The Government Telegram of 26 April 1896, No. 409 (Gouvernementstelegram van 26 April 1896, No. 409) — preserved among the official documents gathered in the Annexes of Kruisheer’s ATJEH ‘96 — was the telegram sent by the Government of Nederlandsch-Indië at Batavia to Regeeringscommissaris Vetter at Koeta Radja on 26 April 1896 ordering the dismissal of Teuku Umar from both of his government offices — Panglima Prang Besar of the Government (conferred by the Resolution of 5 September 1893) and hoeloebalang of Lepong (conferred by the Resolution of 19 January 1896) — before the commencement of military action against him. The telegram was the immediate authorisation for the 11 that formally executed the dismissal, and is the legal hinge between the diplomatic and military phases of the Umar crisis.
Background
By 26 April 1896 the Dutch position in Groot-Atjeh had reached a breaking point. The buitenlinie (outer line) had been progressively abandoned — Biloel and Lamkoenjit on 12 April 1896, Anak-Galoeng, Lam-Barih, Lam-Soet and Senelop on 17 April 1896, and the final posts of Kroeng Gloempang, Tjot Rang and Toengkoeb on 20 April 1896. Lt.-Gen. Vetter had arrived as Regeeringscommissaris on 7 April 1896 and assumed both civil and military command. The exchange of letters with Umar had run its course: Umar’s Third Letter of 23 April 1896 had demanded the Royal decoration promised by Deijkerhoff, a signed declaration by the Queen of the Netherlands and the European princes, and ƒ150,000 per month. The Regeeringscommissaris had replied on 25 April 1896 demanding that Umar hand in the geleende oorlogsmaterieel, demolish the versterkingen in the VI Moekims, and submit anew by 26 April.
On the morning of 26 April 1896 Umar’s reply was received, asking for a three-day extension without any definite promise. The Regeeringscommissaris denied the request the same day. With diplomatic channels exhausted, the Regeeringscommissaris required formal authorisation from Batavia to dismiss Umar from his offices before commencing military operations. The Government at Batavia responded by telegram the same day.
Content
The telegram (numbered 409 in the colonial government’s telegram register for 1896) was sent by the Government of Nederlandsch-Indië to Regeeringscommissaris Vetter at Koeta Radja on 26 April 1896. Its substantive content was the order that Teuku Umar — designated in the telegram by his old name Toekoe Oemar, not by his commissioned name Toekoe Djohan Pahalawan — be dismissed from both of his government offices: the office of Panglima Prang Besar of the Government, conferred by the Resolution of 5 September 1893, and the office of hoeloebalang of Lepong, conferred by the Resolution of 19 January 1896.
The order to dismiss Umar from both offices before commencing military action against him was a deliberate legal formality: the Dutch understood that military operations against a serving government officer would have created an intolerable ambiguity in the colonial register. The dismissal had to be formally executed first, by Gouvernementsbesluit of the waarnemend Gouverneur van Atjeh, before the Proclamation of 27 April 1896 could announce the commencement of hostilities. The telegram is the authorising instrument; the 11 is the executing instrument.
Reception and Aftermath
The telegram was received and acted upon the same day. The waarnemend Gouverneur at Koeta Radja issued the 11 of 26 April 1896 formally dismissing Umar from both offices and stipulating that he would henceforth be officially designated by the name Toekoe Oemar. The besluit was signed by De Secretaris Udo de Haes. The following day, 27 April 1896, Lt.-Gen. Vetter issued his Proclamation to the heads and people of the three *sagi* of Groot-Atjeh announcing military operations against T. Oemar Melaboch and his followers. The same day the Bombardment of Lampisang began at 5:45 a.m.
Significance
The Government Telegram of 26 April 1896 No. 409 is the formal authorising instrument for Umar’s dismissal and, by extension, for the commencement of conventional military operations against him. Its requirement that Umar be dismissed from both offices before hostilities began is a revealing instance of Dutch colonial legalism: even in the moment of crisis, the formal revocation of the legal relationship had to precede the military rupture. The telegram’s use of the name rather than Toekoe Djohan Pahalawan signals the symbolic erasure of the 1893 renaming that had constituted Umar as a Dutch officer. As a historical document, the telegram marks the precise moment at which the Dutch government in Batavia authorised the war against its former ally.
See Also
- Teuku Umar
- Luitenant-Generaal Vetter
- 11 (Bijlage VI)
- Gouvernementsbesluit of 5 September 1893, No. 1 geheim
- Gouvernementsbesluit of 19 January 1896, No. 9
- Proclamation of Lt. Gen. Vetter to the heads and people of the 3 sagi of Groot-Atjeh (27 April 1896)
- Bombardment of Lampisang (27 April – 23 May 1896)
- Udo de Haes
- 1896
Source
ATJEH ‘96, door A. Kruisheer, Kapitein der Infanterie O.I.L., met 2 kaarten en 4 portretten (Weltevreden: N.V. Boekhandel Visser & Co, 1913). Instituut Kern, Leiden. OCR-filename: 20260715_163243_DLP-89-Atjeh_96_Met_2_kaarten_en4_DOORA_KRUISHEER_Kapiteinder_Infanterie_nemoretriever-ocr-v1_OCR.txt, p. 346.