The 1896 defection of Teungku Um was the act by which Teungku Um — the Atjehnese warlord whom the governor of Atjeh Deykerhoff and the governor-general Pijnacker Hordijk had armed and subsidised against the explicit warning of Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje — “wierp het masker af” (threw off the mask) and turned his modern-Dutch arms against his former patrons. The 1896 defection is, in the source’s narrative, the immediate political-military hinge of the Atjehoorlog.
The arming and subsidising
The source records that Deykerhoff and Pijnacker Hordijk “schenkten zij hun vertrouwen aan Teungku Um, die officieel begenadigd werd, een legioen van 250 man op onze kosten mocht onderhouden en later nog 1000 geweren kreeg, veel ammunitie en geld” (placed their trust in Teungku Um, who was officially granted clemency, permitted to maintain a legion of 250 men at our expense, and later received a further 1,000 rifles, much ammunition and money). The arming and subsidising was undertaken “tegen diens waarschuwing in” (against his warning) — i.e. against the explicit 1892 warning of Snouck Hurgronje.
The 1896 defection
The source records: “Korte tijd daarna (1896) wierp Teungku Um het masker af en hadden onze soldaten te vechten tegen met modern geweren bewapende Atjehers” (A short time later (1896) Teungku Um threw off the mask, and our soldiers had to fight against Atjehnese armed with modern rifles). The “masker” metaphor is the source’s principal characterisation of Teungku Um’s pre-1896 posture: a co-operative warlord whose “masker” of co-operation concealed an Atjehnese resistance that the Dutch had armed.
The Van der Wijck reversal
The 1896 defection produced the Van der Wijck reversal: “De G.-G. Van der Wijck (1893-99) begreep, dat Snouck Hurgronje’s adviezen gevolgd moesten worden. Ook de overste Joannes Benedictus van Heutsz had dit begrepen. In 1896 werd hij belast met de leiding der militaire operaties in Groot-Atjeh”. The Van Heutsz appointment of 1896 is the operational consequence of the 1896 defection: the Snouck Hurgronje advice was now to be implemented, and Van Heutsz was the officer charged with its implementation.
Significance
The 1896 defection of Teungku Um is, in the source’s narrative, the immediate political-military hinge of the Atjehoorlog. The defection — together with the contemporaneous Van Heutsz appointment — marks the 1896 turning-point of the war.
See Also
- Teungku Um
- Atjehoorlog
- Deykerhoff
- Pijnacker Hordijk
- Van der Wijck (governor-general)
- J. B. van Heutsz
- Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje
- 1892 Snouck Hurgronje advice on Atjeh
- Groot-Atjeh
- 1892
- 1896
Source
Nederlanders over de Zeeën: 350 Jaar geschiedenis van Nederland buitengaats, onder redactie van Dr. H. J. de Graaf, met medewerking van Prof. G. Gonggrijp, W. R. Menkman en Prof. Jhr Dr P. J. van Winter, 2e geheel herziene druk (Utrecht: W. de Haan N.V., MCMLV), p. 218.