KNIL: guarding the Dutch East Indies. East Indies

Plan
Introduction
1 Background
2 General chronology
2.1 Foundation
2.2 Territorial expansion
2.3 Islamic resistance
2.4 Fall Dutch East Indies

Bibliography

Introduction

Dutch East Indies (Dutch. Nederlands-Indië; Indon. Hindia-Belanda) - Dutch colonial possessions on the islands of the Malay Archipelago and in the western part of the island of New Guinea. Formed in 1800 as a result of the nationalization of the Dutch East India Company. Existed until the Japanese occupation in March 1942. IN colloquial speech and in informal documents is sometimes also called Netherlandish (or Dutch) India. It should not be confused with the Dutch Indies - Dutch colonial possessions on the Hindustan Peninsula. Like other colonial entities, the Dutch East Indies was created in intense competition with both local state formations and other colonial powers(Great Britain, Portugal, France, Spain). For a long time it had a predominantly thalassocratic character, representing a series of coastal trading posts and outposts surrounded by the possessions of local Malay sultanates. The conquests of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as the use of powerful mechanisms economic exploitation, allowed the Dutch to unite most of the archipelago under the rule of their crown. The Dutch East Indies, with its rich reserves of oil and other minerals, were considered the "jewel in the crown of the Dutch colonial empire."

1. Background

· June 23, 1596: The first Dutch trading expedition, captained by Cornelius Hootman, arrives in Bantam. The Dutch are aware of the potential profitability of these territories. And after their first successful penetration, taking advantage of the gradual weakening of Portugal, they create whole line offices in various cities and provinces of the Netherlands. These offices were associated with the army, navy and large capital and were used for trade with the countries of the East, in particular with this region. Already in 1602 they united into the East India Company, which owned a fairly large share capital for that time.

2. General chronology

· 1602-1800: the company conducts military and trade operations in the Indenesian region. Although the actual territorial gains are insignificant, the Dutch fleet completely controls the interisland waters and main ports, displacing the British and Portuguese.

· 1800-1942: intensive territorial annexation, long and bloody colonial wars with the local population and other European powers.

· 1859: annexation of 2/3 of the territory of Portuguese Indonesia, excluding the East Timor region.

· 1942-1945: Japanese occupation of Indonesia

· 1945-1949: Dutch Restoration, Indonesian War of Independence

· 1969: Annexation of the last Dutch territory, the region of West Papua.

2.1. Base

During the Napoleonic Wars, the territory of Holland itself was captured by France, and all Dutch colonies automatically became French. As a result, the colony was ruled by a French governor-general from 1808 to 1811. In 1811-1816, during the ongoing Napoleonic Wars, the territory of the Dutch East Indies was captured by England, which feared the strengthening of France (by this time Great Britain had also managed to occupy the Cape Colony, the most important trade link between the Netherlands and Indonesia). The power of the Dutch colonial empire was undermined, but England needed a Protestant ally in the fight against the Catholic old colonial powers of France, Spain and Portugal. Therefore, in 1824, the occupied territory was returned to Holland by an Anglo-Dutch agreement in exchange for Dutch colonial possessions in India. In addition, the Malacca Peninsula passed to England. The resulting border between British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies remains to this day the border between Malaysia and Indonesia.

2.2. Territorial expansion

The capital of the Dutch East Indies was Batavia, now Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia. Although the island of Java was controlled by the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch colonial administration for 350 years, since the time of Kun, complete control over for the most part Dutch East Indies, including the islands of Borneo, Lombok and western part New Guinea, was established only at the beginning of the 20th century.

2.3. Islamic resistance

The indigenous population of Indonesia, supported by the internal stability of Islamic institutions, put up significant resistance to the Dutch East India Company and later to the Dutch colonial administration, which weakened Dutch control and tied up its armed forces. The longest conflicts were the Padri War in Sumatra (1821-1838), the Java War (1825-1830) and the bloody Thirty Years' War in the Sultanate of Aceh (northwest Sumatra), which lasted from 1873 to 1908. In 1846 and 1849 the Dutch undertook unsuccessful attempts conquer the island of Bali, which was conquered only in 1906. The natives of West Papua and most of the interior mountainous areas were only subdued in the 1920s. A significant problem for the Dutch was also quite strong piracy (Malay, Chinese, Arab, European) in these waters, which continued until the middle of the 19th century.

In 1904-1909, during the reign of Governor General J.B. Van Hoetz, the power of the Dutch colonial administration extended to the entire territory of the Dutch East Indies, thus laying the foundations of the modern Indonesian state. Southwest Sulawesi was occupied in 1905-1906, Bali in 1906 and western New Guinea in 1920.

2.4. Fall of the Dutch East Indies

On January 10, 1942, Japan, in need of minerals that were rich in the Dutch East Indies (primarily oil), declared war on the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During the Operation in the Dutch East Indies, the territory of the colony was completely captured by Japanese troops by March 1942.

The fall of the Dutch East Indies also meant the end of the Dutch colonial empire. Already on August 17, 1945, after liberation from Japan, the Republic of Indonesia was proclaimed, which Holland recognized in 1949 at the end of the Indonesian War of Independence.

Bibliography:

1. A. Crozet. The Dutch fleet in the Second World War / Trans. from English A. Patients. - M.: ACT, 2005. - ISBN 5-17-026035-0

2. Witton Patrick Indonesia. - Melbourne: Lonely Planet, 2003. - P. 23–25. - ISBN 1-74059-154-2

3. Schwartz A. A Nation in Waiting: Indonesia in the 1990s. - Westview Press, 1994. - P. 3–4. - ISBN 1-86373-635-2

4. Robert Cribb, “Development policy in the early 20th century,” in Jan-Paul Dirkse, Frans Hüsken and Mario Rutten, eds, Development and social welfare: Indonesia’s experiences under the New Order (Leiden: Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, 1993), pp. 225-245.

Flag Coat of arms Capital Batavia Languages) Dutch K: Appeared in 1800 K: Disappeared in 1942

Background

Fall of the Dutch East Indies

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Notes

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Indonesia- article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
Ulbe Bosma.// Mainz: , 2011. Retrieved May 18, 2011.

Possessions colonial companies XVI–XVIII centuries



West Africa

North America

South America



South Asia

Far East

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Arctic



Modern

Historical

Excerpt characterizing the Dutch East Indies

At this time, Petya, to whom no one was paying attention, approached his father and, all red, in a breaking, sometimes rough, sometimes thin voice, said:
“Well, now, papa, I will decisively say - and mummy too, as you wish - I will decisively say that you will let me in.” military service, because I can't... that's all...
The Countess raised her eyes to the sky in horror, clasped her hands and angrily turned to her husband.
- So I agreed! - she said.
But the count immediately recovered from his excitement.
“Well, well,” he said. - Here’s another warrior! Stop the nonsense: you need to study.
- This is not nonsense, daddy. Fedya Obolensky is younger than me and is also coming, and most importantly, I still can’t learn anything now that ... - Petya stopped, blushed until he sweated and said: - when the fatherland is in danger.
- Complete, complete, nonsense...
- But you yourself said that we would sacrifice everything.
“Petya, I’m telling you, shut up,” the count shouted, looking back at his wife, who, turning pale, looked with fixed eyes at her youngest son.
- And I’m telling you. So Pyotr Kirillovich will say...
“I’m telling you, it’s nonsense, the milk hasn’t dried yet, but he wants to go into military service!” Well, well, I’m telling you,” and the count, taking the papers with him, probably to read them again in the office before resting, left the room.
- Pyotr Kirillovich, well, let’s go have a smoke...
Pierre was confused and indecisive. Natasha's unusually bright and animated eyes, constantly looking at him more than affectionately, brought him into this state.
- No, I think I’ll go home...
- It’s like going home, but you wanted to spend the evening with us... And then you rarely came. And this one of mine...” the count said good-naturedly, pointing at Natasha, “she’s only cheerful when she’s with you...”
“Yes, I forgot... I definitely need to go home... Things to do...” Pierre said hastily.
“Well, goodbye,” said the count, completely leaving the room.
- Why are you leaving? Why are you upset? Why?..” Natasha asked Pierre, looking defiantly into his eyes.
“Because I love you! - he wanted to say, but he didn’t say it, he blushed until he cried and lowered his eyes.
- Because it’s better for me to visit you less often... Because... no, I just have business.
- From what? no, tell me,” Natasha began decisively and suddenly fell silent. They both looked at each other in fear and confusion. He tried to grin, but could not: his smile expressed suffering, and he silently kissed her hand and left.
Pierre decided not to visit the Rostovs with himself anymore.

Petya, after receiving a decisive refusal, went to his room and there, locking himself away from everyone, wept bitterly. They did everything as if they had not noticed anything, when he came to tea, silent and gloomy, with tear-stained eyes.
The next day the sovereign arrived. Several of the Rostov courtyards asked to go and see the Tsar. That morning Petya took a long time to get dressed, comb his hair and arrange his collars like the big ones. He frowned in front of the mirror, made gestures, shrugged his shoulders and, finally, without telling anyone, put on his cap and left the house from the back porch, trying not to be noticed. Petya decided to go straight to the place where the sovereign was and directly explain to some chamberlain (it seemed to Petya that the sovereign was always surrounded by chamberlains) that he, Count Rostov, despite his youth, wanted to serve the fatherland, that youth could not be an obstacle for devotion and that he is ready... Petya, while he was getting ready, prepared a lot wonderful words which he will tell the chamberlain.
Petya counted on the success of his presentation to the sovereign precisely because he was a child (Petya even thought how everyone would be surprised at his youth), and at the same time, in the design of his collars, in his hairstyle and in his sedate, slow gait, he wanted to present himself as an old man. But the further he went, the more he was amused by the people coming and going at the Kremlin, the more he forgot to observe the sedateness and slowness characteristic of adult people. Approaching the Kremlin, he already began to take care that he would not be pushed in, and resolutely, with a threatening look, put his elbows out to his sides. But at the Trinity Gate, despite all his determination, people who probably did not know for what patriotic purpose he was going to the Kremlin, pressed him so hard against the wall that he had to submit and stop until the gate with a buzzing sound under the arches the sound of carriages passing by. Near Petya stood a woman with a footman, two merchants and a retired soldier. After standing at the gate for some time, Petya, without waiting for all the carriages to pass, wanted to move on ahead of the others and began to decisively work with his elbows; but the woman standing opposite him, at whom he first pointed his elbows, angrily shouted at him:
- What, barchuk, you are pushing, you see - everyone is standing. Why climb then!
“So everyone will climb in,” said the footman and, also starting to work with his elbows, he squeezed Petya into the stinking corner of the gate.
Petya wiped the sweat that covered his face with his hands and straightened his sweat-soaked collars, which he had arranged so well at home, like the big ones.
Petya felt that he had an unpresentable appearance, and was afraid that if he presented himself like that to the chamberlains, he would not be allowed to see the sovereign. But there was no way to recover and move to another place due to the cramped conditions. One of the passing generals was an acquaintance of the Rostovs. Petya wanted to ask for his help, but thought that it would be contrary to courage. When all the carriages had passed, the crowd surged and carried Petya out to the square, which was completely occupied by people. Not only in the area, but on the slopes, on the roofs, there were people everywhere. As soon as Petya found himself in the square, he clearly heard the sounds of bells and joyful folk talk filling the entire Kremlin.
At one time the square was more spacious, but suddenly all their heads opened, everything rushed forward somewhere else. Petya was squeezed so that he could not breathe, and everyone shouted: “Hurray! Hurray! hurray! Petya stood on tiptoes, pushed, pinched, but could not see anything except the people around him.
There was one common expression of tenderness and delight on all faces. One merchant's wife, standing next to Petya, was sobbing, and tears flowed from her eyes.
- Father, angel, father! – she said, wiping away tears with her finger.
- Hooray! - they shouted from all sides. For a minute the crowd stood in one place; but then she rushed forward again.
Petya, not remembering himself, clenched his teeth and brutally rolled his eyes, rushed forward, working with his elbows and shouting “Hurray!”, as if he was ready to kill himself and everyone at that moment, but exactly the same brutal faces climbed from his sides with the same shouts of “Hurray!”
“So this is what a sovereign is! - thought Petya. “No, I can’t submit a petition to him myself, it’s too bold!” Despite this, he still desperately made his way forward, and from behind the backs of those in front he glimpsed an empty space with a passage covered with red cloth; but at that time the crowd wavered back (in front the police were pushing away those who were advancing too close to the procession; the sovereign was passing from the palace to the Assumption Cathedral), and Petya unexpectedly received such a blow to the side in the ribs and was so crushed that suddenly everything in his eyes became blurred and he lost consciousness. When he came to his senses, something clergyman, with a tuft of graying hair back, in a shabby blue cassock, probably a sexton, held him under his arm with one hand, and with the other protected him from the pressing crowd.
- The youngster was run over! - said the sexton. - Well, so!.. easier... crushed, crushed!
The Emperor went to the Assumption Cathedral. The crowd smoothed out again, and the sexton led Petya, pale and not breathing, to the Tsar’s cannon. Several people took pity on Petya, and suddenly the whole crowd turned to him, and a stampede began around him. Those who stood closer served him, unbuttoned his frock coat, placed a gun on the dais and reproached someone - those who crushed him.
“You can crush him to death this way.” What is this! To do murder! “Look, cordial, he’s become white as a tablecloth,” said the voices.
Petya soon came to his senses, the color returned to his face, the pain went away, and for this temporary trouble he received a place on the cannon, from which he hoped to see the sovereign who was about to return. Petya no longer thought about submitting a petition. If only he could see him, he would consider himself happy!
During the service in the Assumption Cathedral - a combined prayer service on the occasion of the arrival of the sovereign and a prayer of thanks for the conclusion of peace with the Turks - the crowd spread out; Shouting sellers of kvass, gingerbread, and poppy seeds appeared, which Petya was especially fond of, and ordinary conversations were heard. One merchant's wife showed her torn shawl and said how expensive it was bought; another said that nowadays all silk fabrics have become expensive. The sexton, Petya's savior, was talking with the official about who and who was serving with the Reverend today. The sexton repeated the word soborne several times, which Petya did not understand. Two young tradesmen joked with the courtyard girls gnawing nuts. All these conversations, especially jokes with girls, which had a special attraction for Petya at his age, all these conversations did not interest Petya now; ou sat on his gun dais, still worried at the thought of the sovereign and his love for him. The coincidence of the feeling of pain and fear when he was squeezed with a feeling of delight further strengthened in him the awareness of the importance of this moment.

), Europeans, who at that time considered India open Christopher Columbus islands Caribbean Sea V America, reached the shores peninsula Hindustan.

Title "East Indies" long time preserved due to colonial activities East India Companies :

British, founded in;
Danish, based in;
Dutch, based in;
Portuguese, based in;
French, based in;
Swedish, founded in .

There are the British East Indies (or India proper) and the Netherlands East Indies.

British East Indies

Dutch East Indies

Dutch East Indies or Netherlands Indies ( Netherlands Nederlands-Indië) (now Indonesia) included islands Malay Archipelago : Sumatra , Java , Madura , Celebes and part of the island Kalimantan, island Jar, Small Sunda Islands , Moluccan and other islands, western part New Guinea. The total area of Dutch possessions in this area was 1915 thousand km². Basic economic crops: rice, maize, cotton, sugar cane, tobacco, coffee, tea, indigo. The administration of the Netherlands East Indies was carried out by governor general. Main cities: Bütenzorg and Batavia (currently - Bogor And Jakarta respectively).

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Literature

India // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron
Dutch India // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 tons (82 tons and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.

Excerpt characterizing the East Indies

“And you’re still here?!..” I whispered, looking around in horror.
I couldn’t even imagine that he had been existing here like this for many, many years, suffering and “paying” his guilt, without any hope of leaving this terrifying “floor” even before the time came for him to return to physical Earth!.. And there he will again have to start all over again, so that later, when his next “physical” life ends, he will return (perhaps here!) with a whole new “baggage”, bad or good, depending on how he will live his “next” earthly life... And free himself from this vicious circle(be he good or bad) he could not have any hope, since, having begun his earthly life, each person “dooms” himself to this endless, eternal circular “journey”... And, depending on his actions, return on the “floors” can be very pleasant, or very scary...
“And if you don’t kill in your new life, you won’t come back to this “floor” again, right?” I asked hopefully.
- So I don’t remember anything, dear, when I return there... It is after death that we remember our lives and our mistakes. And as soon as we return to live, the memory immediately closes. That’s why, apparently, all the old “deeds” are repeated, because we don’t remember our old mistakes... But, to be honest, even if I knew that I would be “punished” again for this, I still would never stood aside if my family... or my country suffered. All this is strange... If you think about it, the one who “distributes” our guilt and payment, as if he wants only cowards and traitors to grow on earth... Otherwise, he would not punish scoundrels and heroes equally. Or is there still some difference in punishment?.. In fairness, there should be. After all, there are heroes who have accomplished inhuman feats... Songs are then written about them for centuries, legends live about them... They certainly cannot be “settled” among simple murderers!.. It’s a pity there is no one to ask...
– I also think this can’t happen! After all, there are people who performed miracles of human courage, and they, even after death, like the sun, illuminate the path for all those who survived for centuries. I really like reading about them, and I try to find as many as possible more books, which tell about human exploits. They help me live, help me cope with loneliness when it becomes too hard... The only thing I can’t understand is: why on Earth heroes always have to die so that people can see that they are right?.. And when the same thing happens the hero can no longer be resurrected, here everyone is finally indignant, human pride that has been dormant for a long time rises, and the crowd, burning with righteous anger, demolishes the “enemies” like specks of dust caught on their “right” path... - sincere indignation raged within me , and I probably talked too fast and too much, but I rarely had the opportunity to talk about what “hurts”... and I continued.
- After all, people first killed even their poor God, and only then began to pray to him. Is it really impossible to see the real truth even before it’s too late?.. Isn’t it better to save the same heroes, look up to them and learn from them?.. Do people always need a shock example of someone else’s courage so that they can believe in their own? ?.. Why is it necessary to kill, so that later you can erect a monument and glorify? Honestly, I would prefer to erect monuments to the living, if they are worth it...

In the 17th century, the Netherlands became one of the largest maritime powers in Europe. Several trading companies responsible for the country's overseas trade and essentially engaged in colonial expansion in the South and South-East Asia, in 1602 were merged into the Dutch East India Company. The city of Batavia (now Jakarta) was founded on the island of Java, becoming an outpost of Dutch expansion in Indonesia. By the end of the 60s of the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company had become a serious organization with its own merchant and military fleet and ten thousand private armed forces. However, the defeat of the Netherlands in the confrontation with the more powerful British Empire contributed to the gradual weakening and collapse of the Dutch East India Company. In 1798, the company's property was nationalized by the Netherlands, which at that time bore the name of the Batavian Republic.

Indonesia under Dutch rule

By the beginning of the 19th century, the Dutch East Indies was, first of all, a network of military trading posts on the coast of the Indonesian islands, but the Dutch practically did not advance deeper into the latter. The situation changed during the first half of the 19th century century. TO mid-19th century century, the Netherlands, having finally suppressed the resistance of local sultans and rajas, subordinated the most developed islands of the Malay Archipelago, now part of Indonesia, to their influence. In 1859, 2/3 of the possessions in Indonesia that previously belonged to Portugal were also included in the Dutch East Indies. Thus, the Portuguese lost the competition for influence in the islands of the Malay Archipelago to the Netherlands.

In parallel with the displacement of the British and Portuguese from Indonesia, colonial expansion continued into the interior of the islands. Naturally, the Indonesian population met colonization with desperate and long-term resistance. To maintain order in the colony and its defense from external opponents, among whom colonial troops could well be European countries, competing with the Netherlands for influence in the Malay Archipelago, it was necessary to create armed forces intended directly for operations within the territory of the Dutch East Indies. Like other European powers that had overseas territorial possessions, The Netherlands began to form colonial troops.

On March 10, 1830, a corresponding royal decree was signed on the creation of the Royal Dutch East Indian Army (Dutch abbreviation - KNIL). Like the colonial troops of a number of other states, the Royal Dutch East Indian Army was not part of the armed forces of the metropolis. The main tasks of the KNIL were to conquer the interior of the Indonesian islands, fight rebels and maintain order in the colony, and protect colonial possessions from possible attacks from external opponents. IN during the XIX- XX centuries colonial troops of the Dutch East Indies participated in a number of campaigns in the Malay Archipelago, including the Padri Wars in 1821-1845, the Java War of 1825-1830, the suppression of resistance on the island of Bali in 1849, the Acehnese War in northern Sumatra in 1873-1904, the annexation of Lombok and Karangsem in 1894, the conquest of the southwestern part of the island of Sulawesi in 1905-1906, the final “pacification” of Bali in 1906-1908, the conquest of West Papua in 1920- e years

The "Pacification" of Bali in 1906-1908 by colonial forces received widespread coverage in the world press due to the atrocities committed by Dutch soldiers against Balinese independence fighters. During the "Bali Operation" of 1906, the two kingdoms of South Bali - Badung and Tabanan - were finally subdued, and in 1908 the Dutch East Indian Army put an end to largest state on the island of Bali - the kingdom of Klungkung. By the way, one of the key reasons for the active resistance of the Balinese rajahs to Dutch colonial expansion was the desire of the East Indies authorities to control the opium trade in the region.

When the conquest of the Malay Archipelago could be considered a fait accompli, the use of the KNIL continued, primarily in police operations against rebel groups and large gangs. Also, the tasks of the colonial troops included the suppression of constant mass popular performances, which broke out in various parts of the Dutch East Indies. That is, in general, they performed the same functions that were inherent in the colonial troops of other European powers based in African, Asian and Latin American colonies.

Recruitment of the East Indian Army

In the Royal Dutch East Indian Army there was own system recruitment of personnel. Thus, in the 19th century, the recruitment of colonial troops was carried out primarily through Dutch volunteers and mercenaries from other European countries, primarily the Belgians, Swiss, and Germans. It is known that he was recruited for service on the island of Java French poet Arthur Rimbaud. When the colonial administration conducted a long and hard war against the Muslim Sultanate of Aceh on the northwestern tip of the island of Sumatra, the number of colonial troops reached 12,000 soldiers and officers recruited in Europe.

Since Aceh was considered the most religiously “fanatical” state in the Malay Archipelago, which had a long tradition of political sovereignty and was considered the “stronghold of Islam” in Indonesia, the resistance of its inhabitants was especially strong. Realizing that the colonial troops manned in Europe, due to their numbers, could not cope with the Acehnese resistance, the colonial administration began recruiting natives for military service. 23 thousand Indonesian soldiers were recruited, primarily natives of Java, Ambon and Manado. In addition, African mercenaries arrived in Indonesia from the Ivory Coast and the territory of modern Ghana - the so-called “Dutch Guinea”, which remained under Dutch rule until 1871.

The end of the Aceh War also contributed to the cessation of the practice of hiring soldiers and officers from other European countries. The Royal Dutch East Indian Army began to be staffed by residents of the Netherlands, Dutch colonists in Indonesia, Dutch-Indonesian mestizos and Indonesians themselves. Although the decision was made not to send Dutch soldiers from the mother country to serve in the Dutch East Indies, volunteers from the Netherlands still served in the colonial forces.

In 1890, a special department was created in the Netherlands itself, whose competence included the recruitment and training of future soldiers of the colonial army, as well as their re-rehabilitation and adaptation to peaceful life in Dutch society after the end of their contract service. As for the natives, the colonial authorities gave preference when recruiting for military service to the Javanese as representatives of the most civilized ethnic group, in addition to everything, they were included in the colony early (1830, while many islands were finally colonized only a century later - in the 1920s. ) and the Ambonians - as a Christianized ethnic group under cultural influence Dutch.

In addition, African mercenaries were also recruited for service. The latter were recruited primarily among representatives of the Ashanti people living in the territory of modern Ghana. Residents of Indonesia nicknamed the African riflemen who served in the Royal Dutch East Indian Army as “Black Dutch”. The skin color and physical characteristics of African mercenaries terrified the local population, but the high cost of transporting soldiers from the west coast of Africa to Indonesia ultimately contributed to the gradual abandonment of the colonial authorities of the Dutch East Indies from recruiting the East Indian army, including African mercenaries.

The Christian part of Indonesia, primarily the South Molluc Islands and Timor, has traditionally been considered the most reliable supplier of military personnel for the Royal Dutch East Indian Army. The most reliable contingent were the Ambonians. Despite the fact that the inhabitants of the Ambon Islands early XIX resisted Dutch colonial expansion for centuries, they eventually became the most reliable allies of the colonial administration among the native population. This was due to the fact that, firstly, at least half of the Ambonians converted to Christianity, and secondly, the Ambonians strongly mixed with other Indonesians and Europeans, which turned them into the so-called. "colonial" ethnic group. By taking part in suppressing the uprisings of Indonesian peoples on other islands, the Ambonese earned the full trust of the colonial administration and, thus, secured privileges for themselves, becoming the category of local population closest to the Europeans. In addition to military service, the Ambonese were actively involved in business, many of them became rich and Europeanized.

Javanese, Sundanese, Sumatran soldiers who professed Islam received less pay compared to representatives of the Christian peoples of Indonesia, which should have encouraged them to accept Christianity, but in fact only sowed internal contradictions among the military contingent, based on religious hostility and material competition. As for the officer corps, it was staffed almost exclusively by the Dutch, as well as European colonists living on the island and Indo-Dutch mestizos. The strength of the Royal Dutch East Indian Army at the beginning of World War II was about 1,000 officers and 34,000 non-commissioned officers and soldiers. At the same time, 28,000 military personnel were representatives of the indigenous peoples of Indonesia, 7,000 were Dutch and representatives of other non-indigenous peoples.

Mutinies in the colonial fleet

The multi-ethnic composition of the colonial army repeatedly became a source numerous problems for the Dutch administration, however, it could not change the system of recruiting the armed forces stationed in the colony in any way. There simply would not be enough European mercenaries and volunteers to cover the needs of the Royal Dutch East Indian Army in privates and non-commissioned officers. Therefore, one had to come to terms with serving in the ranks of the colonial troops of Indonesians, many of whom, for obvious reasons, were not really loyal to the colonial authorities. The most conflict-prone contingent were military sailors.

As in many other states, including Russian Empire, sailors were more revolutionary than soldiers ground forces. This was explained by the fact that people with a higher level of education and vocational training- usually former workers industrial enterprises, transport. As for the Dutch fleet stationed in Indonesia, it was served, on the one hand, by Dutch workers, among whom were followers of social democratic and communist ideas, and on the other hand, representatives of the small Indonesian working class, who learned in constant communication with their Dutch colleagues revolutionary ideas.

In 1917, a powerful uprising of sailors and soldiers broke out at the naval base in Surabaya. The sailors created the Councils of Sailors' Deputies. Of course, the uprising was harshly suppressed by the colonial military administration. However, the history of performances at naval facilities in the Dutch East Indies did not stop there. In 1933, a mutiny broke out on the battleship De Zeven Provincial (Seven Provinces). On January 30, 1933, at the Morocrembangan naval base, a sailor uprising took place against low pay and discrimination by Dutch officers and non-commissioned officers, suppressed by the command. Participants in the uprising were arrested. During exercises in the area of the island of Sumatra, the revolutionary committee of sailors created on the battleship "De Zeven Provincien" decided to raise an uprising in solidarity with the sailors of Morocrembangan. The Indonesian sailors were joined by a number of Dutchmen, primarily those associated with communist and socialist organizations.

On February 4, 1933, while the battleship was off base at Kotaradia, the ship's officers went ashore for a banquet. At this moment, the sailors, led by helmsman Kavilarang and engineer Bosshart, neutralized the remaining watch officers and non-commissioned officers and captured the ship. The battleship put to sea and headed for Surabaya. At the same time, the ship's radio station broadcast the demands of the rebels (by the way, they did not contain a touch of politics): to raise the salaries of sailors, to stop discrimination against native sailors by Dutch officers and non-commissioned officers, to release the arrested sailors who took part in the riot at the Morocrembangan naval base (this riot took place a few days earlier, January 30, 1933).

To suppress the uprising, a special group of ships was formed, consisting of the light cruiser Java and the destroyers Piet Hein and Everest. The group's commander, Commander Van Dulm, led it to intercept the battleship De Zeven Provincien in the Sunda Islands area. Simultaneously command naval forces decided to transfer to coastal units or demobilize all Indonesian sailors and staff the crew exclusively with Dutchmen. On February 10, 1933, the punitive group managed to overtake the rebel battleship. The marines who landed on deck arrested the leaders of the uprising. The battleship was towed to the port of Surabaya. Kavilarang and Bosshart, like other leaders of the uprising, received serious prison sentences. The uprising on the battleship "De Zeven Provincien" went down in the history of the Indonesian national liberation movement and became widely known outside Indonesia: even in the Soviet Union, years later, it was published separate work, dedicated detailed description events on the battleship of the East India squadron of the Dutch navy.

Before World War II

By the time of the outbreak of World War II, the number of the Royal Dutch East Indian Army stationed in the Malay Archipelago reached 85 thousand people. In addition to 1,000 officers and 34,000 soldiers and non-commissioned officers of the colonial forces, this number included military personnel and civilian personnel of the territorial security and militia units. IN structurally The Royal Dutch East Indian Army consisted of three divisions: six infantry regiments and 16 infantry battalions; a combined brigade of three infantry battalions stationed in Barisan; a small combined brigade consisting of two marine battalions and two cavalry squadrons. In addition, the Royal Dutch East Indian Army had a howitzer battalion (105 mm heavy howitzers), an artillery battalion (75 mm field guns) and two mountain artillery battalions (75 mm mountain guns). A “Mobile Squad” was also created, armed with tanks and armored vehicles - we will talk about it in more detail below.

The colonial authorities and military command took frantic measures to modernize the units of the East Indian Army, hoping to turn it into a force capable of defending Dutch sovereignty in the Malay Archipelago. It was clear that in the event of war, the Royal Dutch East Indian Army would have to face the Imperial Japanese Army - an enemy many times more serious than rebel groups or even the colonial troops of other European powers.

In 1936, trying to protect itself from possible aggression from Japan (the hegemonic claims of the “country rising sun" for the role of overlord of Southeast Asia had long been known), the authorities of the Dutch East Indies decided to modernize the restructuring of the Royal Dutch East Indian Army. It was decided to form six mechanized brigades. The brigade was to include motorized infantry, artillery, reconnaissance units and a tank battalion.

The military command believed that the use of tanks would significantly strengthen the power of the East Indian army and make it a serious adversary. Seventy Vickers light tanks were ordered from Great Britain just on the eve of the outbreak of World War II and fighting prevented the delivery of most of the shipment to Indonesia. Only twenty tanks arrived. The British government confiscated the rest of the shipment for its own use. Then the authorities of the Dutch East Indies turned to the United States for help. An agreement was concluded with the Marmon-Herrington company, which was engaged in the supply of military equipment to the Dutch East Indies.

According to this agreement, signed in 1939, it was planned to deliver a huge number of tanks by 1943 - 628 units. These were the following vehicles: CTLS-4 with a single turret (crew - driver and gunner); triple CTMS-1TBI and medium quadruple MTLS-1GI4. The end of 1941 was marked by the beginning of the acceptance of the first batches of tanks in the United States. However, the very first ship sent from the United States with tanks on board ran aground when approaching the port, as a result of which most (18 out of 25) of the vehicles were damaged and only 7 vehicles were usable without repair procedures.

The creation of tank units required the Royal Dutch East Indian Army to have trained military personnel capable of professional qualities serve in tank units. By 1941, when the Dutch East Indies received the first tanks, the East Indian Army had trained 30 officers and 500 non-commissioned officers and soldiers in the armored field. They were trained on previously purchased English Vickers. But even for one tank battalion, despite the presence of personnel, there were not enough tanks.

Therefore, the 7 tanks that survived the unloading of the ship, together with 17 Vickers purchased in Great Britain, formed the “Mobile Detachment”, which included a tank squadron, a motorized infantry company (150 soldiers and officers, 16 armored trucks), a reconnaissance platoon ( three armored vehicles), an anti-tank artillery battery and a mountain artillery battery. During the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies, the Mobile Force, under the command of Captain G. Wulfhost, together with the 5th Infantry Battalion of the East Indian Army, entered into battle with the Japanese 230th Infantry Regiment. Despite initial success, the Mobile Unit was eventually forced to retreat, leaving 14 men killed, 13 tanks, 1 armored car and 5 armored personnel carriers disabled. After this, the command redeployed the detachment to Bandung and no longer threw it into combat operations until the surrender of the Dutch East Indies to the Japanese.

The Second World War

After the Netherlands were occupied by Nazi Germany, the military-political situation of the Dutch East Indies began to rapidly deteriorate - after all, the channels of military and economic assistance from the metropolis were blocked, in addition to everything, Germany, which until the end of the 1930s remained one of the key military - trading partners of the Netherlands, now, for obvious reasons, has ceased to be such. On the other hand, Japan has become more active, having long been planning to “take control” of almost the entire Asia-Pacific region. Japanese imperial fleet delivered units of the Japanese army to the shores of the islands of the Malay Archipelago.

The very progress of the operation in the Dutch East Indies was quite rapid. In 1941, Japanese aircraft began flying over Borneo, after which units invaded the island Japanese troops, whose goal was to seize oil enterprises. Then the airport on the island of Sulawesi was captured. A force of 324 Japanese defeated 1,500 Royal Dutch East Indian Army marines. In March 1942, battles began for Batavia (Jakarta), which ended on March 8 with the surrender of the capital of the Dutch East Indies. General Pooten, who commanded its defense, capitulated along with a garrison numbering 93,000 people.

During the 1941-1942 campaign. Almost the entire East Indian army was defeated by the Japanese. Dutch military personnel, as well as soldiers and non-commissioned officers from among the Christian ethnic groups of Indonesia, were interned in prisoner of war camps, and up to 25% of prisoners of war died. A small part of the soldiers, mainly from among the Indonesian peoples, were able to go into the jungle and continue the guerrilla war against the Japanese occupiers. Some units managed to hold out completely independently, without any help from the allies, until Indonesia was liberated from Japanese occupation.

Another part of the East Indian army managed to cross to Australia, after which it was attached to the Australian forces. At the end of 1942, there was an attempt to reinforce the Australian special forces, who were waging a guerrilla fight against the Japanese in East Timor, with Dutch soldiers from the East Indian army. However, 60 Dutch in Timor died. In addition, in 1944-1945. small Dutch units took part in the fighting in Borneo and the island of New Guinea. Under the operational command of the Royal Australian Air Force, four Dutch East Indies squadrons were formed from Royal Dutch East Indies Army Air Force pilots and Australian ground personnel.

As for the Air Force, the aviation of the Royal Dutch East Indian Army was initially seriously inferior to the Japanese in terms of equipment, which did not prevent the Dutch pilots from fighting with dignity, defending the archipelago from Japanese fleet, and then transfer to the Australian contingent. During the Battle of Semplak on January 19, 1942, Dutch pilots in 8 Buffalo aircraft fought against 35 Japanese aircraft. As a result of the collision, 11 Japanese and 4 Dutch aircraft were shot down. Among the Dutch aces, it is worth noting Lieutenant August Deibel, who during this operation shot down three Japanese fighters. Lieutenant Deibel managed to go through the entire war, surviving after two wounds, but death found him in the air after the war - in 1951 he died at the controls of a fighter plane in a plane crash.

When the East Indian Army surrendered, it was air Force The Dutch East Indies remained the most combat-ready unit that came under Australian command. Three squadrons were formed - two squadrons of B-25 bombers and one of P-40 Kittyhawk fighters. In addition, three Dutch squadrons were created as part of the British Air Force. The RAF was controlled by the 320th and 321st bomber squadrons and the 322nd fighter squadron. The latter, to this day, remains part of the Dutch Air Force.

Post-war period

The end of World War II was accompanied by the growth of the national liberation movement in Indonesia. Having freed themselves from Japanese occupation, the Indonesians no longer wanted to return to the rule of the mother country. The Netherlands, despite frantic attempts to keep the colony under its rule, were forced to make concessions to the leaders of the national liberation movement. However, the Royal Dutch East Indian Army was rebuilt and continued to exist for some time after World War II. Its soldiers and officers took part in two major military campaigns to restore colonial order in the Malay Archipelago in 1947 and 1948. However, all the efforts of the Dutch command to preserve sovereignty in the Dutch East Indies were in vain and on December 27, 1949, the Netherlands agreed to recognize the political sovereignty of Indonesia.

On July 26, 1950, it was decided to disband the Royal Dutch East Indian Army. By the time of its disbandment, 65,000 soldiers and officers were serving in the Royal Dutch East India Army. Of these, 26,000 were recruited into the Indonesian Republican Armed Forces, the remaining 39,000 were demobilized or transferred to serve in the Dutch Armed Forces. Native soldiers were given the option of demobilization or continued service in the armed forces of a sovereign Indonesia.

However, here again interethnic contradictions made themselves felt. The new armed forces of sovereign Indonesia were dominated by Muslim Javanese - veterans of the national liberation struggle, who always had a negative attitude towards Dutch colonization. The main contingent of the colonial troops was represented by Christianized Ambonese and other peoples of the South Mollucan Islands. Inevitable tensions arose between the Ambonese and Javanese, leading to the conflicts in Makassar in April 1950 and the attempt to create independent Republic South Moluccas in July 1950. By November 1950, Republican troops managed to suppress the protests of the Ambonese people.

After this, more than 12,500 Ambonese serving in the Royal Dutch East Indian Army, as well as their families, were forced to emigrate from Indonesia to the Netherlands. Some Ambonese emigrated to Western New Guinea (Papua), which remained under Dutch rule until 1962. The desire of the Ambonians, who were in the service of the Dutch authorities, to emigrate was explained very simply - they feared for their lives and safety in post-colonial Indonesia. As it turned out, it was not in vain: periodically, serious unrest breaks out on the Molluk Islands, the cause of which is almost always conflicts between the Muslim and Christian populations.