Civil Government Period (1881-1884)

Properties2
tagsevent, aceh-war, dutch, colonial, civil-government, 19th-century, administration, pruijs-van-der-hoeven, laging-tobias
aliasesCivil Government Period (1881-1884), Civiel Bestuur Atjeh 1881-1884, Civil government period Atjeh, Civilian governor period Atjeh, Pruijs van der Hoeven and Laging Tobias period

6 min read

The Civil Government Period of 1881–1884 — het Civiel Bestuur in Atjeh, 1881–1884 — was the three-and-a-half-year period of the Atjeh-oorlog during which the administration of Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden was entrusted to civil governors — first Pruijs van der Hoeven from April 1881 to December 1882, then Laging Tobias from March 1883 to September 1884 — and during which the Dutch military position in Groot-Atjeh and on the coasts progressively collapsed, the scheepvaartregeling was withdrawn, the Nisero affair exposed Dutch impotence to the outside world, and the Staten-Generaal in the secret sessions of 16–17 June 1884 decreed the concentration system. Kruijt calls the introduction of civil government “de grootste fout, die wij hebben begaan” (the greatest mistake we have made) and “een ramp, waarvan wij de gevolgen nog thans te dragen hebben” (a disaster whose consequences we are still bearing today).

The Decision (April 1881)

The Gouverneur-Generaal Van Lansberge — who, after his March 1877 inspection visit to Groot-Atjeh, had judged the war ended and the time come for civil government — sent the former resident of Palembang, Pruijs van der Hoeven, to Atjeh in 1880 to arrange with Van der Heijden a proposed organisation of the administration. Against Van der Heijden’s opinion, the government decided that the Governor of Atjeh should be a civil official, and in April 1881 Pruijs van der Hoeven was so appointed. “De groote van der Heijden is toen tot eeuwige schande en groote schade voor Nederland verwijderd” (the great Van der Heijden was then removed to the eternal disgrace and great damage of the Netherlands), Kruijt writes.

The Pruijs van der Hoeven Governorship (April 1881 – December 1882)

On taking over the administration, Pruijs van der Hoeven described the situation in Atjeh as “zeer bevredigend” (very satisfactory). Full of confidence in his personal insights and policy, considering the Atjehers accessible to benevolence, generosity and justice, too little reckoning with the great religious and racial hatred, missing or underrating the experience of his predecessors, he believed that he could now chiefly govern Atjeh with civil officials, Atjehese chiefs, and police. This view caused:

  • The endless patrols in Groot-Atjeh, still deemed necessary by Van der Heijden, to be virtually abolished, against the advice of the military commander Colonel Haus;
  • The military force to be confined to the care of the posts’ security, otherwise acting only on request of the civil administration;
  • Some posts to be dismantled to spare transports, no longer to serve as targets for marauders, and so to increase the general security;
  • The path of friendly negotiation to be tried;
  • Van der Heijden’s scheepvaartregeling to be withdrawn in September 1881.

The consequence was that in Groot-Atjeh the small band of malefactors that had occurred even under Van der Heijden soon began to form themselves into enemy bands; the war party reorganised itself under its known chiefs; fanaticism was skilfully aroused and fanned by the religious leaders, who had already begun to preach the holy war in March 1881; the population lost confidence in the Dutch. In June 1881 the Dutch posts were fired on again for the first time; thereafter patrols and transports were ambushed without cease. Pruijs van der Hoeven requested his discharge in December 1882 on account of differences of opinion with the government, telegraphing shortly before his departure: “Pacificatie van Atjeh verzekerd” (Pacification of Atjeh secured).

The Laging Tobias Governorship (March 1883 – September 1884)

Laging Tobias took over the administration in March 1883 and immediately perceived the critical situation. He requested more troops (averaging 6,000 in 1882–1883); introduced the scheepvaartregeling throughout Atjeh in May 1883 under the able leadership of Scherer; and pursued attempts to obtain contact with the Sultan for the restoration of the Sultanate. The Nisero affair of November 1883 – September 1884 exposed Dutch impotence to the outside world. The Gouverneur-Generaal ‘s Jacob visited Atjeh in August 1883 and found the situation highly unfavourable; the Gouverneur-Generaal Van Rees came in March 1884. In two secret sessions of the united Chambers of the Staten-Generaal on 16 and 17 June 1884 it was decided to adopt the concentration system. Laging Tobias, opposed to the concentration, retired in September 1884.

Kruijt’s Judgement

Kruijt’s judgement of the civil government period is the most severe in his brochure. The introduction of civil government was “de grootste fout, die wij hebben begaan” (the greatest mistake we have made). “Zij sloopte in korten tijd het door van der Heijden opgetrokken gebouw en deed alle behaalde voordeelen weer verloren gaan. Zij was een ramp, waarvan wij de gevolgen nog thans te dragen hebben.” (It demolished in a short time the building Van der Heijden had raised and caused all the advantages gained to be lost again. It was a disaster whose consequences we are still bearing today.)

Significance

The Civil Government Period of 1881–1884 is the disastrous interlude in the Atjeh-oorlog that turned the promising situation of April 1881 — when all of Groot-Atjeh had been brought under Dutch control by Van der Heijden — into the catastrophic situation that required the concentration system of 1884. The displacement of Van der Heijden, the abolition of the scheepvaartregeling, the ostrich policy toward the resistance, the optimistic but false reports to the government, and the Nisero affair together constitute the chain of decisions that Kruijt identifies as the greatest mistake the Dutch made in Atjeh.

See Also

Source

De Atjeh-Oorlog: Kort Overzicht van Oorsprong, Verloop en Gevolg, door J. A. Kruijt. ‘s-Gravenhage: Loman & Funke, 1896. Chapter VI (the displacement of Van der Heijden), Chapter VIII (the civil government period). OCR-filename: 20260716_140310_DLP-101-De_Atjeh_oorlog_Nemotron-OCR-v2_OCR.txt, pp. 33, 40–45.

Graph View

Backlinks