The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony covering much of the Indonesian archipelago, with its administrative centre at Batavia on the island of Java. It was created when the Dutch state took over the possessions of the bankrupt Dutch East India Company at the very start of the nineteenth century. Colonial rule brought a profitable export economy built on spices, sugar, coffee and rubber, enforced in part through compulsory cultivation schemes, and the Dutch gradually extended control to the outer islands. In the twentieth century, a growing nationalist movement challenged colonial rule. After the Japanese occupation of 1942-1945, Indonesian leaders proclaimed independence, and the Netherlands recognized it in 1949 after a bitter war.
Before and after
- from 5 June 1799 to 1 January 1804Alexander von Humboldt begins his American expedition
- 15 July 1799The Rosetta Stone is found
- from 9 November 1799 to 10 November 1799Coup of 18 Brumaire
- 14 December 1799Death of George Washington
- from 1 January 1800 to 17 August 1945Dutch East Indies
- from 1800 to 1900Rise of Romantic music
- from c. 1800s to 1860sCircassian genocide
- 1800Battery
- 18th centuryRite of Adoption
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- 1831Discovery of Lewis chessmen
- from 17 March 1861 to 18 June 1946Kingdom of Italy
- from 3 January 1868 to 3 May 1947Empire of Japan
- from 23 October 1868 to 30 July 1912Meiji era
- October 1871Schliemann begins digging at Hisarlik
- 1899Oracle bones reveal early Chinese writing
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 18th century.