Conference and Conquest: The Dekker/Rochussen Years 1857-62
The Conference of Rotterdam
With peace with Russia concluded, Ottoman Integrity restored (for now) and Wales safely in British hands, British Prime Minister George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen turned his attention to Asia. Queen Victoria remained confident that King Frederik was a close and trusted friend of the United Kingdom although the Prime Minister and his fellow Peelites in the House of Commons were unsure. Nevertheless, both could agree that war with the Netherlands so soon after a war with Russia would be inadvisable.
To diffuse tension between the two nations, Earl Aberdeen proposed that the two nations should meet at a conference hosted in the port city of Rotterdam. King Frederik consented and sent Rochussen to represent The Netherlands while His Majesty took a well-deserved vacation in Southern Africa, having long relished the opportunity to go on safari.
The conference began on the 28th of February, only three weeks after the election and concluded only three days later. The British agreed to recognise the Oranje Map under the condition that the British Straits Settlements (Singapore, Malacca and Penang) remain under British Control. In exchange, The Netherlands agreed to recognise Greater British India and, under the condition that one day Dai Qing would fall under the rule of Great Britain, the recognition of British Rule in China, save Dutch Macau.
What seemed to be a fair and equal deal to The Earl of Aberdeen was seen as exploitation by the "Earl" of Java. Rochussen knew that the odds of Britain ever controlling the whole of China was unlikely, and while the Oranje map strictly forbade British Colonisation in the East Indies, the British negotiations didn't stop the Dutch from doing anything outside of invading India. It was clear to everyone except Earl Aberdeen and the British negotiators who had got the most out of the proceedings; They were rightly criticized by Lord Palmerston at home (who would win the 1857 election in a landslide shortly after the conference) and by Jan Rochussen abroad, who later said "(Earl Aberdeen) knew nothing of the Orient"
The Earl of Aberdeen, Chief British signatory of the Treaty of Rotterdam. His handling of the Crimean War and his failure to seek African concessions during the Conference of Rotterdam led him to be labeled one of the worst Prime Ministers in British History, second only to Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain
The Adventures of King Frederik
With business at home concluded His Majesty grew restless. He now had a Prime Minister to handle issues in his stead and as the country was at peace there was no armies to lead heroically as in the past. King Frederik had been a soldier all his life, he was a Prussian as well as a Dutchman after all.
Officially, King Frederik was to go on vacation in South Africa where he would meet up with the British Colonial Government to discuss the treatment of Boers in the Cape before going on safari in Transvaal, where he would stay at the expense of the Boer Government. The King was also keen to travel to British Natal and the Orange Free State, but only if he had time.
Of course, the British were far too busy with the Conference to notice that the King was not present despite being the most powerful man in The Netherlands, nor did they question the King's decision to depart with 3000 armed attendants in uniform in the middle of February despite the fact they were due to meet the Governor-General of South Africa in July. Indeed Frederik himself questioned how Britain was able to control a quarter of the world when the only Briton he knew of whose IQ exceeded that of a Rhesus monkey was Queen Victoria.
Unofficially, King Frederik had head much of the American Freebooters in South America and figured he'd give Freebooting a try. Madagascar was a country which had long been hostile to Western influence; It's Queen was famous for being an anti-western, anti-Christian tyrant bordering on insanity and was compared to with the likes of Emperor Caligula of ancient Rome. Her son Prince Rotoko however, was educated by a Frenchman and was known to be civilised and quite the Europhile. It seemed that putting the Prince on the throne would be an ideal cause to take up in the name of Civilisation, not to mention a Dutch-friendly nation in the region would be adequate compensation for the loss of the Cape.
Before heading to Madagascar, King Frederik made an unexpected visit to the British Protectorate of Durban in Zululand, where he visited the local chieftain and presented him with a gift, a brand new Dutch manufactured Breech-loading Rifle. King Frederik and his 3000-strong entourage of Royal Dutch soldiers stayed in the company of the warlike Zulu for a few days, where he sent advanced word of his intentions to the Prince's French tutor, Jean Laborde, who was asked to gain support for the young Prince from the inside.
The Dutch expedition landed on the eastern province of Toamasina where they were met by Prince Rotoko and an army of around 2000 natives; augmented further by around 1000 fierce Zulu warriors King Frederik had borrowed from his stay in Zululand the total strength of King Frederik's forces was around 6000. The Loyalists under Queen Ranavalona mustered an army of twice that number, but whereas the local Malagasy troops were untrained irregulars armed with whatever they could find (some Loyalists and most of Prince Rotoko's men had locally or French manufactured Flintlock Muskets, others used spears or wooden staves) Frederik's army were well trained, well disciplined and armed with the Dutch manufactured Chasse Rifle, the most advanced rifle of the era (and inspiration for further rifles, like the British Martini-Henry). The Zulu warriors though many had never seen a Rifle before, were brave and battle-ready as opposed to the untrained locals, and made excellent skirmishers.
The two forces met at the Battle of Toamasina. King Frederik had his better armed and trained Dutch troops form a square protecting the Prince and his entourage while the Zulu and native troops encircled the attacking Loyalist troops. This was a basic variation of the classical hammer and anvil strategy, with the Zulu/Malagasy troops acting as hammer to the Dutch Anvil. Within three hours or so, the battle was won and the Dutch forces marched on the capital. Antananarivo was taken a few days later and the Queen captured and executed in a manner most befitting Malagasy Royals; she was strangled.
Valiant Dutch Troops at the Dattle of Toamasina protecting the Prince's tutor, Jean Laborde and his staff (wearing black). Notice their brave and fallen Zulu allies.
After the capture of the Capital, Prince Rotoko was installed as King Radama II of Madagascar. The wise and progressive king did not forget his allies and the Dutch were given many economic privileges in the island, the right to send Calvinist missionaries and establish missionary schools which taught the Dutch Language. King Frederik praised the young King Radama for his foresight and suggested that he learn Dutch so that they could better correspond with each other (King Frederik spoke French of course, but as a Fourth Language). As a token of friendship, Frederik had some of his troops stay behind and train the Malagasy New Model Army; the first army outside of the Dutch Empire trained along Frederikan/Dutch lines.
The now-legendary photograph of King Radama II de Grote van Madagascar (1829-1917). Under his glorious sixty year reign Madagascar was transformed from a backwards African state to a modern nation. It remains the only African nation to have never been colonised by Europeans and the First to enter an alliance with a European power.
Dutch Action and British Reaction
Unlike his predecessor, Lord Palmerston was an expert in foreign affairs and he rightly criticised the way the Earl of Aberdeen ran the Foreign Office. Disaster after disaster made the public lose confidence in the Earl and in the March elections him and the Peelites were soundly defeated, managing less than two percent of the vote; the biggest defeat for an incumbent Prime Minister in British History.
Lord Palmerston won the 1857 Election in a landslide; partly due to his stances on Russia and China, partly due to his predecessor's incompetence.
Lord Palmerston was not as kind to the Dutch as his predecessor. His first act as Prime Minister was to declare war on China; he figured that if the Dutch were required to recognise British India's territorial integrity he would expand that territory as much as he could; the Chinese ban on the Opium trade might also have had something to do with it.
His second act was to deal with Anglo-Dutch ambitions in Southern Africa. Although Madagascar wasn't a Dutch Colony, it was under Dutch Influence and any Dutch Influence in the region would be good news for the hostile Boers in Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Palmerston knew that Queen Victoria was against any conflict with the Dutch as long as King Frederik was alive, and that an amicable solution was a viable and likely option.
What became known as the "Palmerston Proposal", The Dutch would hold influence in Madagascar and Transvaal while the British would in Zululand and the Oranje Free State. Although the plan made concessions for a future Dutch Colony in the Comoros Islands, it provided no Dutch Concessions on the African mainland, effectively leaving Southern Africa to the British. The proposal was accepted by King Frederik during his stay in Cape Town.
Keeping Promises: Policy at Home
While 1857 had been an eventful year for politics abroad, the rest of Dekker's second term was largely dominated by internal policies. The most important of these was Jan Rochussen's establishment of the State of Java and the Loyal Senate, which administered the whole of The Dutch East Indies from Batavia.
The establishment of the State of Java was one of Jan Rochussen's most important policies as Vice Prime Minister. It greatly impeded the Indonesian Home Rule movement and improved administrative efficiency in the whole of the Dutch east indies, thus increasing Dutch profits.
During this time of relative peace and stability, the Dekker government raised tariffs and slashed taxes, encouraging people from all walks of life to invest their earnings in state-funded projects. The Netherlands had the richest average populace in the world, with even vagrants and beggars investing in the Stock Market. With increasing industrialisation came increasing demand for coal and iron and investors flocked to invest in these commodities.
Such was the demand for the commodities trade that a special commodities exchange was set up in Eindhoven to deal with demand. Profits surged during the early 1860's.
Foreign policy returned to the fore in 1860, with the Dekker government finishing construction of the Suez canal. This decreased shipping time between The Dutch East Asian Empire and The Netherlands proper making investment and trade in Asia even more profitable than before. The Netherlands quickly became the second richest nation in the world during this period.
The Suez canal: the lifeline which held the Dutch East Asian Empire together.
The construction of the Suez canal coincided with the formal induction of Egypt into the Dutch Sphere of Influence. The Dutch Empire reached it's greatest height yet in 1860.
Dutch Possessions and Protectorates in South America
Dutch Possessions and Protectorates in Egypt
Dutch Possessions and Protectorates in Africa
Dutch Possessions and Protectorates in Southeast Asia
The Dutch Protectorates of Japan and Korea
Incorporating Bali
Bali-Lombok was a state with a long history of defiance against Dutch rule. During King Willem's reign, acts of transgression by Balinese troops in Makassar were common, as were cases of piracy and raids by Balinese pirates. Although these actions had largely ceased after the annexation of Aceh, many Nederlanders and Malay citizend of the Dutch East Indies had not forgotten them, and the newly founded Loyal Senate put pressure on the Dekker Government to keep it's election promise.
An example of Balinese transgression in Makassar (1836).
Prime Minister Dekker himself was keen to even the score with Bali, and war was declared on the 28th of January 1861. The pitiful Balinese louts and pirates were no match to the mighty veterans of the Batavia Colonial Army; The Battle of Bali was an easy victory for the Dutch who bravely slaughtered the entire Balinese "army".
With Bali's military slaughtered in only one battle and Lombok only able to mount a token defence, attention turned to the exploits of Dutch Naval Engineers who achieved further success in the fields of steam propulsion and ship construction. Shipyards in Rotterdam and Batavia were soon teeming with life as the first Dutch Ironclad warships were placed under construction.
The Island of Lombok fell on the 21st of October 1861 marking an end to the 300 year reign of the Balinese monarchy. It was also the last foreign state to be incorporated into the Dutch East Indies with only the indigenous peoples of central Borneo and East Papua left unincorporated.
The Dutch East Indies after the Annexation of Bali-Lombok
Coming up next: the 1862 Election, then I'm not quite sure what! any suggestions?