War of Java

The Guerre of Java , that the Indonésiens call Guerre of Diponegoro ( Perang Diponegoro ), was held of 1825 to 1830. Its starting point is the refusal of prince Diponegoro, oldest son of the sultan Hamengkubuwono II of Yogyakarta, to let the Dutchmen make pass the " road postale" ( Postweg ) that they are building to connect the ends Western and Eastern of the island of Java.

One of the causes of this war is the feeling of treason which tests part of the princes of blood and Javanese aristocracy with regard to the Dutchmen. The latter prohibited from now on noble from renting their grounds at a too high price. Another cause was the question of the succession to the throne of Yogyakarta. Diponegoro was the elder one, but his/her mother was not the queen, and it was not entitled thus any to the succession.

At the beginning, the campaigns of Diponegoro are crowned success. It controls the center of Java quickly and besieges Yogyakarta. Half of the Javanese nobility took its party. The population supports it. But Diponegoro has evil has to maintain manpower of its troops. On the other hand, the Dutch colonial army manages to enlist soldiers Minahasa north of Célèbes then of the Netherlands. The commander of the Dutch troops, the general De Kock, thus manages to put quickly fine at the head office of Yogyakarta.

Diponegoro begins a guerilla then. It is only into 1827 that the Dutchmen manage to have the top. The rebellion ends in 1830, when the Dutchmen stop Diponegoro with Magelang, where they had invited it to negotiate a cease-fire. Diponegoro is exiled with Manado in the north of Célèbes, then with Makassar in the south of the island, where he dies.

One estimates at 200.000 the number of deaths due to the conflict, including 8.000 Dutchman, the majority of dead being peasants famished by the destruction of harvests.

The end of the War of Java inaugurates a new period of peace which will make it possible the Dutch colonial government to begin the economic exploitation of the island. The governor van den Bosch initiates a farming system forced ( cultuurstelsel ) by which the Javanese peasant must, either to devote a quarter of its ground to commercial productions of which the product goes to the government, or a quarter of its time to work in governmental plantations.

In addition, the Dutchmen will have become careful in their relationships to the Javanese aristocracy. To compensate for the loss of income for this one resulting from the rent restriction its grounds, the Dutchmen will recruit noble family members to fill the stations of the modern administration which they set up. These civils servant, in addition to their treatment, will perceive a percentage on harvests and the products of the plantations.

Lastly, the pacification of Java will make it possible to the Dutchmen to devote to the tender of the others indigenous states to Sumatra (in particular the sultanate of Palembang), Borneo (sultanate of Pontianak) and in the other islands of the archipelago indonésien.

See too

Internal bonds

Random links: