WESTERN COLONIZATION: THE DUTCH

THE DUTCH
The colonial period of Indonesia did not immediately start when the Dutch first arrived in
the archipelago at the end of the 16th century.
It was a slow process of political expansion. It took centuries to reach the territorial
boundaries of present-day Indonesia.
Since the 17th century the Dutch United East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische
Compagnie, or VOC) had established itself as the dominating economic and political
power on Java.
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The VOC started to interfere in indigenous politics on the island of Java in the 18th
century as it would improve their hold on the local economy.
Mismanagement, corruption and competition with the English East India Company
resulted in the decline of the VOC towards the end of the 18th century.
In 1796 the VOC went bankrupt. Its possessions in the Indonesian archipelago passed into
the hands of the Dutch crown in 1800.
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However, when the French occupied Holland between 1806 and 1815 these possessions
were transferred to the British.
After Napoleon I's defeat at Waterloo (1815), it was decided that most parts of the
archipelago would return to the Dutch

ARCHITECTS OF THE COLONIZATION

HERMAN WILLEM DAENDELS
Governor-General from 1808 to 1811:
- reorganized the colonial administration by dividing Java into districts (= residencies)
- appointed European civil servant as residents
- submitted the residents to the Governor General in Batavia
- The residents were responsible for a wide range of matters in their residencies, varying
from legal matters to the organization of agriculture.
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- In 1811 Java fell to a British East India Company force under Baron Minto, governor-
general of India, who, after the surrender, appointed Thomas Stamford Raffles lieutenant
governor.
SIR STAMFORD RAFFLES
Governor-General from 1811 to 1816:
- continued the reorganization process of Daendels
- reformed the judicial, police and administrative system of Java
- introduced the land-tax
His administrative reorganizations meant an increasing intervention in Java's society and
economy by foreign powers.
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Raffles was convinced that British administrative principles could liberate the Javanese
from the tyranny of Dutch methods.
He believed that liberal economic principles and the discontinuation of compulsory
cultivation could expand Javanese agricultural production, improve revenue, and make
the island a market for British goods.
Raffles however misread the role of the regents, whom he thought to be “feudal
landowners”. The regents, however, had no proprietary rights in the land of their
subjects.
Raffles was unable to devise an effective means of applying his theories before the return
of Java to Dutch hands as part of the general settlement following the defeat of Napoleon
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Raffles had a genuine interest in the cultures and languages of Java.
Before his appointment he had been a student of Malay literature and culture.
Raffles rediscovered the ruins of the great Buddhist temple Borobudur in Central Java.
In 1817, he published his The History of Java, one of the first academic works on the topic
of Java, upon his return to England.

STYLE OF GOVERNMENT
The Dutch system of rule in colonial Java was indirect.
It used, an indigenous hierarchy which functioned as an intermediary between the
Javanese peasants and the Europeans.
The top of this indigenous structure consisted of the Javanese aristocracy.
This aristocracy is called ‘priyayi’. It was distinct from the royalty called ‘ningrat’.
Until the 18th century the priyayi, under the royal families, were the rulers of the
Javanese states.
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After the Dutch gained control and introduced indirect rule, the priyayi were used as
administrators.
Gradually, priyayi became professional civil servants.
The priyayi were the first Indonesians to be exposed to Western (Dutch) education.
The leaders of the Indonesian nationalist movements before World War II were
predominantly from the priyayi
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Because of the competition with the British, the wars with France and the revolts in Java,
Holland needed to increase its revenues.
Java became the main source of revenue for the Dutch. The “Cultivation System”
(1830-1870) was created and implemented.
The architect of this system was Johannes Van den Bosch (1780-1844).
He was appointed governor-general in 1830 and developed the 'System’.
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Within the ‘System’ framework, the colonial government would be the owner of the land
on Java. Villages would pay rent and land taxes in the form of export crops such as coffee,
indigo and sugar.
These crops were given to the colonial government at a fixed price so that they could be
sold on at a large profit.
The Cultivation System led to mass exploitation. Dutch and Indonesian local officials
abused their position especially on the islands of Java and Sumatra.
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The system was heavily criticized in Holland.
One of the famous critics was Eduard Douwes Dekker (1820-1887).
He held a series of posts in the colonial government of the Dutch East Indies.
In 1857, he was appointed Assistant Resident of Lebak (Banten, province of Java).
He continued denouncing the Dutch East Indies until he resigned his appointment and
returned to the Netherlands.
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To expose the scandals of Dutch colonization, he published in 1860, under the
pseudonym Multatuli (“I have suffered much”), a satirical anti-colonialist novel Max
Havelaar: The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company.
The book caused enormous controversy in the Netherlands.
Max Havelaar was read all over Europe.
The book raised the awareness of the Dutch public that the wealth they enjoyed was the
result of the suffering of their colonial subjects.
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Strong critics of the Dutch colonial system and exploitation led from 1870 to 1900 to the
Liberal Period.
The change in the system and economic exploitation did not change Javanese peasants
life, and they continued to suffer from hunger, famine and epidemics.
By 1900-1901, the Dutch government adopted the “Ethical Policy”. The policy stated
that it was the responsibility of the colonial government to educate their subjects rather
than simply exploit them.
The Dutch colonial government attempted to ‘repay’ their debt to their colonial subjects
by providing education to some classes of Indonesians — generally those members of the
elite loyal to the colonial government.
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The ‘Ethical Policy’ was aimed at raising the living standards of the native population.
It implied a direct state intervention in (economic) life, promoted under the slogan
‘irrigation, education and emigration’.
This was not a significant success in raising the living standards of Indonesians.
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The Dutch Ethical Policy (1901-1942) educational component contributed significantly to
the awakening of Pan-Indonesian nationalism.
The Ethical Policy provided a small Indonesian elite with Western political ideas of
freedom and democracy.
It provided Indonesians the intellectual tools to organize and articulate their objections to
colonial rule.
It also help to create the notion of “national consciousness”.

French Colonialism in Indochina

The French colonial empire
The French colonial empire was a set of colonies, protectorates, territories under
mandate, and territories governed or administered by France.
There were several methods of administration such as:
- Indirect Rule (association). It sets a limited number of colonial officials directing the
former authorities of conquered states.
This type of management, preserves a certain “autonomy”, in the protectorates of the
French Empire directed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Direct Rule

French in Vietnam
The conquest lasted from 1858 to 1885.
In 1862, the French acquired by treaty three Southern provinces and 1867 form
Cochinchina
The North collapsed in 1873-1874
1883: the Hue court signs a treaty allowing the creation of French protectorates in Tonkin
and Annam
1887: creation of the Union Indochinoise

How does the French Republic represent itself?

France leads in its colonies a policy of assimilation: the objective is to transform the
colonized into French citizens.
In theory they would have a status of equality with metropolitan citizens.
France is leading a “civilizing mission”. There is an active propaganda led in France as
well as in the colonies and the protectorates.

COLONIALISM “BACK HOME”

In France, colonies and their exoticism were fashionable. They influenced advertising but also art, literature and
popular cinema.

French movie stars popularized an exotic vision of the colonies.

The Colonial Exhibition and the Triumph of colonialist

propaganda
In 1931, a large colonial exhibition opened in Paris.

It featured monuments representing each African and Asian colony of France.

"Natives" were shown in front of 8 million visitors who came to "tour the world in one day" and visit the “Great
France”.
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The Colonial Exhibition features how France sees itself and sees its role. It promotes the French ”civilizing
mission” in the colonies.

It also promotes the economic interest of the colonies in times of crisis: raw material and resources, and
commercial opportunities (possibility to develop French businesses and promote colonial industrialists).
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The Colonial Exhibition is one of the best example colonial propaganda in France.

Its objective is to flatter French visitors by demonstrating the expansion and power of the French Empire.

Theory and reality…

France leads in its colonies a policy of assimilation. Its objective is to transform the colonized into French
citizens. In theory, the colonized people would have a status of equality with metropolitan citizens.

In practice this citizenship is only granted to a very small minority of natives, most often members of the old
elite who have agreed to help the French to run the colony.

Natives serve as intermediaries with the rest of the population. These citizens are often “second-class citizens”
who do not have the same rights as French citizens.

Ambiguous Results…
Colonization has ambiguous results.

Apologists for the colonial regime claimed that French rule led to improvements in medical care, education,
transport, and communications. The statistics and the Vietnamese testimonies tell a different story.
There was a total absence of any kind of civil liberties for the native population

Vietnamese were excluded from the modern sector of the economy, especially industry and trade.

Colonization also set up an economic system which made the colonies specialized in the production of specific
raw materials while making them dependent on metropolitan industrial production (unequal commercial
exchanges).