Is it true that Indonesia was colonized by the Dutch for 350 years
Is it true that Indonesia was colonized by the
Dutch for 350 years
Often
we hear that Indonesia was colonized by the Dutch for 350 years. In general,
when we were still in school, when we heard the teacher explained that
Indonesia was colonized by the Dutch for 350 years, it would not have occurred
to our critical minds. It is only imagined how difficult it is to live
colonized by our predecessor generation. But this year's "350" figure
is worth reviewing again.
We
started calculating by agreeing to recognize Indonesia's independence in 1945.
Now the number 1945, if reduced by 350, the results of 1595 were obtained.
Right at that number, there had never been a single expedition from the
Netherlands to an area now called Indonesia.
We
see the fact, in 1595 it was only in the Netherlands that the expedition began
by four VOC merchant ships to open trade relations with the archipelago. The
names of ships departing from Amsterdam include Amsterdam, Hollandia, Mauritius
and Duyfken. These ships were recorded as sailing from the Netherlands on April
2, 1595. Then they arrived in Banten waters a year later, on June 27, 1596.
Where
is the 350 year number? As if when the Dutch arrived in the archipelago they
immediately colonized Indonesia? Even though the reality is not so. The arrival
of the Dutch first generation was only able to bring the results of spices
which then provoked the Dutch people to be more eager to start more expeditions
the following year.
The
term Dutch colonizing Indonesia for 350 years was once used by President
Sukarno in his speech. If we examine from the speech of His Holiness the First
President of Indonesia, of course, the 350-year number is to whip up the spirit
of the fighters when fighting with the invaders. Replying to the suffering of
the ancestors who had to live as a colony for 350 years. And it was proven that
Indonesian fighters from 1945 to 1949 fought more than the power capacity they
had. In fact, there is a spirit that exceeds the spirit of the French
revolution at the time of the Revolutionary War in Indonesia at that time.
On
the other hand, the Dutch term for colonizing Indonesia for 350 years was
derived from Dutch propaganda itself which always called them in power in the
"Dutch East Indies" for 300 years. They did this so that the Dutch
youth would want to participate in fighting in Indonesia in the years
1945-1949, to defend their colony of the Dutch East Indies.
We
imagine living during the Dutch colonial period before 1945. At that time we
were called the Dutch East Indies or when the Indians translated the
Netherlands. Because Europeans still think that India and the people of the
archipelago are one ethnicity even though the reality is not so. This error
occurred in the Americas where Europeans named Native Americans - North America
with Indian names, because they thought the indigenous Continent was Indian.
Before
1945 or before the proclamation it could be said that Indonesia was still divided
in tribal spirit and did not have the spirit of unity in Indonesia as it is
now. Name the hero from Java, Prince Diponegoro. His Excellency Prince
Diponegoro fought with the Dutch not under the spirit of liberating Indonesia,
but the spirit of expelling the Dutch from the Land of Java. Another example is
Tuanku Imam Bonjol from Tanah Minang, West Sumatra. His Excellency Tuanku Imam
Bonjol also did not fight for but fought for the land of Pagaruyung, the Minang
community in general and the establishment of Islamic law back in the Minang
Region.
The
Indonesian term, if we can conclude, only began to be used by the youth of this
archipelago at the beginning of the 20th century at the time of the Youth
Pledge that took place on October 28, 1928. From that time on, the use of the
Indonesian term became the word "miracle" for young people who
opposed Dutch rule at that time. How not, inter-tribal competition that
occurred before in the archipelago land was marked by the emergence of
"Indonesia". Somehow unifying the Javanese and Sundanese, somehow
unifying the Acehnese and Minang people or somehow unifying the Bugis and
Ambonese if there is no "Indonesia".
With
Indonesia, it means that all tribes that have previously clashed or competed
with each other are united. Tribal spirit that even brought willingness to be
colonized by the Dutch rather than controlled by the competing kingdoms had
pulled over. Changing into a spirit of unity because you feel a shared affair.
Since 1928, the smart young people in this archipelago began to formally unite
and brush off old competition with their respective competitor tribes. With one
purpose, to expel the Dutch colonizers from Nusantara, Indonesia.
Let’s
count again, if in 1928 it was used as a reference for the unity of all tribes
in the archipelago at that time. This means that we got the numbers 1945-1928
since the Indonesian term agreed to be
used together. Then the result of the reduction in 1945-1928 was 17 years. In
the sense that Indonesia was colonized by the Dutch for 17 years. Do you agree
with this number? The term Indonesia is the first time you use it. We discussed
again when actually the name of Indonesia began to be used? From various
sources, we know that the name Indonesia began to be used by James Richardson
Logan, a Scottish national who lived in Singapore in 1850.
James Logan stated
that the use of the term "Indian Islands" or "Malay
Islands" was no longer relevant to referring to the inhabitants of the
archipelago. So he proposed a change in the term to become
"Indunesia" for the Indian Archipelago and Malayunesia for the Malay
Archipelago. In 1884 finally a German writer began to use the term Indonesien
to replace the term Indies or Dutch East Indies. Gungung from the archipelago
was ingenious at that time. Suwardi Suryaningrat or popularly known as Ki Hajar
Dewantara during his life in exile to the Netherlands, he founded the
Indonesische Persbureau newspaper in 1913. And since then youth fighters in the
archipelago have begun to assertively use the Indonesian term as a form of
self-esteem to achieve independence, refused the term Indies.
Ki Hajar DewantaraUsing the Standard of VOC Power to Calculate How
Long Indonesian was colonized by the Dutch Since Cornelis De Houtman's voyage
that brought spices home to the Netherlands, the VOC began to actively send and
continue trading ships they were archipelago with more ambition than just
trading. In 1603 the first Dutch settlement in the archipelago in Banten. At
that time the Dutch only made Trade Post. It was only in 1611 that they
succeeded in a wider and permanent settlement at Jayakarta which they later
named Batavia. We recounted the calculations, 1945-1611, then we got 334 years.
Who agrees with this number? who agreed that Indonesia was colonized by the
Dutch for 350 years? Whereas in reality, at that time they only established the
first colony in the archipelago, not defeated the entire Kingdom of the
Archipelago and made VOC subordinates. Since 1611 until 1800 until the VOC was
officially dissolved and the VOC conquered power changed hands to the Royal
Netherlands Government, there are still many Kingdoms in An independent
archipelago.
This means that the VOC's power is not total to all regions of
Indonesia as it is now. BataviaBatavia / Jakarta Tempo Formerly Officially the
Dutch government replaced the VOC role in the archipelago in 1800. If we go
back to 1945-1800 then we get 145 years of Dutch rule in Indonesia. But keep in
mind also that in 1800 there were still many Kingdoms in Indonesia that did not
live under Dutch colonialism. There were several large Kingdoms in the
archipelago that were still living independently until the early 20th century
between the Riau-Lingga Sultanate, the Kingdom of Bali and the Sultanate of
Aceh. When the three kingdoms were conquered, the Dutch were only
geographically exactly like Indonesia today. It happened in 1911, after the
last Kingdom in the archipelago, the Kingdom of Riau-Lingga, surrendered to the
Dutch government. Using the Standard of the Day of Proclamation as a Reference
to the Proclamation of Indonesian independence on August 17, 1945 was a turning
point in the struggle for independent souls in the archipelago. We are united
with the spirit of Nationalism which previously never existed. It was on August
17 that Indonesia officially became a united, independent and sovereign
country. So that any party who comes later we consider the colonizers to be the
same.
The proclamation asserts that we are no longer the Dutch East Indies or
India. We are Indonesia. We both reject colonialism in Indonesia and around the
world. If we use the reference of the proclamation as the year of birth of
Indonesia, it means that Indonesia is only colonized for approximately 4 years.
After the Dutch officially recognized the RIS (Republik Indonesia Serikat) in 1949. Does anyone agree with this number? Indonesia was only
colonized by the Dutch for 4 years. Conclusion We returned to the original
question "is it true that Indonesia was colonized by the Dutch for 350years"? From the description above it can actually be concluded. The
350-year figure is used only to arouse the spirit of the fighters to avenge the
defeat of their predecessors. Even though we know together, our predecessors
used to fight per region or per kingdom, not for Indonesia as it is today.
Because of this lack of unity, our Dutch predecessors could be defeated. The
proof is that after 1945 when we were united and became Indonesia, we succeeded
in maintaining our independence. Freedom....!!!