The troonrede of 1901 — the speech from the throne at the opening of the 1901 session of the Staten-Generaal — was the official proclamation of the ethical policy. Drafted under the Kuyper ministry, the troonrede gave an ereplaats — place of honour — to the “staatkunde van zedelijke verplichting” — policy of moral obligation — that Kuyper’s anti-revolutionary Ons Program ([[1878)|Ons Program]] of 1878 had been the first to formulate in political form.
The proclamation
The troonrede of 1901 proclaimed that the entire government policy in the Indies was to be “doordrongen van het besef, dat Nederland tegenover de bevolking dezer gewesten een zedelijke roeping heeft te vervullen” — penetrated by the consciousness that the Netherlands owed a moral vocation to the population of these regions. The doctrine of the moral vocation of the Netherlands towards its colonial populations was soon adopted by the other political parties; “het zou trouwens niet denkbaar zijn, dat ze was afgewezen” — it would not have been conceivable, after all, that it should have been rejected.
The Kuyperian source
For the Christian parties, especially the anti-revolutionaries, the zedelijke roeping was clear: the first Dutch duty was to bring to the Indies “die zegeningen van veiligheid en orde, die Nederland, sinds hier het licht der evangeliën doordrong, door Gods goede gunst ontving en, God zij lof, nog steeds bezitten mag” — those blessings of security and order that the Netherlands, since the light of the Gospels penetrated here, has received by God’s good grace and, praise God, still possesses. The second duty — preparing the Indies for greater autonomy — was more acceptable to the non-confessional parties than the first, with its Christian-zending subtext. The two duties together were the political seed of the ethical-policy state.
The Atjeh context
The troonrede of 1901 was proclaimed at the very moment the Atjeh-oorlog ([[1873-1904)|Atjeh-oorlog]] was being brought to its crisis. In 1901 the Dutch also undertook expeditions to Djambi and Korintji; in 1904 Van Daalen’s expedition to the Gajoe- and Alaslanden would complete the conquest of the sultanate. The conquest of Atjeh and the proclamation of the ethical policy were thus two faces of a single program: subjugation in the name of civilisation.
The material consequences
The year 1901 also marked the beginning of concrete reforms. Misoogst and hongersnood in parts of Java had made it impossible to wait for the report of the Commissie tot onderzoek van de mindere welvaart ([[1902)|commissie tot onderzoek van de mindere welvaart]] that would be installed in 1902. The principal causes of the Indies poverty — population growth and the pressure that the Atjeh-oorlog ([[1873-1904)|Atjeh-oorlog]] was exerting on the colonial budget — were already well known, even if not always openly acknowledged.
Significance
The troonrede of 1901 is the official proclamation of the ethical policy. After 1901 the pacificatie, the Van Daalen expedition, and the annexation of Djambi-Korintji (1901), Borneo (1904), Celebes (1905) and Bali (1906) all proceeded in the name of the moral vocation the troonrede had proclaimed.
See Also
- Ethische Politiek
- Abraham Kuyper
- Ons Program (1878)
- Atjeh-oorlog (1873-1904)
- Pacificatie van Atjeh
- Van Daalen’s Gajo-Alas-Batak expedition (1904)
- Commissie tot onderzoek van de mindere welvaart (1902)
- Djambi
- Korintji
- Borneo
- Celebes
- Bali
- 1878
- 1901
- 1902
- 1904
- 1905
- 1906
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. 279, 285.