The declaration of war against the Sultan of Atjeh (26 March 1873) was the act by which the Netherlands opened the Atjehoorlog of 1873-1904. The declaration followed the unsatisfactory response of the Sultan of Atjeh to the Dutch demand for clarification of the Atjehnese chiefs’ visits to the Italian and American consuls in Singapore.
The Singapore consul-visits
The immediate Dutch grievance was the discovery, in 1872, that the Atjehnese chiefs had used a diplomatic postponement to visit, in Singapore, the consuls of Italy and the United States. With the American consul, “was zelfs een voorlopige overeenkomst gesloten” (a preliminary agreement was even concluded). The Dutch demand for clarification produced no satisfactory response.
The 26 March declaration
The source records: “Onmiddellijk werd aan de Sultan van Atjeh opheldering gevraagd en toen geen bevredigend antwoord ontvangen werd volgde op 26 Maart 1873 de oorlogsverklaring” (Immediately clarification was sought from the Sultan of Atjeh, and when no satisfactory answer was received, the declaration of war followed on 26 March 1873). The 26 March 1873 declaration is the formal opening of the Atjehoorlog.
The first expedition
“Tien dagen later landde generaal Köhler met 3600 man” (Ten days later general Köhler landed with 3,600 men). The first military expedition, under generaal Köhler, landed in early April 1873. Köhler was killed in the assault on the “versterkte vorstenverblijf” (fortified royal residence) — the kraton of the Sultan of Atjeh. The first expedition, feeling itself too weak to continue, returned.
The second expedition
A second expedition, 8,000 strong under generaal Van Swieten, landed in December 1873. After a bombardment of the royal residence, it was surrounded; the residence proved to have been abandoned. By proclamation of the commander, Groot-Atjeh was declared government territory; the fortified kraton was renamed “Kota-Radja”.
Significance
The 26 March 1873 declaration of war is the formal opening of the Atjehoorlog. The declaration, the first expedition’s defeat, and the second expedition’s apparent success together set the pattern for the next thirty-one years: formal Dutch declarations of sovereignty alternating with persistent Atjehnese resistance.
See Also
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. 216.