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Colonizers force colonies to pay dearly for independence
The Dutch required Indonesia to pay all the debts of Dutch East Indies including the costs of the two Dutch military actions after Indonesia declared independence.
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Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte walk during their meeting at the presidential palace in Bogor, Indonesia, on Oct. 7, 2019. (Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)
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ndonesia celebrated its 77th anniversary of independence on Aug. 17, a few weeks ago. Yet, in the Netherlands, the schoolbooks say the formal Indonesian independence came on Dec. 27, 1949. That the Netherlands acknowledges a different date has huge financial benefit for the country that colonized Indonesia for hundreds of years.
After Sukarno proclaimed Indonesian independence in 1945, the Dutch colonial government was adamant and returned to reclaim Indonesia with the military operation known as “Operation Product” which took place from July 21-Aug. 5, 1947.
However, this operation failed. The Dutch still refused to give up and came back with a second attack in December 1948. On Dec. 24 that year the United Nations Security Council demanded an end to hostilities and finally both the Netherlands and Indonesia agreed to meet in the Hague for the Roundtable Conference.
Held from Aug. 23 to Nov. 2, 1949, the conference discussed the sovereignty of Indonesia, while the Netherlands was reluctant to lose a rich country that had been one of their sources for spices and natural resources and helped them construct luxurious government buildings in the Netherlands.
The idea of the Dutch-Indonesian Union with the Dutch Queen as the Crown of the Union was expressed. However, the Indonesian delegation, which was led by Mohammad Hatta and Mohammad Roem, insisted on sovereignty and nothing less. For this reason, the Dutch required Indonesia to pay all the debts of Dutch East Indies including the costs of the two Dutch military actions after Indonesia declared independence, because the Dutch claimed that they were carried out to “restore peace and order” in Indonesia.
After over two months and with the pressure from the United States member of the UN Commission on Indonesia, Indonesia had to agree to pay the Netherlands 4.5 million gulden (about US$2.045 million) -- a very expensive price to pay for the young nation’s independence.
Indonesia was not the only country that had to bear the burdens of debts to gain sovereignty. At least 14 countries in Africa were forced by France to pay colonial tax -- for the benefit of what? Of slavery and colonization in these African nations, which in the eye of the colonizer are usually translated as civilization and order?
