Cornelis de Houtman was a Dutch merchant seaman who commanded the first Dutch expedition to the East Indies. Although the voyage was difficult and yielded only a modest profit, Houtman showed that the Portuguese monopoly on the spice trade was vulnerable. A flurry of Dutch trading voyages followed, eventually leading to the displacement of the Portuguese and the establishment of a Dutch monopoly on spice trading in the East Indies.
The Aceh War, also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War (1873–1904), was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Kingdom of the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between representatives of Aceh and the United States in Singapore during early 1873. The war was part of a series of conflicts in the late 19th century that consolidated Dutch rule over modern-day Indonesia.
The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. The KNIL's air arm was the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force. Elements of the Royal Netherlands Navy and Government Navy were also stationed in the Netherlands East Indies.
Joannes Benedictus (Jo) van Heutsz was a Dutch military officer who was appointed governor general of the Dutch East Indies in 1904, years after he had become famous for bringing to an end to the long Aceh War.
The Netherlands, as a nation state, dates to 1568, when the Dutch Revolt created the Dutch Empire. Previously, the Germanic tribes had no written language during the ancient and early medieval periods, so what we know about their early military history comes from accounts written in Latin and from archaeology. This causes significant gaps in the historic timeline. Germanic wars against the Romans are fairly well documented from the Roman perspective; however, Germanic wars against the early Celts remain mysterious because neither side recorded the events. Wars between the Germanic tribes in Northern Belgium and the present day Netherlands, and various Celtic tribes that bordered their lands, are likely due to their geographical proximity.
Raymond Pierre Paul Westerling was a Dutch military officer of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army. He orchestrated a counter-guerrilla operation in Sulawesi during the Indonesian National Revolution after World War II and participated in a coup attempt against the Government of Indonesia in January 1950, a month after the official transfer of sovereignty. Both actions were denounced as war crimes by the Indonesian authorities. Born in the Ottoman Empire, despite his nickname, The Turk, Westerling was of mixed Dutch and Greek descent.
The klewang or kelewang is a category of traditional single-edged sword that can be found throughout the Malay Archipelago. Usually it is shorter than a pedang (sword) but longer than a golok (machete). There are straight bladed types, but most are curved.
The Battle of Manado took place as part of the Japanese offensive to capture the Dutch East Indies. It occurred at Manado on the Minahasa Peninsula on the northern part of Celebes Island, from 11–12 January 1942. The battle was noted as the first time in Japanese history that the country had deployed paratroopers in a military operation.
The Battle for The Hague took place on 10 May 1940 during the Battle of the Netherlands. German Fallschirmjäger units were dropped in and around The Hague to capture Dutch airfields and the city itself.
Alexander Willem Frederik Idenburg was a Dutch military officer and politician of the Anti Revolutionary Party who served as Governor-General of Suriname from 1905 until 1908, and the Dutch East Indies from 1909 until 1916. He also served as Minister of Colonies on three occasions between 1902 and 1919. Idenburg served on the Council of State from 1925 until his death in 1935.
Cut Nyak Dhien or Tjoet Nja' Dhien was a leader of the Acehnese guerrilla forces during the Aceh War. Following the death of her husband Teuku Umar, she led guerrilla actions against the Dutch for 25 years. She was posthumously awarded the title of National Hero of Indonesia on 2 May 1964 by the Indonesian government.
The 1740 Batavia massacre was a massacre and pogrom in which European soldiers of the Dutch East India Company killed ethnic Chinese residents of the port city of Batavia, Dutch East Indies, in the Dutch East Indies. The violence in the city lasted from 9 October 1740, until 22 October, with minor skirmishes outside the walls continuing late into November that year. Historians have estimated that at least 10,000 ethnic Chinese were massacred; just 600 to 3,000 are believed to have survived.
Bersiap is the name given by the Dutch to a violent and chaotic phase of the Indonesian National Revolution following the end of World War II. The Indonesian word bersiap means 'get ready' or 'be prepared'. The Bersiap period lasted from August 1945 to November 1947. In Indonesia, other terms aside from bersiap are commonly used, such as gedoran in Depok, ngeli in Banten and surrounding West Java, and gegeran and dombreng in Central Java.
The South Sulawesi Campaign was a campaign during the Indonesian National Revolution. It was a counter-insurgency offensive of the special forces of the KNIL against Indonesian infiltrations from Java and pro-Indonesian local militias. It was masterminded by the controversial Raymond Westerling, a captain in the KNIL. Westerling's operation, which started in December 1946 and ended in February 1947, succeeded in eliminating the insurgency and undermining local support for the Republicans by instituting summary executions of suspected enemy fighters.
Gotfried Coenraad Ernst "Frits" van Daalen was a Dutch military officer of the Royal Dutch East Indies Army who served as the Governor of Aceh from 1905 until 1908. During the Aceh War, van Daalen and his men were responsible for the Kuta Reh massacre, in which hundreds of men, women, and children were killed.
The Monument Indië-Nederland is located near the Olympiaplein in the southern part of Amsterdam. The monument was originally a memorial for General J. B. van Heutsz, who was the commandant of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army and is also known for conquering Aceh for the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1903 following the Aceh War. Because of political pressure the name was in 2004 changed to Monument Indië-Nederland.
The Korps Marechaussee te voet were a colonial gendarmerie of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL), principally used for counter-insurgency in the Dutch East Indies.
The Alas people is an indigenous ethnic group from Southeast Aceh Regency, Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia. The Alas are found in the Gunung Leuser, Ketambe, and Alas River areas.
Henricus Marinus Neeb, often recorded as H.M. Neeb, was a Dutch military doctor during the later stages of the long lasting Aceh War. He photographed sights in the area beginning in 1904 including architecture, indigenous peoples, colonial buildings such rail infrastructure and buildings, topography, scenes of Dutch soldiers, and Acehnese killed in the conflict.
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