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Chapter 1 - Our colonial soil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2013

Adrian Vickers
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
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Summary

Having spent myself the greatest and the best part of my life in the Dutch colonial service and having pawned my heart to the welfare of

the Dutch East Indies and the people over there…

Former Governor General Jonkheer Mr A. C. D. de Graeff

Before 1945 there was no Indonesia, but rather a collection of islands spread across the equator that the Dutch made into the Netherlands East Indies. In 1898 a new queen, Wilhelmina, ascended the throne of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Wilhelmina's tropical empire, known simply as the Indies, numbered more than 28 million subjects on the prime island of Java and some 7 million others on what were referred to as the Outer Islands, although not all of these as yet were under Dutch rule. Although she ruled for the rest of the colonial period, Wilhelmina never visited her colony. She never experienced the sudden monsoonal downpours, the green landscapes dominated by volcanoes or the spicy heat, but every year her birthday was celebrated there, with night markets and festive arches.

What was it like for the Dutch, ruling that vast archipelago of Indonesia? The Dutch made up a special, upper social class of the Indies – soldiers, administrators, managers, teachers, pioneers. They lived linked to, and yet separate from, their native subjects. From 1900 to 1942 these colonial rulers worked to make the islands a single, prosperous colony, and for that they expected gratitude. In 1945, when the Pacific War ended and the Dutch attempted to reassert their control over the islands of Indonesia, they were genuinely shocked that some of the peoples of their islands would fight to the death to keep them out. There was a vast gap between Dutch perceptions of their rule and the views of their Indonesian subjects, but it is important to understand the Dutch views, because they have shaped modern Indonesia.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2013

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  • Our colonial soil
  • Adrian Vickers, University of Sydney
  • Book: A History of Modern Indonesia
  • Online publication: 05 February 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139094665.004
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  • Our colonial soil
  • Adrian Vickers, University of Sydney
  • Book: A History of Modern Indonesia
  • Online publication: 05 February 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139094665.004
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Our colonial soil
  • Adrian Vickers, University of Sydney
  • Book: A History of Modern Indonesia
  • Online publication: 05 February 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139094665.004
Available formats
×