Indos in colonial history
The existing pre-colonial Indo-European communities were considerably complemented with Indos descending from European males settling in the Dutch East Indies.
[3] At the end of the colonial era, a community of about 300,000 Indo-Europeans was registered as Dutch citizens and Indos continued to form the majority of the European legal class.
When, in the second half of the 20th century, the independent Republic of Indonesia was established, practically all Europeans, including the Indo-Europeans who by now had adopted a one-sided identification with their paternal lineage,[4] emigrated from the country.
Throughout the colonial history of the Dutch East Indies key cultural elements such as language, clothing and lifestyle have a different emphasis in each phase of its evolution.
The Dutch East Indies were not the typical settler colony founded through massive emigration from the mother countries (such as the United States or Australia) and hardly involved displacement of the indigenous islanders.
Instead of mass emigration from the homeland, the sizeable indigenous populations were controlled through effective political manipulation supported by military force.
However, it cannot be maintained that the actual expatriate colonists did not share similarly racist values and beliefs along the line of pseudo-scientific theories based on proto-social Darwinism, placing the white Caucasian race at the top of society, i.e. 'naturally' in charge of dominating and civilising non-white populations.
[14] What in comparison to other colonial powers of the time sometimes looked like a liberal and even modern attitude towards race mixing, was basically grounded in Dutch pragmatism and opportunism.
[23] Unlike for instance Singapore, no Eurasian sub-class was ever used to register citizens in the Dutch East Indies and Indos were per definition included in the European census.
In the juridical congress of 1878, the ruling was heavily debated as Dutch legal experts did not want European women to "marry into the kampung" and by 1898 this statue was reversed.
[35] Indo women who would marry indigenous men would carry their husband's family name and their children would be registered according to their father's ethnicity, e.g. Moluccan or Menadonese, but retain his legal class of European Equality status.
Notable examples are South Moluccan leaders Chris Soumokil (1905–1966) and Johan Manusama (1910–1995) who both had Indo mothers and were legally classified as European.
Even though Indos officially belonged to the European legal class, colonial society consisted of a very complex structure of many social distinctions.
The European segment of society can broadly be divided into the following three social layers: Although Indos were legally European and could be found in all layers of society, with the continued arrival of white (totok) Dutch settlers and expatriates, their social status in colonial times increasingly depended on their efforts to blend into the white upper class.
To persuade his brother-in-law, the father of Conrad Théodoor van Deventer (who later became the leading spokesman of the 'Ethical Policy'), not to take the position of principal at the 'Koning Willem III' school in Batavia (the only school for secondary education in the Dutch East Indies), newspaper editor Conrad Busken Huet expressed the following popular opinion among the expatriate Dutch community in 1869: "...the Indies climate is fatally detrimental to the proper functioning of their [schoolchildren's] brains, even when born out of pure blooded European parents, you can see the liplap [abusive term for Indos] nature in their faces.
Meanwhile, the number of Indos in the 19th century also increased as the existing pre-colonial communities were complemented with offspring of European military men and indigenous women.
[49] This first all-encompassing attack on the existing Indo character of European society also revealed its political and cultural strength and the British were in the end unable to drastically change it.
The colonial army became the largest employer in the Dutch East Indies, and Indo males born into barrack life also joined the KNIL.
The unwillingness to join the colonial army forced the government to re-focus on military recruitment in Europe, which in turn resulted in a second big wave of Indo families based in KNIL induced migration during the 30 years of the Aceh War.
[55] Once the island of Java, the centre of the colony, was 'pacified' after the defeat of Prince Diponogoro in 1830, the Dutch implemented a policy called the 'Cultuurstelsel' (English: Cultivation system).
Along with its implementation Baron Jean Chrétien Baud, Governor-General (1833–1836) and Minister of Colonies (1840–1848), added discriminatory regulations aimed at withholding Indos from key governmental functions.
To further complicate the appointment and promotion of Indos, Baud enforced a Royal decree stipulating that governmental functions could only be granted on request of the Governor-General and needed approval by the Dutch King himself.
[60] Simultaneously the already limited educational opportunities for the native-born people of the Dutch East Indies (European, Indo-European and Indigenous alike) further decreased.
In fear of a violent backlash from the populous Indo community in Batavia, the Governor-General at the time ordered the army to the highest state of preparedness.
[62] Cautious not to alienate the largest segment of European society, the second half of 19th century saw a change in colonial policy and loosening of the discriminatory measures against Indos.
[63] Towards the end of the 19th century the 'Cultivation System' was abandoned; however, pressure on the Indo community continued with arguments raising the question of how native born Indo-Europeans could ever truly represent Western civilisation.
Although content with the greater opportunities for schooling in the colony, Indos also felt dubious about the increasing competition on the job market by educated indigenous people.
Military campaigns by the expedient and infamous Van Heutsz, who had been made Governor-General (1904–1909) for his victory in the Aceh War (1904), subdued the last indigenous resistance in Bali (1906 and 1908) and Papua, bringing the whole of the Dutch East Indies under direct colonial rule.
Early 1933 Dutch-Indos erected the Netherlands Indies Fascist Organization (Nederlandsche Indische Fascisten Organisatie NIFO), which had strong ties with the NSB.
[74] A group of Dutch-Indos who were trained at the Royal Military Academy in Breda joined the Waffen SS in early 1942, they served mainly in Russia.
