Liberal Period (Dutch East Indies)
Encyclopedia
The Liberal Period refers to the economic polices instituted in the Dutch East Indies
from the mid-nineteenth century.
(or "forced plantation" in Indonesian) in place for most of the nineteenth century, the Dutch colonial government in the Indonesian archipelago required indigenous farmers to deliver, as a sort of tax, fixed amounts of specified crops, such as sugar or coffee. Much of Java
became a Dutch plantation, making it a profitable, self-sufficient colony and saving the Netherlands from bankruptcy and helping it become a thriving and modernised bourgeois society. The Cultivation System, however, brought much economic hardship to Javanese peasants, who suffered famine and epidemics in the 1840s, attracting much critical public opinion in the Netherlands.
had been dominant in policy making in the Netherlands. Its free market philosophy found its way to the Indies where the cultivation system was de-regulated. Under agrarian reforms from 1870, producers were no longer compelled to provide crops for exports, but the Indies were open up to private enterprise. Dutch businessmen set up large, profitable plantations. Sugar production doubled between 1870 and 1885; new crops such as tea and cinchona flourished, and rubber was introduced, leading to dramatic increases in Dutch profits.
Changes were not limited to Java, or agriculture; oil from Sumatra and Kalimantan
became a valuable resource for industrialising Europe. Frontier plantations of tobacco and rubber saw the destruction of jungle in the Outer Islands. Dutch commercial interests expanded off Java to the outer islands with increasingly more territory coming under direct Dutch government control or dominance in the latter half of the 19th century. Tens of thousands of coolies were brought to the Outer Islands from China, India, and Java to work the plantations and they suffered cruel treatment and a high death rate.
Liberals said the benefits of economic expansion would trickle down to the local level. However, the resulting scarcity of land for rice production, combined with dramatically increasing populations, especially in Java, led to further hardships. The world wide recession of the late 1880s and early 1890s saw the commodity prices on which the Indies depended collapsed. Journalists and civil servants observed that the majority of the Indies population were no better of than under the previous regulated Cultivation System economy and tens of thousands starved.
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
from the mid-nineteenth century.
Background: the cultivation system
Under the cultivation systemCultivation System
The Cultivation System , or less accurately the Culture System, was a Dutch government policy in the mid-nineteenth century for its Dutch East Indies colony...
(or "forced plantation" in Indonesian) in place for most of the nineteenth century, the Dutch colonial government in the Indonesian archipelago required indigenous farmers to deliver, as a sort of tax, fixed amounts of specified crops, such as sugar or coffee. Much of Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
became a Dutch plantation, making it a profitable, self-sufficient colony and saving the Netherlands from bankruptcy and helping it become a thriving and modernised bourgeois society. The Cultivation System, however, brought much economic hardship to Javanese peasants, who suffered famine and epidemics in the 1840s, attracting much critical public opinion in the Netherlands.
De-regulation of the Indies economy
Prior to the late 1800s recession, the Liberal PartyLiberal Party (Netherlands)
The Liberal Party was a Dutch conservative liberal political party. The LP played only a marginal role in Dutch politics.-Party history:...
had been dominant in policy making in the Netherlands. Its free market philosophy found its way to the Indies where the cultivation system was de-regulated. Under agrarian reforms from 1870, producers were no longer compelled to provide crops for exports, but the Indies were open up to private enterprise. Dutch businessmen set up large, profitable plantations. Sugar production doubled between 1870 and 1885; new crops such as tea and cinchona flourished, and rubber was introduced, leading to dramatic increases in Dutch profits.
Changes were not limited to Java, or agriculture; oil from Sumatra and Kalimantan
Kalimantan
In English, the term Kalimantan refers to the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, while in Indonesian, the term "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo....
became a valuable resource for industrialising Europe. Frontier plantations of tobacco and rubber saw the destruction of jungle in the Outer Islands. Dutch commercial interests expanded off Java to the outer islands with increasingly more territory coming under direct Dutch government control or dominance in the latter half of the 19th century. Tens of thousands of coolies were brought to the Outer Islands from China, India, and Java to work the plantations and they suffered cruel treatment and a high death rate.
Liberals said the benefits of economic expansion would trickle down to the local level. However, the resulting scarcity of land for rice production, combined with dramatically increasing populations, especially in Java, led to further hardships. The world wide recession of the late 1880s and early 1890s saw the commodity prices on which the Indies depended collapsed. Journalists and civil servants observed that the majority of the Indies population were no better of than under the previous regulated Cultivation System economy and tens of thousands starved.