The Atjehoorlog (Nederlanders over de Zeeën account) is the narrative of the Atjehoorlog of 1873-1904 given in Chapter IV of Nederlanders over de Zeeën (1955 second edition), authored by Prof. G. Gonggrijp. The account is the most concentrated single-paragraph summary of the war in the source and the principal basis of the present Aceh Wiki articles derived from Nederlanders over de Zeeën.
The narrative arc
Gonggrijp’s narrative arc comprises: the 1824 London Treaty’s impossible double commitment; the 1857 contract and its non-observance; the 1871 Sumatra-tractaat; the 1873 declaration of war; the two 1873 expeditions under Köhler and Van Swieten; the Pel interlude; the 1880 false dawn; the concentratie period; the 1892 blockade and the Snouck Hurgronje advice; the 1896 defection of Teungku Um and the Van Heutsz appointment; and the post-1904 consolidation under the korte verklaring.
The Snouck Hurgronje analysis
The most distinctive feature of the Gonggrijp account is the embedding of the Snouck Hurgronje analysis of Atjehnese social structure: the kampong/mukim/uléebalang/sagi/panglima sagi hierarchy, the verdict that the sultan’s authority over the panglima’s sagi and the uléebalangs existed “alleen in naam” (in name only), and the 1892 advice to ignore the sultan’s party, strike the enemy sensibly, and thereafter win the population by welfare policy.
The Deykerhoff-Pijnacker Hordijk error
The Gonggrijp account’s principal didactic episode is the Deykerhoff-Pijnacker Hordijk decision to override the Snouck Hurgronje warning and to arm and subsidise Teungku Um. The 1896 defection of Teungku Um — “wierp het masker af” (threw off the mask) — is, in the source’s narrative, the consequence of this error.
The Van Heutsz reversal
The Van Heutsz appointment of 1896 is the Gonggrijp account’s institutional 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. Met mobiele kolonnes werd dit gebied onafgebroken doorkruist en de vijand geen rust gelaten” (The G.-G. Van der Wijck (1893-99) understood that Snouck Hurgronje’s advice had to be followed. Overste Joannes Benedictus van Heutsz had understood this too. In 1896 he was charged with the direction of military operations in Groot-Atjeh. With mobile columns this area was traversed uninterruptedly and the enemy was given no rest).
The korte verklaring
The korte verklaring — drawn up by Van Heutsz “in samenwerking met Snouck Hurgronje” (in cooperation with Snouck Hurgronje) — is the Gonggrijp account’s principal administrative instrument of the post-1904 consolidation. The declaration was eventually signed by 261 chiefs of self-governing territories in the buitengewesten.
Significance
The Atjehoorlag (Nederlanders over de Zeeën account) is the principal narrative of the Atjehoorlog in Nederlanders over de Zeeën and the source of the present Aceh Wiki articles derived from the book. Its distinctive features are the embedding of the Snouck Hurgronje analysis of Atjehnese social structure and the didactic episode of the Deykerhoff-Pijnacker Hordijk error.
See Also
- Atjehoorlog
- Nederlanders over de Zeeën (De Graaf et al., 1955)
- G. Gonggrijp
- Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje
- J. B. van Heutsz
- Teungku Um
- Deykerhoff
- Pijnacker Hordijk
- Van der Wijck (governor-general)
- Korte verklaring
- Concentratie-stelsel (1884-1896)
- 1873
- 1892
- 1896
- 1904
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), pp. 209, 216-219.