motang. It is the largest extant ...
was first described by Peter Ouwens in 1912, after an aeroplane crash accident in 1911 and rumours about living dinosaurs in
Komodo Island Komodo ( id, Pulau Komodo) is one of the 17,508 islands that comprise the Republic of Indonesia. The island is particularly notable as the habitat of the Komodo dragon, the largest lizard on Earth, which is named after the island. Komodo Island h ...
in 1910. Vitamin B1 and its relation to
beriberi Thiamine deficiency is a medical condition of low levels of thiamine (Vitamin B1). A severe and chronic form is known as beriberi. The two main types in adults are wet beriberi and dry beriberi. Wet beriberi affects the cardiovascular system, ...
disease was discovered by
Eijkman Christiaan Eijkman ( , , ; 11 August 1858 – 5 November 1930) was a Dutch physician and professor of physiology whose demonstration that beriberi is caused by poor diet led to the discovery of antineuritic vitamins (thiamine). Together with S ...
during his work in the Indies. With growing interest in scientific research, the government of the Dutch East Indies established (Scientific Council of the Dutch East Indies) in 1928. It operated as the country's main research organization until the outbreak of World War II in Asia Pacific in 1942. In 1948 the institute was renamed (Organisation for Scientific Research). This organization was the predecessor of the current
Indonesian Institute of Sciences The Indonesian Institute of Sciences ( id, Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia, or LIPI) was the governmental authority for science and research in Indonesia. It consists of 47 research centers in the fields ranging from social to natural scien ...
.


Cuisine

The Dutch colonial families through their domestic servants and cooks were exposed to Indonesian cuisine, as the result they developed a taste for native tropical spices and dishes. A notable Dutch East Indies colonial dish is rijsttafel, the rice table that consists of 7 to 40 popular dishes from across the colony. More an extravagant banquet than a dish, the Dutch colonials introduced the rice table not only so they could enjoy a wide array of dishes at a single setting but also to impress visitors with the exotic abundance of their colony. Through colonialism the Dutch introduced European dishes such as bread, cheese, barbecued
steak A steak is a thick cut of meat generally sliced across the muscle fibers, sometimes including a bone. It is normally grilled or fried. Steak can be diced, cooked in sauce, such as in steak and kidney pie, or minced and formed into patti ...
and pancake. As the producer of cash crops;
coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...
and tea were also popular in the colonial East Indies. Bread,
butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condimen ...
and margarine, sandwiches filled with ham, cheese or fruit jam,
poffertjes ''Poffertjes'' () are a traditional Dutch batter treat. Resembling small, fluffy pancakes, they are made with yeast and buckwheat flour. Typically, ''poffertjes'' are a sweet treat, served with powdered sugar and butter, and sometimes syrup or ...
, pannekoek and Dutch cheeses were commonly consumed by colonial Dutch and Indos during the colonial era. Some of the native upperclass ''ningrat'' (nobles) and a few educated native were exposed to European cuisine, and it was held with high esteem as the cuisine of upperclass elite of Dutch East Indies society. This led to the adoption and fusion of European cuisine into Indonesian cuisine. Some dishes which were created during the colonial era are Dutch influenced: they include selat solo (solo salad), bistik jawa (Javanese beef steak), semur (from Dutch ''smoor''), sayur kacang merah (brenebon) and
sop buntut Oxtail soup is a soup made with beef tails. The use of the word " ox" in this context is a legacy of nomenclature; no specialized stock of beef animals are used and tails may come from bovines other than oxen. It is believed by some that oxta ...
. Cakes and cookies also can trace their origin to Dutch influences; such as kue bolu (tart), pandan cake, lapis legit (
spekkoek Spekkoek (kue lapis legit or spekuk in Indonesian) is a type of Indonesian layer cake. It was developed during colonial times in the Dutch East Indies. The firm-textured cake is an Indo (Dutch-Indonesian) version of the European multi-laye ...
), spiku (lapis Surabaya),
klappertaart Klappertaart is a Dutch-influenced Indonesian cake originating from Manado, North Sulawesi. ''Klappertaart'' is Dutch for "coconut cake" or "coconut tart" and it's made from flour, sugar, milk, butter, and the flesh and juice of coconuts.
(coconut tart) and kaasstengels (cheese cookies). Kue cubit commonly found in front of schools and marketplaces are believed to be derived from poffertjes.


Architecture

The 16th- and 17th-century arrivals of European powers in Indonesia introduced
masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...
construction to Indonesia where previously timber and its by-products had been almost exclusively used. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Batavia was a fortified brick and masonry city.Schoppert (1997), pp. 38–39 For almost two centuries, the colonialists did little to adapt their European architectural habits to the tropical climate.Dawson, B., Gillow, J., ''The Traditional Architecture of Indonesia'', p. 8, 1994 Thames and Hudson Ltd, London, They built row houses which were poorly ventilated with small windows, which was thought as protection against tropical diseases coming from tropical air. Years later the Dutch learnt to adapt their architectural styles with local building features (long eaves,
verandah A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''vera ...
s, porticos, large windows and ventilation openings), and the 18th-century ''
Dutch Indies country houses A landhuis (Dutch for "mansion, manor", plural ''landhuizen''; Indonesian: ''rumah kongsi''; Papiamento: ''kas di shon'' or ''kas grandi'') is a Dutch colonial country house, often the administrative heart of a '' particuliere land'' or private d ...
'' was one of the first colonial buildings to incorporate Indonesian architectural elements and adapt to the climate, the known as Indies Style.Schoppert (1997), pp. 72–77 From the end of the 19th century, significant improvements to technology, communications and transportation brought new wealth to Java. Modernistic buildings, including train stations, business hotels, factories and office blocks, hospitals and education institutions, were influenced by international styles. The early-20th-century trend was for
modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
influences—such as
art-deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the United ...
—being expressed in essentially European buildings with Indonesian trim. Practical responses to the environment carried over from the earlier Indies Style, included overhanging eaves, larger windows and ventilation in the walls, which gave birth to the
New Indies Style New Indies Style ( nl, Nieuwe Indische Bouwstijl) is a modern architecture, modern architectural style used in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) between the late 19th century through pre-World War II 20th century. New Indies Style is basically ...
. The largest stock of colonial era buildings are in the large cities of Java, such as Bandung, Jakarta, Semarang, and Surabaya. Notable architects and planners include Albert Aalbers,
Thomas Karsten Herman Thomas Karsten (22 April 1884, Amsterdam – 1945, Cimahi) was a Dutch engineer who gave major contributions to architecture and town planning in Indonesia during Dutch colonial rule. Most significantly he integrated the practice of ...
,
Henri Maclaine Pont Henri Maclaine Pont (Meester Cornelis, Batavia, 21 June 1884 – The Hague, 3 December 1971) was a Dutch architect and archaeologist active in Indonesia, acclaimed for his synthesis of Javanese and western architecture. He is seen as the "f ...
, J. Gerber and C. P. W. Schoemaker. In the first three decades of the 20th century, the Department of Public Works funded major public buildings and introduced a town planning program under which the main towns and cities in Java and Sumatra were rebuilt and extended. A lack of development in the Great Depression, the turmoil of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
and the Indonesia's independence struggle of the 1940s, and economic stagnation during the politically turbulent 1950s and 1960s, meant that much colonial architecture has been preserved through to recent decades.Schoppert (1997), p. 105 Colonial homes were almost always the preserve of the wealthy Dutch, Indonesian and Chinese elites; however, the styles were often rich and creative combinations of two cultures, so much so that the homes remain sought after into the 21st century. Native architecture was arguably more influenced by the new European ideas than colonial architecture was influenced by Indonesian styles; and these Western elements continue to be a dominant influence on Indonesia's built environment today.


Fashion

Within the colony of the Dutch East Indies, fashion played an important role to define ones' status and social class. The European colonials wore European fashion straight out of the Netherlands, or even Paris, while the natives wore their traditional clothings that are distinct in every region. As the years progressed and the Dutch influence became stronger, many natives began mixing European styles within their traditional clothing. High-ranking natives within the colony as well as nobility, would wear European style suits with their batik sarongs for special occasions and even for everyday use. More and more native Indonesians began to dress more European. This of course came with the idea that those who wore European clothing were more progressive and open towards a European society and the etiquette that came with it. More and more the European influence was gaining precedence within native Indonesians. This probably stems from the fact that many natives were treated better if they wore European clothing. Their European counterparts acknowledged them, and that in turn was most likely a catalyst for adoption western clothing into traditional Indonesian clothing. The fashion influences between colonials and natives was a reciprocal phenomenon. Just as the Europeans influences the natives, the natives too influenced the European colonials. For example, the thick European fabrics was considered too hot to wear in tropical climate. Thus, the light clothing of thin kebaya fabrics and the comfortable and easy to wear batik sarong are considered quite suitable for everyday clothing in hot and humid climate of the East Indies. Later on in the history of the Dutch East Indies, as a new wave of Europeans were brought into the colony, many adopted the Indonesian styles, many even went so far as to wear traditional Javanese
kebaya A kebaya is an upper garment traditionally worn by women in Southeast Asia, notably in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Southern Thailand. Outside of Southeast Asia, it is worn by Javanese, Malays and Portuguese Eurasians in Austral ...
at home.
Batik Batik is an Indonesian technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to the whole cloth. This technique originated from the island of Java, Indonesia. Batik is made either by drawing dots and lines of the resist with a spouted tool called a ''ca ...
was also a big influence for the Dutch. The technique was so fascinating to them that they took the technique to their colonies in Africa where it was adopted with African patterns. For the most part, Europeans in the Dutch East Indies, stuck to traditional European styles of dressing. Fashion trends from Paris were still highly regarded and considered the epitome of style. Women wore dresses and skirts and men wore pants and shirts.


Colonial heritage in the Netherlands

When the
Dutch Royal Family The monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. As such, the role and position of the monarch are governed by the Constitution of the Netherlands. Consequently, a large portion of it is devoted to the monarch. Roughly a third of ...
was established in 1815, much of its wealth came from Colonial trade. Universities such as the Royal Leiden University founded in the 16th century have developed into leading knowledge centres about Southeast Asian and Indonesian studies. Leiden University has produced academics such as Colonial adviser
Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (8 February 1857 – 26 June 1936) was a Dutch scholar of Oriental cultures and languages and advisor on native affairs to the colonial government of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). Born in Oosterhout in 1857 ...
who specialised in native oriental (Indonesian) affairs, and it still has academics who specialise in Indonesian languages and cultures. Leiden University and in particular
KITLV The Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies ( nl, Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, lit = Royal Institute for the Linguistics, Geography and Ethnology, abbreviated: KITLV) at Leiden was founded ...
are educational and scientific institutions that to this day share both an intellectual and historical interest in Indonesian studies. Other scientific institutions in the Netherlands include the Amsterdam
Tropenmuseum The Tropenmuseum ( en, Museum of the Tropics) is an ethnographic museum located in Amsterdam, Netherlands, founded in 1864. One of the largest museums in Amsterdam, the museum accommodates eight permanent exhibitions and an ongoing series of tem ...
, an anthropological museum with massive collections of Indonesian art, culture, ethnography and anthropology. The traditions of the KNIL are maintained by the
Regiment Van Heutsz The Regiment van Heutsz is a line infantry regiment of the Royal Netherlands Army. The regiment was named after J.B. van Heutsz, a former Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, and was formed on July 1, 1950. It is notable for its service as ...
of the modern Royal Netherlands Army and the dedicated '' Bronbeek Museum'', a former home for retired KNIL soldiers, exists in
Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...
to this day. Many surviving colonial families and their descendants who moved back to the Netherlands after independence tended to look back on the colonial era with a sense of the power and prestige they had in the colony, with such items as the 1970s book ''Tempo Doeloe'' (Old times) by author Rob Nieuwenhuys, and other books and materials that became quite common in the 1970s and 1980s. Moreover, since the 18th century Dutch literature has a large number of established authors, such as
Louis Couperus Louis Marie-Anne Couperus (10 June 1863 – 16 July 1923) was a Dutch novelist and poet. His oeuvre contains a wide variety of genres: lyric poetry, psychological and historical novels, novellas, short stories, fairy tales, feuilletons and s ...
, the writer of "The Hidden Force", taking the colonial era as an important source of inspiration. In fact one of the great masterpieces of
Dutch literature Dutch language literature () comprises all writings of literary merit written through the ages in the Dutch language, a language which currently has around 23 million native speakers. Dutch-language literature is the product of the Netherlands, Be ...
is the book "
Max Havelaar ''Max Havelaar; or, The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company'' ( nl, Max Havelaar; of, De koffi-veilingen der Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappy) is an 1860 novel by Multatuli (the pen name of Eduard Douwes Dekker), which played a key rol ...
" written by
Multatuli Eduard Douwes Dekker (2 March 182019 February 1887), better known by his pen name Multatuli (from Latin ''multa tulī'', "I have suffered much"), was a Dutch writer best known for his satirical novel '' Max Havelaar'' (1860), which denounced the ...
in 1860. The majority of Dutchmen that repatriated to the Netherlands after and during the Indonesian revolution are
Indo Indo may refer to: * Indo-, a prefix indicating India or the Indian Subcontinent * Indonesia, a country in Asia ** INDO LINES, callsign of Indonesian Airlines ** Indo people, people of mixed European and Indonesian ancestry ** Indo cuisine, fusion ...
(Eurasian), native to the islands of the Dutch East Indies. This relatively large Eurasian population had developed over a period of 400 years and were classified by colonial law as belonging to the European legal community. In
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
they are referred to as
Indo Indo may refer to: * Indo-, a prefix indicating India or the Indian Subcontinent * Indonesia, a country in Asia ** INDO LINES, callsign of Indonesian Airlines ** Indo people, people of mixed European and Indonesian ancestry ** Indo cuisine, fusion ...
(short for Indo-European). Of the 296,200 so called Dutch 'repatriants' only 92,200 were expatriate Dutchmen born in the Netherlands. Including their second-generation descendants, they are currently the largest foreign born group in the Netherlands. In 2008, the Dutch Census Bureau for Statistics (CBS) registered 387,000 first- and second-generation Indos living in the Netherlands. Although considered fully assimilated into Dutch society, as the main ethnic minority in the Netherlands, these 'Repatriants' have played a pivotal role in introducing elements of Indonesian culture into Dutch mainstream culture. Practically each town in the Netherlands will have a '
Toko Toko is a small rural settlement 10 kilometres east of Stratford, New Zealand, at the intersection of East Road ( State Highway 43) and Toko Road. It is located on a railway, the Stratford–Okahukura Line, the western portion of which was o ...
' (Dutch Indonesian Shop) or Indonesian restaurant and many '
Pasar Malam ''Pasar malam'' ( nl, Nacht Markt or Avondmarkt) is an Indonesian and Malay word that literally means "night market" (the word comes from ''bazaar'' in Persian). A ''pasar malam'' is a street market in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapor ...
' (night market in Malay/Indonesian) fairs are organised throughout the year. Many Indonesian dishes and foodstuffs have become commonplace in the
Dutch cuisine Dutch cuisine ( nl, Nederlandse keuken) is formed from the cooking traditions and practices of the Netherlands. The country's cuisine is shaped by its location in the fertile North Sea river delta of the European Plain, giving rise to fishing, ...
. Rijsttafel, a colonial culinary concept, and dishes such as
nasi goreng ''Nasi goreng'' (English pronunciation: ) is a Southeast Asian fried rice dish, usually cooked with pieces of meat and vegetables. One of Indonesia's national dishes, it is also eaten in Malay-speaking communities in countries such as Malaysi ...
and sateh are still very popular in the Netherlands.


See also

*
Freemasonry in the Dutch East Indies Freemasonry was introduced by the Dutch to what is today Indonesia during the VOC era in the 18th century, and spread throughout the Dutch East Indies during a wave of westernisation in the 19th century. Freemasons originally only included Europe ...
* Poenale sanctie * Postage stamps and postal history of the Dutch East Indies * The Portuguese in Indonesia *
Netherlands Indies gulden The Netherlands Indies gulden was the unit of account of the Dutch East Indies from 1602 under the United East India Company ( nl, Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie; VOC), following Dutch practice first adopted in the 15th century (gulden coin ...


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * Cribb, R.B., Kahin, A. ''Historical dictionary of Indonesia'' (Scarecrow Press, 2004) * Dick, Howard, et al. ''The Emergence of a National Economy: An Economic History of Indonesia, 1800–2000'' (U. of Hawaii Press, 2002
online edition
* * * * Nieuwenhuys, Rob ''Mirror of the Indies: A History of Dutch Colonial Literature'' - translated from Dutch by E. M. Beekman (Publisher: Periplus, 1999
Google Books
* * * *


Further reading

* Booth, Anne, et al. ''Indonesian Economic History in the Dutch Colonial Era'' (1990) * Borschberg, Peter, ''The Dutch East Indies'' (2016), * Bosma U., Raben R. ''Being "Dutch" in the Indies: a history of creolisation and empire, 1500–1920'' (University of Michigan, NUS Press, 2008),

* Bosma, Ulbe
''Emigration: Colonial circuits between Europe and Asia in the 19th and early 20th century''
European History Online European History Online (''Europäische Geschichte Online, EGO'') is an academic website that publishes articles on the history of Europe between the period of 1450 and 1950 according to the principle of open access. Organisation EGO is issued ...
, Mainz:
Institute of European History The Leibniz Institute of European History (IEG) in Mainz, Germany, is an independent, public research institute that carries out and promotes historical research on the foundations of Europe in the early and late Modern period. Though autonomous i ...
, 2011, retrieved: 23 May 2011. * Colombijn, Freek, and Thomas Lindblad, eds. ''Roots of violence in Indonesia: Contemporary violence in historical perspective'' (Leiden: KITLV Press, 2002) * Dick, Howard, et al. ''The Emergence of a National Economy: An Economic History of Indonesia, 1800–2000'' (U. of Hawaii Press, 2002
online edition
* Elson, Robert. ''The idea of Indonesia: A history'' (Cambridge University Press, 2008) * Braudel, Fernand, ''The perspective of the World'', vol III in ''Civilization and Capitalism'', 1984 * , comprehensive coverage * Gouda, Frances. ''Dutch Culture Overseas: Colonial Practice in the Netherlands Indies, 1900-1942'' (1996
online
* Nagtegaal, Luc. ''Riding the Dutch Tiger: The Dutch East Indies Company and the Northeast Coast of Java, 1680–1743'' (1996) 250pp * Robins, Nick. ''The Corporation that Changed the World: How the East India Company Shaped the Modern Multinational'' (2006
excerpt and text search
* Taylor, Jean Gelman. ''The Social World of Batavia: Europeans and Eurasians in Colonial Indonesia'' (1983) * * Panikkar, K. M. (1953). Asia and Western dominance, 1498–1945, by K.M. Panikkar. London: G. Allen and Unwin.


External links


11 Dutch Indies objects in 'The European Library Harvest'
* Cribb, Robert, ''Digital Atlas of Indonesian History'

* ttp://search.theeuropeanlibrary.org/portal/en/search/publisher/KB/%28%22netherlands+indies%22%29.query Historical Documents of the Dutch Parliament 1814–1995
Parallel and Divergent Aspects of British Rule in the Raj, French Rule in Indochina, Dutch Rule in the Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia), and American Rule in the Philippines

Yasuo Uemura, "The Sugar Estates in Besuki and the Depression" ''Hiroshima Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities'', Vol.4 page.30-78

Yasuo Uemura, "The Depression and the Sugar Industry in Surabaya" ''Hiroshima Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities'', Vol.3 page.1-54
* * {{Authority control Former colonies in Asia Former colonies in Oceania Former countries in Indonesian history Former countries in Southeast Asia Maritime Southeast Asia New Imperialism 19th century in Indonesia 20th century in Indonesia States and territories established in 1800 States and territories disestablished in 1949 Articles containing video clips . . . . Est Indies 19th-century establishments in Indonesia 1940s disestablishments in Indonesia