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Dutch East Indies

Dutch East Indies
Nederlands-Indië (Dutch)
Hindia-Belanda (Indonesian)
1800–1949
1942–1945 (in exile)
Coat of arms of Dutch East Indies
Coat of arms
Motto: Je maintiendrai (French)
("I will uphold")
Anthem: Wien Neêrlands Bloed (Dutch) (1815–1932)
("Those in whom Dutch blood")

Het Wilhelmus (Dutch) (1932–1949)
("The Wilhelmus")
Map of Dutch expansion in Indonesia:
  1600s
  1700s
  1800s
  1900–1942
StatusColony of the Dutch Empire
CapitalBatavia
(now Jakarta)
Largest citySoerabaja[1][2]
Common languagesDutch (official)
Malay (lingua franca)
Indigenous languages
Religion
Islam
Christianity
Hinduism
Buddhism
Confucianism
Animism/Traditional religion
Demonym(s)Dutch East Indian
GovernmentMixed system of both direct and indirect governance
Grand Pensionary 
• 1800 (first)
Augustijn Gerhard Besier
• 1806 (last)
Carel de Vos van Steenwijk
Monarch 
• 1816–1840 (first)
William I
• 1948–1949 (last)
Juliana
Governor-General 
• 1800–1801 (first)
Pieter Gerardus van Overstraten
• 1949 (last)
Tony Lovink[a]
LegislatureVolksraad
(1918–1942)
History 
1603–1799
• Direct Dutch control
31 December 1799
1806–1816
13 August 1814
17 March 1824
• Aceh War
1873–1904
April 1908
1942–1945
17 August 1945
1945–1949
27 December 1949
Area
• Total
1,919,440 km2 (741,100 sq mi)
Population
• 1930
60,727,233
CurrencyGuilder
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Dutch East India Company
British Bencoolen
Aceh Sultanate
Riau-Lingga Sultanate
Bali Kingdom
Lanfang Republic
Pagaruyung Kingdom
Sultanate of Bulungan
Sultanate of Sulu
Banjar Sultanate
Sultanate of Palembang
Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies
Japanese occupation of New Guinea
Straits Settlements
Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies
Japanese occupation of New Guinea
United States of Indonesia
Dutch New Guinea
Today part ofIndonesia
Malaysia[b]

The Dutch East Indies,[3] also known as the Netherlands East Indies (Dutch: Nederlands(ch)-Indië; Indonesian: Hindia Belanda), was a Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which declared independence on 17 August 1945. Following the Indonesian War of Independence, Indonesia and the Netherlands made peace in 1949. In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, the Dutch ceded the governorate of Dutch Malacca to Britain, leading to its eventual incorporation into Malacca (state) of modern Malaysia.

The Dutch East Indies was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Dutch government in 1800. During the 19th century, the Dutch fought many wars against indigenous rulers and peoples, which caused hundreds of thousands of deaths.[4] Dutch rule reached its greatest territorial extent in the early 20th century with the occupation of Western New Guinea.[5] The Dutch East Indies was one of the most valuable colonies under European rule,[6] though its profits depended on exploitative labor.[7]

The colony contributed to Dutch global prominence in spice and cash crop trade in the 19th century, and coal and oil exploration in the 20th century.[7] The colonial social order was rigidly racial with the Dutch elite living separately from but linked to their native subjects.[8] The term Indonesia was used for the geographical location after 1880. In the early 20th century, local intellectuals conceived Indonesia as a nation state, setting the stage for an independence movement.[9]

Japan's World War II occupation dismantled much of the Dutch colonial state and economy. Following the Japanese surrender on 15 August 1945, Indonesian nationalist leaders Sukarno and Hatta declared independence, instigating the Indonesian National Revolution. The Dutch, aiming to re-establish control of the archipelago,[10] responded by deploying roughly 220,000 troops,[11] who fought the Indonesian nationalists in attrition warfare. The United States threatened to terminate financial aid for the Netherlands under the Marshall Plan if they did not agree to transfer sovereignty to Indonesia, leading to Dutch recognition of Indonesian sovereignty at the 1949 Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference.[12] Indonesia became one of the leading nations of the Asian independence movement after World War II. During the revolution and after Indonesian independence, almost all Dutch citizens repatriated to the Netherlands.

In 1962, the Dutch turned over their last possession in Southeast Asia, Dutch New Guinea (Western New Guinea), to Indonesia under the provisions of the New York Agreement.[13] At that point, the entirety of the colony ceased to exist.

  1. ^ Dick, Howard W. (2002). Surabaya City Of Work: A Socioeconomic History, 1900–2000 (Ohio RIS Southeast Asia Series). Ohio University Press. ISBN 978-0896802216.
  2. ^ "Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/816 - Wikisource, the free online library". en.wikisource.org. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  3. ^ "INDES NEERLANDAISES Passeport 1931 DUTCH EAST INDIES Passport - Revenues - Delcampe.net". Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  4. ^ Ricklefs, M. C. (2008). A history of modern Indonesia since c. 1200 (4th ed.). Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-8047-6130-7.
  5. ^ Ricklefs, M. C. (2008). A history of modern Indonesia since c. 1200 (4th ed.). Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press. pp. 168–169. ISBN 978-0-8047-6130-7.
  6. ^ Hart, Jonathan (26 February 2008). Empires and Colonies. Polity. p. 200. ISBN 9780745626130. Archived from the original on 18 March 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  7. ^ a b Booth, Anne, et al. Indonesian Economic History in the Dutch Colonial Era (1990), Ch 8
  8. ^ R.B. Cribb and A. Kahin, p. 118
  9. ^ Robert Elson, The idea of Indonesia: A history (2008) pp 1–12
  10. ^ Ricklefs, M. C. (2008). A history of modern Indonesia since c. 1200 (4th ed.). Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press. pp. 248–249. ISBN 978-0-8047-6130-7.
  11. ^ "How studying 1945-1949 wars can benefit Indonesia - The Jakarta Post". Histori Bersama. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  12. ^ "Decolonization of the Dutch East Indies/Indonesia | EHNE". ehne.fr. Archived from the original on 21 November 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  13. ^ Ricklefs, M C (1991). A History of Modern Indonesian since c.1300 (Second ed.). Houndmills, Baingstoke, Hampshire and London: The Macmillan Press Limited. pp. 271, 297. ISBN 0-333-57690-X.


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