A. W. P. Weitzel

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tagsperson, minister, dutch, war, politician
aliasesA.W.P. Weitzel, Minister Weitzel, Minister of War Weitzel

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A. W. P. Weitzel was a Dutch politician appointed Minister of War before the treatment of the Staatsbegrooting, who took up his function on 6 October 6 October 1873. His budget was treated on 17 December 17 December 1873, in the immediate aftermath of the failure of the first Aceh expedition and of the rejection of the budget of Marine of 11 December 11 December 1873 which had led to the discharge of the Minister of Marine Brocx.

Appointment, 6 October 1873

Before the treatment of the Staatsbegrooting, the new Minister of War, A. W. P. Weitzel, was appointed, who took up his function on 6 October 6 October [1873]. His budget was treated on 17 December 17 December [1873], in the immediate aftermath of the failure of the first Aceh expedition and of the parliamentary crisis occasioned by the rejection of the budget of Marine.

Significance

Weitzel’s appointment as Minister of War in October 1873 came at a critical juncture in the Atjeh-oorlog. The first Aceh expedition had failed in April 1873 with the death of General Köhler; the second expedition was being prepared; the condition of the Indies army had been exposed by the failure of the first expedition; and the Dutch navy had been shown to be inadequate for the blockade of the coast of Atjeh. The Minister of War in this period had therefore to preside over the levying of troops in the Netherlands to bring the Indies army up to strength, the equipment of all troops with breech-loading rifles, and the reinforcement of the artillery with newer breech-loading guns from Europe.

Account from Verstege’s Een beroep op het Nederlandsche volk (1886)

Verstege quotes the captain of 1849 against the minister of 1885. As a kapitein, Weitzel wrote the history of the third Balinese campaign (Kampen, 1859 work cited), in which the reasons were given why Bali was not to be conquered: the warlike spirit and love of independence of the Balinese, more nationality than expected, so that a complete conquest would have demanded some years, treasures and blood; while a partial maintenance (“eene gedeeltelijke inbezitneming”) of only the insurgent rulers’ realms was still less advisable, for it would have placed the Dutch permanently between the aversion and revolt-attempts of their new subjects on one side, and the still independent neighbours of the island on the other — considerations, the pamphlet remarks, which the general Van Swieten had all present for his Atjeh annexation, and which the Minister of Colonies Fransen van de Putte stamped with his approval. Weitzel also records that the Balinese princes rather gave the decision to the sword because the Opperbevelhebber’s magnanimity “bij hen, gelijk doorgaans bij Indische volken het geval is, wel voor zwakheid en vrees zal gegolden hebben” (“with them, as is usually the case with Indian peoples, would have counted for weakness and fear”) — the sentence for which Verstege regrets that Van Swieten never re-read it before his Atjeh peace-offers. Later, as minister of war, Weitzel is said — “naar men vrij algemeen beweert” (“as is very generally asserted”), with general van Swieten — to have been the principal adviser of the retreat into the concentrated position of 1885; and on 26 May 1885, fighting the wetsvoorstel (bill) of the member Schepel for the Netherlands’ own land defence, Weitzel himself condemned “de meest mogelijke lijdelijke verdediging, een stelsel door alle deskundigen in alle tijden en in alle landen veroordeeld” (“the most passive defence possible, a system condemned by all experts in all times and in all countries”) — words which, Verstege underlines, contain the strongest possible condemnation of the system then followed in Atjeh.

See Also

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 II.

A. W. P. Weitzel was a Dutch politician appointed Minister of War before the treatment of the Staatsbegrooting, who took up his function on 6 October 6 October 1873. His budget was treated on 17 December 17 December 1873, in the immediate aftermath of the failure of the first Aceh expedition and of the rejection of the budget of Marine of 11 December 11 December 1873 which had led to the discharge of the Minister of Marine Brocx.

Appointment, 6 October 1873

Before the treatment of the Staatsbegrooting, the new Minister of War, A. W. P. Weitzel, was appointed, who took up his function on 6 October 6 October [1873]. His budget was treated on 17 December 17 December [1873], in the immediate aftermath of the failure of the first Aceh expedition and of the parliamentary crisis occasioned by the rejection of the budget of Marine.

Significance

Weitzel’s appointment as Minister of War in October 1873 came at a critical juncture in the Atjeh-oorlog. The first Aceh expedition had failed in April 1873 with the death of General Köhler; the second expedition was being prepared; the condition of the Indies army had been exposed by the failure of the first expedition; and the Dutch navy had been shown to be inadequate for the blockade of the coast of Atjeh. The Minister of War in this period had therefore to preside over the levying of troops in the Netherlands to bring the Indies army up to strength, the equipment of all troops with breech-loading rifles, and the reinforcement of the artillery with newer breech-loading guns from Europe.

See Also

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 II.

Een beroep op het Nederlandsche volk in zake het Atjeh-vraagstuk, door J. J. W. E. Verstege (Amsterdam: J. H. de Bussy, 1886), pp. 43-45, 90-91. OCR: DLP-158.

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