The Avondpost “Wekeer” articles (October 1907) were a series of articles published in the Dutch newspaper De Avondpost in October 1907 under the pseudonym “Wekeer” — a maréchaussée-officer from Atjeh — exposing “nodeloze wreedheden” — needless cruelties — committed against the Atjehnese population, “toegelaten zo niet aangemoedigd door Van Daalen” — tolerated, if not encouraged, by Van Daalen in his capacity as governor and military commander of Atjeh. The articles are the proximate cause of the December 1907 resignation of Van Daalen and the inspection tour of Van Heutsz of the same month.
The “grote klok” of Van Heutsz’s warning
In 1905 Van Heutsz — then governor-general — had appointed Van Daalen as militair commandant en gouverneur van Atjeh, against the recommendation of the Raad van Indië (which had favoured Colonel Swart). Van Heutsz had said to Van Daalen on the occasion: “Ga je gang, ik vertrouw je. Ge hebt goede en kwade eigenschappen; ik geef u die post en als gij nu maar zorgt, dat er geen gedonder komt dan kunt gij zolang uw gang gaan, maar als het aan de grote klok komt dan voor jou een ander”. The “grote klok” — the great bell — of Van Heutsz’s warning was, in the event, “Wekeer”: the public exposure of atrocities in the press.
The articles
Under the pseudonym “Wekeer” — a maréchaussée-officer from Atjeh — a series of articles appeared in De Avondpost in October 1907 detailing needless cruelties allegedly committed against the Atjehnese population and tolerated, if not encouraged, by Van Daalen in his capacity as governor and military commander.
Ministerial reaction
Minister Fock — then minister of Colonies — “gaf de kamerleden de raad hun tijd niet te verspillen aan deze artikelen” — advised the chambermembers not to waste their time on these articles. The governor-general, he said, had full confidence in Van Daalen; both he and Van Daalen considered reinforcement of the troop strength in Atjeh unnecessary. The inspection tour that Van Heutsz undertook in December 1907 — at Fock’s request — was, however, to reverse both judgements.
The consequences
The “Wekeer” articles set in train the sequence that ended Van Daalen’s tenure as governor of Atjeh. In December 1907 Van Daalen submitted his resignation. In June 1908 the report of the governor-general confirmed the fall of Van Daalen and installed the new course of the pacificatie: administration through the hoofden (chiefs), bound to Dutch authority by “tactvolle omgang” — tactful intercourse.
The Thomson context
The “Wekeer” exposures came three years after the Tweede Kamer testimony of Thomson — the liberal MP and former captain in Atjeh — who had declared in the 1904 debate that he had himself, “zonder enige wroeging” — without any scruple — taken part in the burning of entire kampongs, the felling of fruit-trees and the killing of abandoned cattle, and that such practices were the routine consequence of the under-manning of the Dutch forces. Thomson had warned that “seventy men to patrol the whole of Gajoland” was “verregaand onvoldoende” — grossly insufficient. The “Wekeer” articles are, in this sense, the vindication of Thomson’s warning.
Significance
The “Wekeer” affair is the political climax of the post-conquest period of Atjehnese history. The fall of Van Daalen — the most consequential single event of the post-1904 expedition period — cleared the way for the Van Heutsz report of 1908 that would set the course of the pacificatie for the next decade.
See Also
- G. C. E. van Daalen
- Van Daalen’s resignation (December 1907)
- Van Heutsz’s inspection tour of Atjeh (December 1907)
- Van Heutsz’s report on Atjeh (June 1908)
- J. B. van Heutsz
- D. Fock
- H. C. Thomson
- De Avondpost
- Raad van Indië
- Swart (colonel, Atjeh)
- Pacificatie van Atjeh
- Gajoland
- 1905
- 1907
- 1908
Source
Schets eener parlementaire geschiedenis van Nederland van 1849 tot 1901, by Mr W. J. van Welderen baron Rengers, 4th rev. ed., Vol. IV: Oost-Indië 1891-1918 by Dr W. H. Vermeulen (‘s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1955), pp. 273-274.