The Dutch East Indies (Dutch: Nederlands-Indië; Indonesian: Hindia-Belanda) was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Dutch government in 1800.
During the 19th century, Dutch possessions and hegemony were expanded, reaching their greatest territorial extent in the early 20th century. This colony which later formed modern-day Indonesia was one of the most valuable European colonies under the Dutch Empire's rule, and contributed to Dutch global prominence in spice and cash crop trade in 19th to early 20th century. The colonial social order was based on rigid racial and social structures with a Dutch elite living separate but linked to their native subjects.
Japan's World War II occupation dismantled much of the Dutch colonial state and economy. Following the Japanese surrender in August 1945, Indonesian nationalists declared independence which they fought to secure during the subsequent Indonesian National Revolution. The Netherlands formally recognized Indonesian sovereignty at the 1949 Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference with the exception of the Netherlands New Guinea (Western New Guinea), which was ceded to Indonesia in 1963 under the provisions of the New York Agreement.
Read more about Dutch East Indies: Etymology, Background, Dutch Conquests, Economic History, Social History, Education, Law and Administration, Royal Dutch East Indies Army, Language and Literature, Art and Culture, Science, Cuisine, Architecture, Fall of The Colonial State, Colonial Heritage in The Netherlands
Famous quotes containing the words dutch, east and/or indies:
“The French courage proceeds from vanity—the German from phlegm—the Turkish from fanaticism & opium—the Spanish from pride—the English from coolness—the Dutch from obstinacy—the Russian from insensibility—but the Italian from anger.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“From the east to western Inde,
No jewel is like Rosalind.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“It is my duty to prevent, through the independence of Cuba, the U.S.A. from spreading over the West Indies and falling with added weight upon other lands of Our America. All I have done up to now and shall do hereafter is to that end.... I know the Monster, because I have lived in its lair—and my weapon is only the slingshot of David.”
—José Martí (1853–1895)