J. Frijling was a Dutch engineer (Ir.) who in 1946 published the short sketch Een stukje geschiedenis der Indische Buitengewesten, voor wie dat niet overbodig mocht zijn — “A little piece of the history of the Indies Buitengewesten, for whom that might not be superfluous” — a survey of the Dutch colonial record on slavery, piracy, and non-intervention in the Buitengewesten (the islands and outer provinces of the Netherlands-Indies outside Java) from the Verdrag van Londen of 1814 to the pacification of Atjeh around 1900. The sketch is the source for the 1831 American bombardment, the 1844 British bombardment, the 1872 Dutch military measures, and the Köhler échec and Van Swieten’s capture of the Kraton of 1873–1874.
The Sketch of 1946
The sketch was published in 1946 — that is, immediately after the Second World War and the German occupation of the Netherlands, a context that Frijling makes explicit at the outset by comparing the poverty of the Netherlands in 1814 (after the French occupation) with its poverty in 1945 (after the German). The comparison is the foundation of Frijling’s plea of on-macht (powerlessness) rather than on-wil (ill-will) for the Dutch failure to suppress slavery in the Buitengewesten after 1814. The sketch is divided into roughly three parts: the failure to suppress slavery and piracy from 1814 to 1872; the Atjeh-oorlog of 1873–1904 as the consequence of that failure; and the pacification by Van Heutsz and the subsequent administrative reforms as the resolution. The sketch is preserved in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek under shelfmark 0465 0898.
Significance for Atjeh Historiography
Frijling’s sketch is a useful, compact, secondary source for the international and political background to the Atjeh-oorlog. It is particularly valuable for its record of the 1831 and 1844 foreign bombardments of the Atjehse coast — events that are otherwise poorly documented in Dutch colonial historiography — and for its sharp formulation of the Dutch niet-inmengingspolitiek as the cause of the protracted “schier eindeloos gesukkel” of the Atjeh war. Frijling’s admiration for Van Heutsz — “de man, die in zekere kringen, waar men dikwijls slaaf is van leuzen, als geweldenaar en onderdrukker te boek staat” — and his defence of Van Heutsz’s policy of preserving native self-government under a thin layer of properly prepared Dutch administrators is the polemical point of the sketch.
See Also
- Slavernij in Nederlandsch-Indië
- Zeeroverij
- Niet-inmengingspolitiek
- American bombardment of the Atjehse coast (1831)
- Bombardment of the Atjehse coast by the British (1844)
- Dutch military measures against Atjehse piracy (1872)
- First Aceh Expedition (1873)
- Capture of the Kraton (24 January 1874)
- Pacificatie van Atjeh
- J. B. van Heutsz
- J. H. R. Köhler
- J. van Swieten
- Aceh War
- 1814
- 1946
Source
J. Frijling, Een stukje geschiedenis der Indische Buitengewesten, voor wie dat niet overbodig mocht zijn (1946). Koninklijke Bibliotheek shelfmark 0465 0898.
J. Frijling was a Dutch engineer (Ir.) who in 1946 published the short sketch Een stukje geschiedenis der Indische Buitengewesten, voor wie dat niet overbodig mocht zijn — “A little piece of the history of the Indies Buitengewesten, for whom that might not be superfluous” — a survey of the Dutch colonial record on slavery, piracy, and non-intervention in the Buitengewesten (the islands and outer provinces of the Netherlands-Indies outside Java) from the Verdrag van Londen of 1814 to the pacification of Atjeh around 1900. The sketch is the source for the 1831 American bombardment, the 1844 British bombardment, the 1872 Dutch military measures, and the Köhler échec and Van Swieten’s capture of the Kraton of 1873–1874.
The Sketch of 1946
The sketch was published in 1946 — that is, immediately after the Second World War and the German occupation of the Netherlands, a context that Frijling makes explicit at the outset by comparing the poverty of the Netherlands in 1814 (after the French occupation) with its poverty in 1945 (after the German). The comparison is the foundation of Frijling’s plea of on-macht (powerlessness) rather than on-wil (ill-will) for the Dutch failure to suppress slavery in the Buitengewesten after 1814. The sketch is divided into roughly three parts: the failure to suppress slavery and piracy from 1814 to 1872; the Atjeh-oorlog of 1873–1904 as the consequence of that failure; and the pacification by Van Heutsz and the subsequent administrative reforms as the resolution. The sketch is preserved in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek under shelfmark 0465 0898.
Significance for Atjeh Historiography
Frijling’s sketch is a useful, compact, secondary source for the international and political background to the Atjeh-oorlog. It is particularly valuable for its record of the 1831 and 1844 foreign bombardments of the Atjehse coast — events that are otherwise poorly documented in Dutch colonial historiography — and for its sharp formulation of the Dutch niet-inmengingspolitiek as the cause of the protracted “schier eindeloos gesukkel” of the Atjeh war. Frijling’s admiration for Van Heutsz — “de man, die in zekere kringen, waar men dikwijls slaaf is van leuzen, als geweldenaar en onderdrukker te boek staat” — and his defence of Van Heutsz’s policy of preserving native self-government under a thin layer of properly prepared Dutch administrators is the polemical point of the sketch.
See Also
- Slavernij in Nederlandsch-Indië
- Zeeroverij
- Niet-inmengingspolitiek
- American bombardment of the Atjehse coast (1831)
- Bombardment of the Atjehse coast by the British (1844)
- Dutch military measures against Atjehse piracy (1872)
- First Aceh Expedition (1873)
- Capture of the Kraton (24 January 1874)
- Pacificatie van Atjeh
- J. B. van Heutsz
- J. H. R. Köhler
- J. van Swieten
- Aceh War
- 1814
- 1946
Source
J. Frijling, Een stukje geschiedenis der Indische Buitengewesten, voor wie dat niet overbodig mocht zijn (1946). Koninklijke Bibliotheek shelfmark 0465 0898.