Ewald Vanvugt

The loot of ethics

The introduction at the start of the 20th century of the Ethical Policy to raise the living standard of the native population of the Dutch East Indies coincided with the introduction of the bolt action rifle. Before the Ethical Policy the conquest of the archipelago's outer territories was deemed too expensive, and with just 4,000 Europeans in the archipelago in 1852, there had not been enough boots on the ground. The fire power of the new riffles made conquest a lot more economical.

The Ethical Policy had ended "the veneration of Mammon" of the colonial government. At the same time a breach of ethical norms set by the Europeans (slavery, suttees, but also smuggling and ransacking) had become a casus belli. It would lead to one of the bloodiest periods of Dutch colonial history. As it is today, the army was seen as an instrument for the spread of civilisation. As an additional benefit, conquest would save the archipelago from British and American interference and thus protect the pax Neerlandica.

Ewald Vanvugt has used the conquest of Lombok to look at the political and cultural effects of such a war on the colonial power.

The island of Lombok had long been visited by Dutch envoys. The island was ruled by Balinese rajas of the House of Karang Asem, who formally accepted Dutch suzerainty, but operated independently. With their Winchester and Spencer riffles, the Balinese were better armed than the cost-conscious Dutch. Agriculture, various business interests (including shares in a Chinese shipping company in Singapore) and the smuggling of opium had made the king a very rich man. The smuggling was bad for the coffers of the colonial government that had implemented its own opium monopoly. The Balinese on Lombok were in conflict with their Sasak subjects, and bought two steam ships for military purposes in Singapore. These ships were confiscated by the Indies navy. The conflict lingered on, and allowed the colonial government to interfere to aid the suffering Sasaks in 1894.

The first expedition consisted of 9 ships and 4,400 men. The raja gave in to this show of force and even had his son, the evil genius in the treatment of the Sasaks, executed. The raja was also supposed to pay one million guilders (he had gold coins from Europe, the Americas and the Philippines). But in a surprise attack Balinese troops killed 97 Dutch troops, including the commanding general Van Ham. Many of the 127 wounded died later and 26 were lost. The Balinese also obtained most of the Dutch cannons and guns. It was the biggest Dutch defeat of the 19th century.

The "betrayal" of the raja required "revenge". Christian values stopped in such a case, according to one ethicist on the North Sea. At home in Holland it greatly increased interest in the colonial army, but local rajas also offered troops for a second Dutch effort.

The palace city of Mataram fell first. It was raised to the ground, while its artefacts and furniture was destroyed. Jewellery and ceremonial daggers were stolen by the military. The Dutch army and navy were increased to 8,200 men. When the rajah had escaped after an all day and all night attack, the army found a booty of money, gold, silver and jewellery and the Nagarakretagama epos. The raja soon surrendered, but most of his remaining family members committed the traditional puputan. The financial costs of the war were 2.3 million guilders, but the booty had a value of only 1.7 million guilders, made up among others of 230 kilos of gold and 7,199 kilos of silver.

The conquest would lead to a réveil of colonial policy. The wars became more industrial, with more bombardments, raseren of the terrain and the use of hand grenades, all in line with the strategy on Lombok. General Van Ham would slowly rise in status and obtained monuments in Lombok and the Netherlands. The golden and silver coins were melted and sold and more than 700 artefacts were brought to the Dutch central bank in Amsterdam. Here they were admired by the queen regent and the crown princess. Valuers assessed the price of the materials, which somewhat disappointed the authorities. But the founder of the Rijksmuseum considered it the finest jewellery collection of the Indies and essential for the study of "Buddhist civilisation". The objects could re-invigorate Dutch goldsmith art, and given that they had belonged to a king and his family, exhibiting the objects as colonial treasure would do them justice (as did the fear that they would end up in the British Museum after they were sold). The treasures, including a 75 carat diamond, were moved to the Rijksmuseum. Here they were shown as an example of "the endless riches of Eastern potentates whose treason led to their downfall" (the assessment is not supported by a quotation), together with earlier booty obtained by Golden Age admirals like Piet Hein and Michiel de Ruyter. The visitors spent for the widows of the expedition. A part of the treasure was later sent back to the museum in Batavia. The rest went to the Museum of Ethnology in Leiden, which also obtained objects from other little colonial wars. Their status as booty disappeared. "The looters became collectors". Some of the treasures were lost in a fire during the World Expo in Paris in 1931. Dutch museums obtained other objects taken home by the military.

Half the official treasures and the Nagarakretagama were returned to Indonesia in 1977 as part of a state visit of Queen Juliana. When the author visited the museum in 1986, only a part of the objects was on show or could be found in the storage rooms. The objects that remained in Holland were at the time of writing again stored in a vault of the central bank, but would return to a vault in Leiden. An exhibition of the Lombok treasures was organised in 1995, after the publication of this book.

Unfortunately we learn little about the consequences of the conquest for the people on Lombok. What happened to the raja's land that had generated such generous cash flows? Had the colonial government received any later income from the conquest? The protracted wars in Aceh were so expensive that taxes were raised in the Indies ("paid for by Javanese farmers") and Holland. The conquest of Lombok had also generated a loss. Equally, some of Mr. Vanvugt's quotes are unfortunate. There has never been proof of signs stating "no dogs or natives allowed" in the Dutch East Indies. Pramoedya Ananta Toer is quoted a few times. Pak Pram presented a view on history aimed at nation building, which is not always in line with more neutral observers.

Churchill has called Britain's colonial wars "a lot of jolly little wars against barbarous peoples" (quoted in Richard Toye's book Churchill's Empire). Mr. Vanvugt has not mentioned anything equivalent. However you see the same social Darwinism and belief in Western superiority at work, albeit in a more modest form.… (mer)