Britain Colonized Indonesia – After the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the death of King Charles III, England was once again in the spotlight. took the throne. The history of British colonialism, including its traces in Indonesia, has also become a hot topic of discussion.
Britain Colonized Indonesia
lxnews – Susie Sudarman, international relations observer at the University of Indonesia, said the history of British colonialism can be traced to the Banda Islands.
“Thus, Puro Ran in the Banda Islands can be said to be the beginning of British colonization. British traces in Indonesia were first seen in 1579, when Francis Drake and Thomas Cavendish came in search of spices.
Based on the book “History of Indonesia” by Sardiman MA, at that time they were able to send spices from Ternate Island across the Indian Ocean to England. Drake’s success in obtaining spices from Mark made England consider trade in Southeast Asia and East Asia.
In 1583, another English sailor, Ralph Fitch, visited Indonesia. In this country, he moored his ship in Malacca.
For three years he devoted himself to shipping and trade in Indonesia. Fitch then returned to England in 1591 bringing a wealth of information. According to the Indonesian history book published by the Ministry of Education and Culture, in 1602, England led by James Lancaster sent an envoy to Banten to establish bilateral relations.
The Sultan of Banten welcomed this and gave permission to establish a trade office in the area. In 1604, the British established trading offices in Ambon, Makassar, Jepara and Jayakarta.
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Currently, Indonesia itself is under Dutch colonial rule. At this point, the Netherlands lost the war with France, and the Dutch colonies, including Indonesia, came under French control. The British did not survive, but were finally able to colonize Indonesia between 1811 and 1816. At that time, the British army arrived with warships and tens of thousands of soldiers.
In less than a week, the army was able to take Batavia. Still under pressure, the Dutch were willing to surrender Tuntan and hand over Indonesia to the British on September 18 1811.
When the British took control of Indonesia, they hired Stamford Raffles to organize the region. He then abolished the monopoly system of trade and forced cultivation introduced by the Dutch and replaced it with a system that was considered fairer. Later, the British implemented a land rental system and divided the Java region. Raffles also appointed a local regent as part of the government.
Susie, an international relations observer, said Raffles had held meetings with leaders of the common law community.
As a result, Raffles declared the abolition of slavery in all British colonies, he said.
Raffles also gave slaves certificates of freedom as free people. He eliminated the differences between European society and local society. Raffles divided the island of Java into 16 settlements to make it easier for the British to form a government. He also changed the Western system of government.
In Susie Suderman’s eyes, Raffles also brought about other changes, such as the civilization of the people of Bengkulu, the capital city.
Many women and men, especially the rich, were literate. Raffles also abolished the system of forced confiscation and pepper cultivation.
Raffles stated that all the land belonged to the government and demanded rent from the farmers who worked on the land to collect state coffers. “In this way, he abolished the forced labor system and the farmers were freed from slavery,” said Susie.
However, the implementation of this system failed for several reasons, including the difficulty of determining the amount of land and building tax due to the need to measure and consider it.
Apart from that, the monetary payment system has not been fully implemented in Indonesia. Land ownership is also still traditional, making it difficult to regulate further.
This occupation did not last long. Things changed again when England defeated France under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte.
This defeat caused several regions, including the Netherlands, to separate from France. After gaining independence from France, the Dutch had the opportunity to re-colonize Indonesia.
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This geopolitical situation brought England and the Netherlands to the negotiating table in London in 1814. At this conference they agreed to the Treaty of London which stipulated that England would return the islands to the Netherlands. However, an agreement was only reached two years later. During the British colonial period, Indonesia was led by Lieutenant General Thomas Stamford Raffles. Raffles has made several changes, including:
- Elimination of the trade monopoly system
introduced by the Dutch - Elimination of the forced cultivation system
- Using a fairer system
- The appointment of local regents is part of this
government - Division of Java
- Supports education and development
Intellectuals from indigenous communities.
British colonization in Indonesia had a major impact on the development of Indonesian history, culture and science. However, British colonialism did not last long, the Dutch managed to defeat the British and regain control of Indonesia.
Several regions of the Indonesian archipelago were once colonized by the Portuguese, Dutch, Germans and British. However, after the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815, the Dutch were able to maintain hegemony over the entire archipelago.
British troops arrived in Indonesia in September 1945 on behalf of the Allies to care for Japanese and Dutch prisoners of war. While Dutch troops helped regain control of Indonesia, British troops had to face various resistance from Indonesian troops.
