Colonial history of the Netherlands

The Colonial history of the Netherlands started when the Netherlands were not yet recognized as an independent nation. The Netherlands were rebels of the Spanish king.

Fighting Spain

The Netherlands came into existence in the early 1580s, following Spain's lack of success in reconquering its lost territory. The Spanish reverted their attention to France to prevent a huguenote victory in the French civil wars.

Spain and Portugal were ruled by the king of Spain. Spain received an abundance of gold from America, whilst Portugal dominated the rich economic system of the Indian Ocean and East Asia. The Dutch decided to fight Spain everywhere in the world. Dutch sailors, who had worked on Portuguese ships, copied Portuguese maps of the world's oceans, enabling them to travel to Asia. They reached modern Indonesia in the late 1590s.

Dutch merchants planned the take over of the Portuguese economic system in the Indian Ocean by dispatching the Vereenigde Oost-indische Compagnie, known as the VOC or, in English, the Dutch East India Company. The West-Indische Compagnie, known as the WIC or the Dutch West India Company, was dispatched to capture the Spanish goldfleets and to conquer the world, starting with the Americas and West Africa.

The Dutch East India Company (VOC)

The Dutch first had to compete with the English and Portuguese merchants in Asia in their attempts to take over the Indian economic system. The first governors in Batavia were humanists who were unable to make much profit. The subsequently appointed Jan Pieterszoon Coen used brutal force to conquer territory and, in doing so, bolstered the profits of the VOC. The nation of Banda was exterminated because the sultan refused to accept a Dutch monopoly. The VOC managed to dominate Cape Province, Java, Ceylon, Kerala and Taiwan. It possessed several outposts all over Asia and East Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Dutch West India Company (WIC)

The WIC managed to capture some gold fleets. Smugglers traded with Portuguese and Spanish plantation owners from the Dutch base in Curaçoa. The attempt to conquer the world started in Brazil. However, this dream turned into a nightmare when, following decades of warfare, the Portuguese managed to reconquer all Dutch territory in Brazil. Additionally, the WIC temporarily occupied Angola and São Tomé. New Amsterdam (New York) was a Dutch settlement for 50 years until it was conquered by the English. The WIC was bankrupt after its failures and the rule of Dutch colonies in the west was taken over by governors appointed by the Estates General of the United Provinces.

18th century

The Netherlands kept its colonial possessions during most of the 18th century, but there was little expansion, while Great Britain expanded enormously. The Dutch colony of Suriname had important plantations. Many African slaves escaped from these plantations and formed kingdoms in the interiors, which led to violent wars. Java was conquered in the east by the VOC.

Napoleonic times

The Netherlands were an ally of France during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era. The British conquered the Dutch colonies and kept South Africa, Guyana, Ceylon and Malacca but returned Curaçao, Suriname and Java and the surrounding islands of the East Indies to Dutch rule.

19th century and the first half of the 20th century

Dutch territory was widely expanded during the 19th century and early 20th century until a territory was formed that become known as the Dutch East Indies. This territory is now the independent nation state of Indonesia. The Netherlands where, by then, the colonial power with the largest Muslim population in the world. The bureaucratic system needed to govern this territory was expensive, whilst the Dutch elite was determined to earn money rather than lose it. This led to an exploitation of the 'Inlander', aboriginal (Indonesian) population. Some Inlanders demanded independence during the years between the first and second world wars. The Netherlands government was keen to grant independence, but only once the nation had become 'civilized enough' from the Dutch viewpoint.

The Netherlands were the last European country to abolish slavery. The Black people in Suriname were replaced by cheaper Hindus and Muslims from British India. Suriname had a mixed Black and Hindustani population until the 1970s. This once rich colony hit poverty during the years between the two world wars. During World War II, however, the economy developed as the American army bought extensive stocks of aluminium from Suriname in order to enhance their aircraft-building programme.

econd World War

Most of the Dutch East Indies were conquered by Japan in 1941 except for an airfield in southern Papua. More than 200 000 ethnic Dutch people were incarcerated in concentration camps by the Japanese occupying forces.

Indonesian independence

Indonesian independence was declared in 1945 after the capitulation of Japan. However, the Netherlands were unable to accept the Indonesian people's declaration of independence and began a war which lasted four years. The war was a tactical victory, but ultimately the United States and Soviet Union demanded Dutch acceptance of Indonesian independence. The Netherlands finally acknowledged independence in 1949.

West Papua, the western half of the island of New Guinea, remained a Dutch colony until the 1960s. The Netherlands government wished to grant it independence, but the United States demanded that it become a part of Indonesia, which by then had already begun a war with the aim of capturing the territory from the Netherlands. There have been widespread claims of extensive human rights abuses perpetrated against the Papuan people by the Indonesian government forces since the territory was annexed.

Former Dutch colonial soldiers from the Southern Moluccas were forced to take refuge in the Netherlands. They fought for an independent southern Moluccan republic in the 1950s in Indonesia and in the 1970s with a terrorist campaign in the Netherlands.

Former Indonesian presidents like Soekarno, Soeharto and Habibie spoke perfectly Dutch. There are still many old Indonesians who speak Dutch very well. Main reason for them to fight for independence was the Dutch discrimination.

Independence of Suriname

Suriname was relatively rich in the 1960s and 1970s. It gained independence in 1975. Many Surinamese migrated to the Netherlands especially the Hindostans. The dictature of Dési Bouterse in the 1980s resulted in an economic disaster. Suriname is now one of the poorest countries of South America.

Antilles

The Dutch colony in the Antilles was called Curaçao to the biggest island. The islands gained self-government within the kingdom in the 1980s. The island Aruba became independent of the other five who formed the Netherlands Antilles. In November 2005 was a conference to split up the Netherlands Antilles. The outcome is still not sure. The Netherlands Antilles are very poor and have lots of trouble from criminals who want to transport cocaine. Aruba is rich due to the American tourists, but the island economy is heavily damaged by the Holloway affair.

ee also

*List of dominant sovereign states and their servient territories