Van Lansberge’s visit to Aceh in March-April 1877 was the inspection of the theatre of war in Atjeh by the Governor-General Mr. J. W. van Lansberge, who arrived at Oleh-leh on 14 March 14 March 1877 to inform himself personally of the situation and to decide what should next be done. The visit, coming four years after the beginning of the Atjeh-oorlog, led to the abandonment of offensive operations, the reorganisation of the inland administration of the XXV Moekims, and a policy of conciliation. With this visit the Atjeh War entered a new phase.
Background
When Van Lansberge arrived in March 1877 the war had lasted four years. “In all that time we had to contend with an enemy such as we had never before met in our Indian military history, and who, whatever blows were dealt him, remained untiringly bent on defending his ground foot by foot. The adversities that had befallen us were greater than any one could have foreseen; our troops were continually visited by diseases, among which especially the cholera claimed great sacrifices; the people, who considered themselves invincible, showed an unheard-of contempt for death; the terrain was little known to us and sometimes difficult to traverse; at many posts there was a lack of drinking water; food had all to be brought by sea; opportunity to care for our sick properly was lacking; special fatigues were continually demanded of our soldiers.”
Gradually much improvement had come; but still an effort was demanded of the Indies army greater than could be reconciled on the long run with its strength, and the war was very burdensome for the treasury, costing, as in 1876 and 1877, monthly about one and a half million guilders. For these reasons it was desirable to investigate whether some change could be made in the war, now that the program of General Pel was complete, the enemy cut off from the sea, and tokens of rapprochement beginning to show themselves from various sides.
The Visit and its Impressions
The impression that the Governor-General himself received during his visit was in general favourable: “On the roadstead of Oleh-leh there prevailed, in consequence of the number of ships lying there, great activity; on shore the high visitor was struck by the neat appearance of houses and streets, the efficient lighting of these, and the influx of Atjehers on the pasar. In the outworks of Kota Radja — Penajoeng, kampong Djawa and kampong Gedah — many neat houses of Chinese traders and private persons gave proof of the presence of capital and of confidence in the durability of our settlement.” All this, with the reports of rapprochement that came in from various sides, brought the Governor-General to the conviction that now an end could be made to the aggressive operations. One must now as much as possible apply oneself to a policy of conciliation. In a solemn meeting, which the Governor-General held on 25 March 25 March 1877 with the chiefs of the XXV Moekims and those of the submitted coast-states, he invoked their cooperation in that task, promised that the chiefs who should still voluntarily submit would be maintained in their authority, and announced the rebuilding of the great missigit at Kota Radja.
The New Phase
The inland administration of the XXV Moekims was definitively reorganised, which could at the same time serve as a proof of the Dutch unwavering intention not to give up the settlement. “Reduction of the troops was not yet considered possible; for the present the viceroy thought it necessary that the few coast-states, among which especially Samalanga, which still showed themselves hostile, should be brought to reason; and further it was necessary, by a firm attitude toward isolated enemy attacks — such as those to which Atoeh and Biloel-Zuid had just been exposed — to guard against the good spirit that could now be observed not flagging again; every échec, however small, had to be prevented. Therefore also a firm action against the Atjehers hostile to us outside Great Acheh was of much importance, for every proof of weakness would set us back a great way and exercise a disadvantageous influence on the good disposition.”
The strength of the troop force in March 1877 was: 351 officers and 9235 rank-and-file, besides the more than 3000 free workers with the engineers. The first task was the punishment of the still rebellious coast-states. In April 1877 an expedition was sent to the landscape Loöng on the west coast, where many of the Dutch army’s opponents were staying, and which had openly committed piracy against a trading vessel under British flag; the submission of Loöng and a few neighbouring landscapes followed. In the same month April Dutch ships arrived at Malaboeh to set up a fortified post; in May the whole East Coast was brought under Dutch authority by an expedition to Langsar; in July a new expedition was necessary to Simpang Olim; in August the expedition to Samalanga was carried out by Van der Heyden.
Significance
Van Lansberge’s visit inaugurated the second phase of the Atjeh-oorlog, in which the Dutch sought to consolidate their position and to bring the coast-states to submission by a combination of naval coercion and diplomacy. The phase was of short duration; the resistance revived in 1878 under the influence of Habib Abdurrahman, and the campaigns of 1878-1879 again became offensive, leading to the submission of the XXII Moekims and XXVI Moekims in 1879.
See Also
- J. W. van Lansberge
- K. van der Heyden
- J. L. J. H. Pel
- Oleh-leh
- Kota Radja
- XXV Moekims
- Samalanga
- Loöng
- Malaboeh
- Langsar
- Simpang Olim
- Expedition to Samalanga (August 1877)
- Aceh War
Source
De geschiedenis van Nederland in onzen tijd, by J. A. de Bruyne, Directeur der Hoogere Burgerschool te Zierikzee. Deel IV. 1872-1883. Nieuwe uitgave. Schiedam: J. F. Dupont, 1912, Hoofdstuk I, pp. 85-86.