This article is about the specific polity Dutch East Indies and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics
Was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Dutch government in 1800.
Establishment
January 1800: The Dutch East India Company came under the administration of the Dutch government in 1800.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Were a series of conflicts between France and several European monarchies between 1792 and 1815. They encompass first the French Revolutionary Wars against the newly declared French Republic and from 1803 onwards the Napoleonic Wars against First Consul and later Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. They include the Coalition Wars as a subset: seven wars waged by various military alliances of great European powers, known as Coalitions, against Revolutionary France - later the First French Empire - and its allies.
1.1.French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars - Theatre of war in the overseas colonies
The theatre of war in the overseas colonies during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
January 1802: British forces left the Maluku Islands in 1801.
January 1808: For more than a century, the succession of Cirebon lineages was conducted without any significant problems. However, by the end Sultan Anom IV reign (1798-1803), Keraton Kanoman faces succession disputes. One of the prince, Pangeran Raja Kanoman, demand his share of throne and separate the kingdom by forming his own, Kesultanan Kacirebonan.
August 1810: In 1810, British forces led by Admiral Robert Stopford occupied the Maluku Islands, also known as the Spice Islands, as part of the Napoleonic Wars. This military occupation was part of the British strategy to control key trading ports in the Dutch East Indies.
1.2.Invasion of Java (1811)
Was a successful British amphibious operation against the Dutch East Indian island of Java that took place between August and September 1811 during the Napoleonic Wars.
January 1811: The Kingdom of Holland was annexed to the First French Empire in 1810, and Java became a titular French colony.
August 1814: The British returned Java to the Dutch East Indies in 1814 under the Convention of London.
Were a series of conflicts between the Netherlands and the Bone state in southern Sulawesi.
2.1.First Bone War
Was a series of punitive expeditions of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army against the Bone state in South Sulawesi in 1824-25.
January 1839: In 1838 the Bone renewed the Treaty of Bungaya with the Dutch.
2.2.Second Bone War
Was a war fought from 20 February 1859 until 20 January 1860 between the forces of the Dutch East Indies and the Kingdom of Bone, in Indonesia.
February 1858: When the King of Bone, Ahmad Saleh, died on 16 February 1858, he was succeeded by his widow, Basse Arung Kajuara, who started to act as an independent ruler.
January 1860: Representatives of the Kingdom of Bone surrendered to the Dutch on 20 January 1860.
Were a series of military expeditions by the Dutch East Indies to conquer the island of Bali (Indonesia).
3.1.Dutch intervention in Northern Bali (1846)
Was a Dutch military intervention in the island of Bali, one of the many that eventually led to the annexion of the island to the Dutch East Indies.
January 1847: The local rulers of northern Bali agreed to recognize the treaties with the Dutch and to accommodate a small Dutch garrison.
January 1847: Once the main Dutch force had returned to Java, the local rulers of Northern Bali led by Jelantik refused to submit to the Dutch and united forces against them.
3.2.Dutch intervention in Bali (1849)
Was a Dutch military intervention in the island of Bali, one of the many that eventually led to the annexion of the island to the Dutch East Indies.
August 1849: A treaty signed in July 1849 gave control over the territories of Buleleng and Jembrana to the Dutch East Indies.
January 1850: Dutch forces landed in Padang Bai.
January 1850: In 1849, the Dutch East Indies continued their military campaign in Bali, occupying strategic locations such as Goa Lawah and Kusamba. This was part of their efforts to assert control over the island and suppress any resistance from the local Balinese rulers.
3.3.Dutch intervention in Bali (1906)
Was a Dutch military intervention in the island of Bali, one of the many that eventually led to the annexion of the island to the Dutch East Indies.
September 1906: A substantial force of the Royal Dutch East Indies Army, named the Sixth Military Expedition, landed at the northern part of Sanur beach.
January 1907: Dutch forces marched to Denpasar.
3.4.Dutch intervention in Bali (1908)
Was a Dutch military intervention in the island of Bali, one of the many that eventually led to the annexion of the island to the Dutch East Indies.
April 1908: In a final confrontation on 18 April 1908, Dewa Agung Jambe, the Raja of Klangkung, made a desperate sortie out of his Palace and was killed by a Dutch bullet.
November 1908: After the Dutch conquest of Klangkung, all the rajas of Bali submitted to Dutch Authorities.
Were a series of wars between the Dutch East Indies and the Kongsi Republics, which were self-governing Chinese mining communities in western Borneo.
4.1.Second Kongsi War
Was a war between the Dutch East Indies and the Kongsi Republics, which were self-governing Chinese mining communities in western Borneo.
January 1856: In 1855, the Dutch East Indies launched an expedition against the Chinese of the Kongsi states in Montrado, Borneo.
4.2.Third Kongsi War
Was a war between the Dutch East Indies and the Kongsi Republics, which were self-governing Chinese mining communities in western Borneo.
January 1885: The Lanfang Republic was ended by Dutch occupation in 1884.
Was a war between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Dutch Empire.
5.1.Second Dutch offensive
Was a Dutch military campaign to occupy the interior of the Sultanate of Aceh during the Aceh War.
January 1875: The Dutch occupiers abolished the Acehnese Sultanate and declared Aceh to be annexed to the Dutch East Indies proper.
5.2.Aceh counterratack
Was a counterattack by the Sultanate of Aceh against the Dutch invasion during the Aceh War.
January 1885: In 1884, the Dutch responded by withdrawing all their forces in Aceh into a fortified line around Banda Aceh.
Were a series of military operations by the Dutch Empire to occupy South Sulawesi (modern-day Indonesia).
January 1906: The Kingdom of Luwu was absorbed by the Dutch East Indies.
January 1906: In 1905, the entire Island of Sulawesi became part of the Dutch East Indies.
Was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945 (it started sooner in certain regions) between the Axis Powers (mainly Germany, Japan and Italy) and the Allies (mainly the Soviet Union, the U.S.A., the U.K., China and France). It was the war with more fatalities in history. The war in Asia began when Japan invaded China on July 7, 1937. The war in Europe began when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. The war ended with the complete defeat of the Axis powers, which were occupied by the Allies.
7.1.World War II (Asia & Pacific)
Was the East Asian, South Asian and Pacific theatre of World War II.
7.1.1.Malayan Campaign
Was a military campaign of Japan against British Malaya that ended with the expulsion of the British forces from the area.
January 1942: The Japanese invaded the Dutch East Indies in 1941-42 and the Dutch administration on Sumbawa quickly broke down.
7.1.2.Battle of Borneo (1941-42)
Was a successful campaign by Japanese Imperial forces for control of Borneo island, which was a British (the northern part) and Dutch (the southern part) possession.
December 1941: Allied troops retreated through the jungle to Singkawang, which fell in turn on 29 December.
7.1.3.Dutch East Indies campaign
Was the conquest of the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) by forces from the Empire of Japan in the early days of the Pacific campaign of World War II.
January 1942: Japanese invasion of Manado.
January 1942: Japanese invasion of Tarakan.
January 1942: Japanese conquest of Kendari.
January 1942: The Japanese invasion forces move to Balikpapan.
February 1942: Battle of Ambon: Japan invaded and conquered the island in a few days, facing Dutch, American and Australian forces.
February 1942: Makassar conquered by japan.
February 1942: After the conquest of Makassar Japan basically holds the entire Island of Sulawesi.
February 1942: Battle of Banjarmasin.
February 1942: The Malayan Campaign of the Japanese ends with the surrender of Singapore.
March 1942: Bali fell to Japan in february.
March 1942: Battle of Samarinda.
March 1942: Japanese occupation of entire Sumatra completed.
April 1942: The Japanese fought the British and Dutch, securing control of Borneo on April 1, 1942.
7.1.3.1.Battle of Java
Was the Japanese invasion of the island of Java, at the time part of the Dutch East Indies.
March 1942: The Japanese Tanaka Unit occupied Tjepoe on 2 March.
March 1942: The Japanese Kitamura Unit occupied Bodjonegoro.
March 1942: Battle of Leuwiliang.
March 1942: Buitenzorg was occupied by Japan.
March 1942: The Japanese advanced rapidly and overcame all Dutch army defence found in Blora, Soerakarta, Bojolali, Djokjakarta, Magelang, Salatiga, Ambarawa and Poerworedjo.
March 1942: Keboemen and Purwokerto, north of Tjilatjap were captured by the Japanese. The Yamamoto Unit fanned out along the beach and mounted a two-pronged attack, entering Tjilatjap.
March 1942: Colonel Toshishige Shoji surrendered at the Isola Hotel in Lembang.
March 1942: The Japanese Nasu Detachment pursued the Dutch through Tjiandjoer and (Tjimahi), entering the city.
March 1942: The Japanese complete the conquest of Java and thereby gain control of the entire Durch East Indies.
7.1.4.New Guinea Campaign
Was a military campaign that started when Japan invaded the island of New Guinea.
7.1.4.1.Japanese invasion of Dutch New Guinea
Was the Japanese invasion of the western part of New Guinea Island, at the time part of the Dutch East Indies.
April 1942: Japanese conquest of Babo.
April 1942: Hollandia conquered by japan.
7.1.5.Battle of Timor
Was the Japanese invasion and occupation of Dutch Timor and Portuguese Timor during World War II.
February 1942: Surrender of Usua to the Japanese.
7.1.6.Japanese Surrender (World War II)
Were the evacuation of the Japanese forces from occupied territories after the formal surrender of the Empire of Japan.
August 1945: After the dropping of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan accepts the Allied unconditional surrender terms (14 August 1945). Japanese forces leave occupied territories.
Was the armed struggle of the Republic of Indonesia to gain its independence from the Dutch Empire.
August 1945: Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta declared Indonesian independence on 17 August 1945.
October 1945: Battle of Medan.
November 1945: Battle of Surabaya.
November 1945: Allied troops under the command of Brigadier Bethell landed in Semarang.
December 1945: Battle of Ambarawa.
February 1947: South Sulawesi campaign of 1946-1947.
August 1947: Operation Product: The operation resulted in the occupation of large parts of Java and Sumatra by Dutch forces.
December 1948: The Dutch East Indies captured Yogyakarta.
December 1949: All major Republican held cities in Java and Sumatra were in Dutch hands.
December 1949: The Netherlands agreed to recognise Indonesian sovereignty over a new federal state known as the 'United States of Indonesia' (RUSI). It would include all the territory of the former Dutch East Indies with the exception of Netherlands New Guinea. Sovereignty was formally transferred on 27 December 1949, and the new state was immediately recognised by the United States of America.
January 1802: In 1801 Ternate was captured by the British and Tidorese after a long siege.
January 1807: After the death of Nuku in 1805, his brother, Sultan Zainal Abidin, proved unable to resist the Dutch-Ternatan attacks. Tidore was lost in 1806 and the sultan fled, finally dying in exile in 1810.
November 1808: On 22 November 1808, Daendels declared from his headquarters in Serang that the Sultanate of Banten had been absorbed into the territory of the Dutch East Indies.
January 1810: In 1809 Herman Willem Daendels, then governor of the Dutch East Indies, decided to abandon Bandjermasin, as maintaining a presence there was considered uneconomical.
January 1817: The Maluka State ceased to exist when the Dutch returned in 1816 in Indonesia.
January 1817: The Dutch signed a new contract with the Sultan of Banjar.
January 1820: Sambas remained independent until the era of the Dutch East India Company, when the capital was bombarded in 1812. The Dutch took control in 1819, leading into frequent minglings into succession, deposing and exiling Abu Bakar Taj ud-din II to Java.
October 1823: Following The Palembang War of 1821 and the dissolution of the Sultanate institution on 7 October 1823, the Kuto Tengkuruk was razed to the ground.
March 1824: With the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, the Johor Sultanate was divided in zones of inluence between the British and the Dutch.
March 1824: The British ceded Bencoolen to the Netherlands in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824.
January 1825: The Riau-Lingga Sultanate was established in 1824 after the partition of the Johor-Riau Sultanate. The territory that went to the Riau-Lingga Sultanate included Peninsular Johor and the island of Singapore. This division was a result of a power struggle between Sultan Abdul Rahman and Sultan Hussein.
March 1825: Malacca is relinquished by treaty to Great Britain.
January 1829: The Netherlands formally claimed the western half of New Guinea Island as Netherlands New Guinea.
January 1834: Pagaruyung Kingdom submitted to the Dutch.
January 1839: The Dutch subjugated the Minangkabau of Sumatra in the Padri War (1821-38).
January 1845: The Dutch defeated the Sultan Aji Muhammad Salehudin, forcing him into exile, and took direct control of Kutai.
January 1852: In 1851 Lima Lopes, the new governor of Timor, Solor and Flores, agreed to sell eastern Flores and the nearby islands to the Dutch in return for a payment of 200,000 Florins in order to support his impoverished administration.
January 1855: In 1854 Portugal ceded all its historical claims on Flores to the Dutch.
January 1863: Expansion of the Dutch East Indies in Indonesia by 1862.
January 1874: The Sultanate of Siak Sri Indrapura was annexed by the Dutch as the Siak Residency in 1873.
January 1881: The Sultanate of Bulungan was finally incorporated into the colonial empire of the Dutch East Indies in the 1880s.
January 1888: By 1887 the Dutch influence in Langkat was such that they decided to whom award the title of Sultan.
November 1894: In 1894, the Dutch used the Sasak rebellion against Balinese ruler of western Lombok, as a pretext to interfere and conquer Lombok. The Dutch supported the Sasak rebellion, and launched a military expedition against Balinese court in Mataram, Lombok. By the end of November 1894, the Dutch had annihilated the Balinese positions, with thousands dead, and the Balinese surrendered or committed puputan ritual suicide. Lombok and Karangasem became part of the Dutch East Indies.
January 1902: Bola'ang was part of the Dutch East Indies from 1901.
January 1904: Dutch armies were able to force local Aceh lords to sign treaties of allegiance to the Dutch colonial overlords. The Sultan of Aceh surrendered to Dutch forces in 1903.
January 1905: The Dutch conquered the Jambi Sultanate and killed its sultan in 1904.
November 1906: In 1906 the Dutch launched a military expedition against the southern Bali kingdom of Badung and Tabanan.
January 1907: Wajoq retained its independence until it was subdued in the early 20th century by the Dutch colonial government.
May 1908: After the death of the Raja of Klangkung at the hand of Dutch forces, the region was incorporated into the Dutch East Indies.
February 1911: On the morning of 11 February 1911 Dutch Naval forces invaded Penyengat Island and deployed hundreds of pribumi soldiers to lay siege to the royal court of Riau-Lingga. The Dutch Authorities deposed Abdul Rahman II and annexed the Riau-Lingga Sultanate.
January 1915: The Sultans of Ternate and its people were never fully under Dutch control until its annexation in 1914.
January 1921: Expansion of the Dutch East Indies in Indonesia by 1920.
January 1927: In 1906 and 1926, all Cirebon keratons finally lost their authority over their city and lands.
March 1942: The Free Republic of Nias was short-lived, unrecognized state proclaimed by German prisoners on the Indonesian island of Nias.
January 1947: Together with large parts of the eastern archipelago, the sultans on the island of Bima were pressed to join the new Dutch-created quasi state of East Indonesia in December 1946.
December 1949: The Netherlands agreed to recognise Indonesian sovereignty over a new federal state known as the 'United States of Indonesia' (RUSI). It would include all the territory of the former Dutch East Indies with the exception of Netherlands New Guinea. Sovereignty was formally transferred on 27 December 1949, and the new state was immediately recognised by the United States of America.
December 1949: In 1949, when the rest of the Dutch East Indies became fully independent as Indonesia, the Dutch retained sovereignty over western New Guinea, and took steps to prepare it for independence as a separate country.
Disestablishment
December 1949: All major Republican held cities in Java and Sumatra were in Dutch hands.
December 1949: The Netherlands agreed to recognise Indonesian sovereignty over a new federal state known as the 'United States of Indonesia' (RUSI). It would include all the territory of the former Dutch East Indies with the exception of Netherlands New Guinea. Sovereignty was formally transferred on 27 December 1949, and the new state was immediately recognised by the United States of America.
December 1949: In 1949, when the rest of the Dutch East Indies became fully independent as Indonesia, the Dutch retained sovereignty over western New Guinea, and took steps to prepare it for independence as a separate country.
Selected Sources
Dutch East Indies Expansion. Wikipedia. Retrieved on 7 April 2024 on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dutch_East_Indies_Expansion.gif
Lohnstein, M. (2021): The Netherlands East Indies Campaign 1941–42: Japan's Quest for Oil, London (UK), p. 45
Williams, M.H. (1989): United States army in World War II - Special Studies - Chronology 1941-1945, p. 14
Williams, M.H. (1989): United States army in World War II - Special Studies - Chronology 1941-1945, p. 28
Williams, M.H. (1989): United States army in World War II - Special Studies - Chronology 1941-1945, p.17
Williams, M.H. (1989): United States army in World War II - Special Studies - Chronology 1941-1945, p.22
Williams, M.H. (1989): United States army in World War II - Special Studies - Chronology 1941-1945, p.25
Williams, M.H. (1989): United States army in World War II - Special Studies - Chronology 1941-1945, p.551
Dutch East Indies
