Dutch East Indies

Rare card · No. 19652

The Dutch East Indies was a colony of the Dutch Empire, established in 1800 when the Batavian Republic took control of the Dutch East India Company. In 1824, Dutch Malacca was ceded to Britain, and is now part of modern Malaysia, with most of the rest becoming Indonesia in August 1945. During the 19th century, Dutch forces fought a series of wars against indigenous states which greatly expanded the Dutch East Indies. Dutch rule reached its greatest territorial extent in the early 20th century with the occupation of Western New Guinea. 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. The colonial social order was rigidly racial with the Dutch elite living separately from but linked to their native subjects. 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...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Zscout370, Public domain