Transcript Dutch East India Company - End-of-Empires-South-East-Asia

Dutch East India Company
SOUTH EAST ASIA
Dutch East India Company
 The Netherlands had been part of Spain in 1516 and
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the Holy Roman Empire in 1519.
The Dutch gained more autonomy from Spain
Holland declared its independence in 1581.
In 1588, the Spanish Armada was defeated by the
English.
The Dutch worked hard to build a fleet of ships to
strengthen their position of independence.
The greatest navies were now British and the Dutch.
Dutch East India Company
 The Dutch now engaged the Spanish and Portuguese
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on the high seas and at their trading posts.
In 1594, Phillip had closed the Portuguese port of
Lisbon to Dutch merchant vessels.
This had acted as an incentive to the Dutch to
develop other markets.
They had sent a trading mission to the East Indies
the following year under Cornelius Houtman.
Houtman had succeeded in forming relations at
Bantam, Bali and Sumatra.
Dutch East India Company
 The East Indian trade became very competitive very
quickly
 Various European companies brought about strong
competition
 Thus the various Dutch interests decided to merge
 In 1602, the General United East India Company was
granted a charter by the government of the
Netherlands. Otherwise known as the Dutch East
India Company (DEIC)
Dutch East India Company
 The Dutch East India Company was one of the
various European East India Companies
 DEIC was the premier joint-stock trading company
of the Netherlands during the 17th and 18th
centuries
 The company took the Spice Islands (the Moluccas)
from the Portuguese
 In search of even greater riches the company
sponsored explorations throughout the Pacific
Ocean.
Dutch East India Company
 DEIC was given broad powers
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the exclusive right to trade between the Cape of Good
Hope and the Strait of Magellan
the right to make war on other European countries
to form alliances with the princes of the east
to perform various administrative and judicial functions
 The government reserved the right to revoke
privileges if necessary and to share in the profits
Dutch East India Company
 The Dutch were aided in their trading endeavors by
extensive experience as merchants and bankers
 The Dutch also had goods that could be exchanged
for the spices and textiles of the East.
 These goods included high-ticket items such as
porcelain, velvets, and marble work, along with more
mundane items such as soaps, oils, and cured
herring.
 Convoys were sent from the Netherlands three times
a year, accompanied by heavily armed naval ships.
Dutch East India Company
 The ascendancy of the Dutch in the Spice Islands,
and in Malaysia, Sumatra, and Java to the west, did
not come without military action.
 The Portuguese had spread themselves thin
militarily in the East Indies.
 In 1615, the Dutch drove the Portuguese from
Amboina.
 In 1619, Jan Pieterszoon Coen conquered Jacatra
and founded the city of Batavia in Java (present-day
Jakarta, Indonesia) as the headquarters of the
company.
Dutch East India Company
 From Batavia, the DEIC conducted business
throughout the East Indies to parts of China, Japan,
India, and Iran in Asia
 The Cape of Good Hope in Africa they founded the
first European settlement in South Africa
 In the 1650s–1660s, the Dutch captured Malacca,
Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka), and Celebes
 The English and the British East India Company also
were making inroads in the region
Dutch East India Company
 It was eventually resolved that the Dutch would
control the Spice Islands, and the English would
dominate India.
 In the 18th century, Dutch strength in the East
Indies began to decline
 The English had solidified their position in world
trade by putting more efforts into colonization
 The French and the French East India Company had
also developed trade in the region
Dutch East India Company
 Rampant corruption overtook the Dutch East India
Company and by 1724, it was unable to pay
dividends to investors and survived by taxing the
native population.
 The British successfully attacked Dutch possessions
in the Far East in 1780.
 As of 1795, the French were in control of the United
Provinces known as the Batavian Republic
 The Dutch crown dissolved the Dutch East India
Company in 1798