The Dutch military measures against Atjehse piracy of 1872 were the decision of the Dutch colonial government, after repeated urging by the British government in London, to abandon the policy of niet-inmenging (non-intervention) and to take military measures against the Atjehse piracy and slave trade that had been the subject of the American bombardment of 1831 and the British bombardment of 1844. The decision, made possible by the Sumatra-contract of 1871, which gave the Netherlands a free hand over the whole of Sumatra in exchange for an undertaking to suppress the slave trade and piracy, led directly to the first Aceh expedition of April 1873.
Context
The Sumatra-contract of 1871 (the Sumatra-contract) gave the Netherlands a free hand for the whole of Sumatra, but at the same time laid on it the obligation to make a definitive end to the Atjehse slave trade and piracy. The Atjehers carried on a busy slave trade and were notorious pirates; numerous ships had fallen victim to them. After fruitless attempts to settle the matter by diplomatic means alone, the government “ging in 1873 over tot militaire maatregelen… tot ‘beperkte’ militaire maatregelen” — went over in 1873 to military measures, to limited military measures. “Zekere militaire doelen moesten worden bereikt… dan zouden de Atjehers wel tot rede gebracht zijn…”
The Decision of 1872
Frijling dates the turn to military measures to 1872: “Met die gedachte richtte het zich ook in 1872, na herhaald aandringen van Londen, tegen de Atjehse zeeroverij en slavenhandel.” The British government had repeatedly pressed the Dutch to act; the Sumatra-contract of the previous year had given the Dutch both the right and the obligation to do so. The decision was taken in the spirit of the existing policy of niet-inmenging: “beperkte” — limited — military objectives were to be set, and it was assumed that, once these were achieved, the Atjehers “wel tot rede gebracht” — would be brought to reason.
Sequel
The sequel is recorded by Frijling with characteristic irony. “Na een aanvankelijk échec van onze troepen onder Generaal Köhler gelukte het aan Generaal van Swieten de Kraton van de Sultan van Atjeh te nemen. De Kraton heet sindsdien Kotta Radja.” The government, believing that the military events had made a deep impression on the Atjehers, wished to adhere to its policy of non-intervention and recalled the troops to Batavia. The result was that a year later troops had to be sent again: “De offers aan mensenlevens waren vergeefs gebracht. Slavenhandel en zeeroverij werden op de oude voet voortgezet.” The political failure of 1872 — the assumption that “limited” military measures would suffice — inaugurated the protracted “schier eindeloos gesukkel” of the Atjeh-oorlog, which only Van Heutsz would bring to an end around the turn of the century.
Significance
The 1872 decision is the formal beginning of the Atjeh-oorlog. Its premise — that “limited” military measures would suffice to bring the Atjehers to reason — would be repeatedly falsified over the next thirty years and would be the standing reproach to the Dutch political authorities that Frijling formulates in his sketch. The decision is also the moment at which the Netherlands took upon itself, at British insistence, the active suppression of Atjehese piracy and slavery — the obligation it had assumed in 1814 and had failed to discharge for fifty-eight years.
See Also
- First Aceh Expedition (1873)
- Second Aceh Expedition (1873-1874)
- Capture of the Kraton (24 January 1874)
- Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1871
- Anglo-Dutch Treaty of London
- J. H. R. Köhler
- J. van Swieten
- J. B. van Heutsz
- Kotta Radja
- Kraton of Aceh
- Acheh
- Achehnese
- Zeeroverij
- Slavernij in Nederlandsch-Indië
- Niet-inmengingspolitiek
- American bombardment of the Atjehse coast (1831)
- Bombardment of the Atjehse coast by the British (1844)
- Aceh War
- Pacificatie van Atjeh
- J. Frijling
- 1814
- 1844
- 1871
- 1872
- 1873
- 1874
Source
J. Frijling, Een stukje geschiedenis der Indische Buitengewesten, voor wie dat niet overbodig mocht zijn (1946), pp. 7–8. Koninklijke Bibliotheek shelfmark 0465 0898.