When looking at the artistically made wooden chess pieces from Indonesia, made around 1900, visitors of the Chessmen Museum are unlikely to think of World War II. Or the Netherlands. They are irrefutably connected to each other though.
Ever since the end of the sixteenth century Dutch tradesmen made regular expeditions to Indonesia. They would buy exotic spices and herbs which they would sell with a huge profit back in Amsterdam. In 1619 the VOC, the Dutch East India Company founded a trading post called Batavia on the island of Java. The town would keep its name until World War II. In 1830 governor-general Johannes van den Bosch installed the culture scheme. This tax system obliged the natives to use twenty percent of their land for products that would be exported to the Netherlands, by way of rent. It mostly concerned products such as coffee, tea and sugar, which were all sold with a big profit to the Dutch Trading Company. Many of the Dutch civil servants were corrupt and forced the farmers to produce a lot more than was legally required of them. This led to the impoverishment of the local population and in times of bad harvest it would even lead to famine.
Emancipation gone wrong
At the end of the nineteenth century, when the native people started to protest against the abuse they were suffering, the Dutch government prepared a civilization offensive. Dutch culture and values would be implemented so that the inferior Indonesians could join the civil world. The locals, who had always been kept ignorant, now enjoyed a proper education. The number of erudite and well-educated Indonesians grew. They stood up for themselves more and more and demanded a say in the economic world and in politics. The Dutch government granted the Indonesians a bit more power but they did it grinding their teeth. Together with other foreigners the Dutch belonged to the elite of the Indonesian society and they liked to keep the ranks closed.
The start of the Second World War changed everything. After Hitler had conquered half of Europe, its Japanese ally took on the same mission in the Far East. In 1942 Japan occupied the Dutch East Indies and tried to eradicate from society anything that reeked of Europe, even its citizens, and in this manner create a ‘Grand-Asiatic Welfare State’. Over 150.000 Dutch citizens and prisoners of war were put away in labor camps, women and children separated from the men. Constant abuse, forced labor, a lack of food and disease caused their health to deteriorate quickly. Prisoners of war had to construct endless railroads in the jungle or work in the mines. Many of them did not survive: adults barely weighing 40 kilos were no exception.
The cruel occupier offers protection
The Japanese capitulation on the 15th August 1945 was a godsend. Freedom, finally! The British would soon arrive to liberate the Dutch East Indies but until they set foot on the ground the Japanese would still be in charge. And it was necessary. During the occupation the nationalist movement had grown and its leader Soekarno announced the Indonesian independence on the 17th of August.
Declaration of independence by Soukarno
The Dutch didn’t really notice this at first and they took the liberty of leaving the camps and returning to their old homes and jobs. This raised the suspicion of the Indonesians and especially in the bigger cities the atmosphere grew bad. Armed gangs drove around town shouting abuse at the Dutch, chasing them off the markets or killing them.
The abhorred Japanese camps turned out to be the only safe place for the Dutch. When the gangs tried to invade the camps, the Japanese closed the gates and intensified security. So now the Dutch were locked up again, but this time around they were being protected by their inhuman occupier. It would take the British weeks to arrive and set the Dutch free because of a shortage of men and material.
In the years between the liberation and the acknowledgement of the Indonesian Republic in 1949, most of the Dutch left Indonesia. If you visit Indonesia now you’ll find few reminders of the Dutch presence, except for some rundown houses and a cemetery full of Dutch names.
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