Did you know the Dutch declared war on Japan before Britain and the US did? The Japanese
completed their conquest of the Dutch East Indies in March 1942 and 3.5 years of harsh
rule followed in which millions of Indonesians perished (due to starvation and forced labour),
as well as many Dutch who were put in concentration camps. What if I told
you this all could have been prevented... by the Dutch government. To what extent was the
Japanese attack provoked by the Dutch? Was there another way? Keep watching to find out.
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Japan was one of the few countries in East Asia that wasn't fully colonized by the
Western powers. This is because major modernizations took place in the latter half of the 19th
century. Due to the industrial developments Japan realized it was short on
materials. As a result, the country strived to conquer other countries to fill this shortage.
In 1904-05 Japan fought and won a war with Russia. The world was in shock. An Asian country that
managed to beat a European country in war? In 1910 Japan annexed Korea.
In the 1920s Japan developed into a military dictatorship,
with militaristic officers in charge. In 1931 the Japanese army conquered the Chinese
region of Manchuria and renamed it Manchukuo (1932). In 1937 Japan invaded China and
seized large tracts of land. In 1940-41 Japan seized control over French
Indo-China (present-day Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos). In 1941 Thailand became a forced ally of
Japan. The country could serve as a Japanese base for further attacks.
From December 1941 Japan launched the conquest of South East Asia.
The Dutch East Indies was a under Dutch rule for many years. Dutch merchants had
arrived in the Indonesian archipelago centuries before and early in the 20th century the Dutch had completed their territorial
conquest of what is now Indonesia. However they subdued threats militarily a political
challenge presented itself around that time: independence movements. Due to the Ethical
Policy (a policy of ethical responsibility for the welfare of the Indonesian people)
some Indonesians enjoyed education and these persons set up political parties
that strived for independence. When the Great Depression affected the colony in
the 1930s tensions rose. Political parties that strived for independence were banned and its leader exiled.
Then in May 1940 Germany conquered the Netherlands. From now on the
Dutch East Indies was a colony without a motherland. A state of siege was proclaimed,
public meeting became forbidden and potentially dangerous persons were arrested: 2,800 Germans and
500 Dutch fascists were interned. Shortly after Japan delivered a request:
one milion ton of petroleum per year. Twice as much as the current export.
Adding to this was a request for other minerals too such as bauxite and nickel
ore. Japan amped up its demands in September 1940 asking three million
tons a year. In December that year a Japanese delegation arrived in the Dutch East Indies.
Apart from demands for oil they wanted Indonesia to become part of the Greater East
Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere: a concept that was propagated to
Asian populations which were occupied by Japan from 1931 to 1945, and which officially aimed
at creating a self-sufficient bloc of Asian peoples and states that would be led by the
Japanese. Dutch administrator Huib van Mook knew this was going to be a takeover and managed to
postpone the negotiations for five more months. He delivered his answer in June 1941: no. However,
Tokyo was allowed to negotiate with private oil companies. Dutch Governor-General Tjarda van
Starkenborgh Stachouwer feared the Japanese might declare war, but that didn't happen.
The Dutch East Indies began preparing itself for war. But there were challenges. Austerity cuts had
been carried out early 1920s, late 1920s and early 1930s. Now a reinforcement plan was introduced:
“This eight-point plan programme provided for further reinforcement of the air arm,
mechanization of the infantry, increase of firepower for infantry and (coastal)
artillery and the filling of gaps in personnel.”
Contrary to the situation in the Netherlands before
May 1940 the Dutch could now freely
talk with their allies to defend South East Asia against a possible Japanese attack. Big orders
were placed with British and American weapon factories. Among the Dutch population in the East Indies there was
much support for volunteering. A local weapon factory, albeit small, was set up. Indonesian
draft was introduced and by the end of 1941 the Dutch colonial army; the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL (Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger);
counted for 76,000 men. Many held the Japanese army in low
regard. Also: Japan had to cover enormous distances to get to the Indonesian archipelago. How were they able to do that?
For almost half a century Japan had been reliant on imported oil. This dependence
was only increased when the Japanese started their war of conquest in China (from 1937). When in June 1941 the talks between
the Dutch and the Japanese regarding oil deliveries deadlocked the Japanese decided that this
had to be taken by force. If this would also result in war with Britain and the US, than that was to be
taken for granted. A few weeks later there was a meeting in Vichy France: the fascist French state
headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain. Japan wanted to station troops in the south of Indo-China (current
Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos), a French colony that came under Vichy rule after the German conquest
of France. From there the Japanese would launch their conquest of South East Asia. Now why am I
telling you this? Well, in exchange the French could keep control over their colony, albeit under Japanese
military occupation. I'll get back to it later. When the Japanese entered the south of Indo-China
the US reacted by the freezing of all Japanese assets. Before that, the Americans
had already announced a trade boycott for steel, scrap and kerosene. As US president Roosevelt stated:
'There was a method in letting oil go to Japan with the hope – and it has worked
for two years – of keeping war out of the Southern Pacific for our own good'.
With this the bottom of the Japanese oil barrel came in sight quick. The
Netherlands joined the boycott and broke off existing trade agreements with Japan.
“The Dutch government in London apparently considered it more important to show its
strongest side to the US and Great Britain than to make a realistic assessment of the danger of
war. […] If the Netherlands had continued to fulfill its agreements with Japan, that
country would certainly not have gone to war and history could have turned out very differently.”
But even at this point war could've been averted perhaps... Because of the Japanese had launched their surprise
attack on Pearl Harbor it was not the US that declared war on Japan first. Nor Great Britain. No,...
the Dutch were the first to declare war on Japan. Yes, the Dutch Governor-General Van Starkenborgh Stachouwer believed this was
good for prestige. The Dutch government in London agreed. But... what about this
'prestige' when you cannot even defend your own territory? Even Japan was astonished. I read
that when the Dutch diplomat in Tokyo handed the Japanese the Dutch declaration of war the
Japanese gave him back the file. The
Japanese were not at war with the Netherlands and they could have worked out an agreement as
they had done with the French regarding Indo-China!
The British and American declarations of war followed shortly after. Japan only declared
war against the Netherlands on 11 January 1941 when they invaded Borneo and Celebes.
The Dutch felt emboldened by their allies. In the first two months of
1942 a joint Allied force was set up: the ABDA Command consisted of the Americans
British Dutch and Australians. It was dissolved near the end of February.
Hong Kong, the Phillipines, Malaya and Singapore fell for the Japanese onslaught. In the meantime
the Japanese took over the many islands of the Dutch East Indies. There was fighting on Borneo,
South Sumatra and Java. In March 1942 the KNIL surrendered. Some troops managed to get away
to Australia but the most were interned by the Japanese. Many would perish in Japanese captivity.
As Van Reybrouck stated 'history could have turned out very differently' if the Dutch didn't join the
trading boycott against Japan. Now normally I don't like to dwell on what-if scenarios,
but this here is a different thing. We have an alternative that actually played out when we look at French
Indo-China. However the French colony was under de facto Japanese rule, French citizens
were left alone and weren't put into internment camps. In March 1945 the Japanese seized full
power of the colony because they feared (with France liberated) the French colonial forces
would launch an uprising. Let's just say if the Dutch would allow Japanese troops in their colony
most likely 20,000 Europeans would not have died
in the Japanese internment camps in Indonesia.
question is to what extent Indonesian suffering could've been avoided. Because the Japanese
confiscated food millions of Indonesians did perish during the Japanese occupation, but a likewise
famine also occured in Vietnam in which up to two million Vietnamese perished. The main causes of
the Vietnamese famine were typhoons that reduced food availability, the Japanese occupation,
American attacks on the Vietnamese transportation system, and the French colonial administration
that hindered effective famine relief. Not to mention what Indonesian nationalists would've
done. Because when the Japanese rolled in they were greeted as liberators. But let's just say
the Japanese would have co-operated with the Dutch colonial authorities, perhaps Indonesian nationalists
would've launched an uprising which then had to be put down with many casualties as a result.