THE DUTCH POLITICAL CONFLICT

WITH THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA, 1945-1949

PART 2. DUTCH CIVIL ADMINISTRATORS (BESTUURSAMBTENAREN) IN THE NETHERLANDS INDIES AND NETHERLANDS NEW GUINEA,

1933-1962

Parts 2.1-2.6. Papers of selected Bestuursambtenaren

National Archives of the Netherlands, The Hague

on microfiche

Illustration from part 2.6. Papers of J. van Baal

Cover of brochure on "Petroleum in Netherlands New Guinea"

Introduction

The end of the Second World War in August 1945 sounded the death knell of Dutch colonialism in Indonesia. The proclamation of the Republic of Indonesia by Sukarno and Hatta on 17 August 1945 ushered in a confusing and complicated period of anticolonial struggle, civil war, military action by the Dutch and negotiations between the parties that ultimately led to the transfer of sovereignty to the Republic on 27 December 1949.

New series

These collections form the second part in a new series of micropublications on the end of Dutch colonialism in Asia being planned and carried out in cooperation with the National Archives in The Hague. It can be regarded as the continuation of the now dormant series "War and Decolonization" by MMF Publications, with which it does not overlap. The five parts of that series are also available from Moran Micropublications.

Focus

The new series has as theme "the Dutch political conflict with the Republic of Indonesia" not only in the pivotal years 1945-1949, but also extending into the early 1960s in order to cover the process of decolonization of Netherlands New Guinea, over which the Dutch had refused to transfer sovereignty at the end of 1949. It will also reach back into the 1930s and the years of war and occupation (1942-1945) to provide the necessary background to the crisis that ensued on 17 August 1945.

Part 2: Dutch Civil Administrators bestuursambtenaren)

Part 2: Dutch Civil Administrators (bestuursambtenaren)

The backbone of Dutch colonial rule in the East Indies was formed by the Binnenlands Bestuur manned by professional civil administrators of various ranks known as bestuursambtenaren. Often graduates of the special program in “Indology” at the University of Leiden, they were trained in the local cultures and languages as well as in economics, administration and customary law (adatrecht) in order to function well in their posts at local and regional levels. In consultation with archivists at the National Archives the papers of five civil administrators who worked in various parts of the Indonesian archipelago in the period 1930s to 1950s have been selected for micropublication. Additional parts are under consideration.