In the 16th century, European nations such as the Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish and British, began to sail to the east. One of their goals is to look for spices. From this voyage, they arrived in Indonesia, which has abundant natural wealth
At first they only traded, but greed began to emerge and there was a desire to dominate the archipelago. Among the European nations that came, the Dutch were the nation that colonized Indonesia the longest.
In 1596, the Dutch under the leadership of Cornelis de Houtman first landed in Banten. At that time, many foreign nations had traded in Indonesia. Even several kingdoms have bound trade agreements with Portugal and Spain.
The arrival of the Dutch was used by the kingdom to break away from the Portuguese. Of course, this opportunity was utilized by the Dutch as well as possible. The Dutch were able to expel other European nations from Indonesia. In the end, Spain chose to colonize the Philippine Islands, the Portuguese stepped aside to control East Timor, and the British colonized Malaysia.
This Dutch assistance was not free, the wages they asked for was freedom to trade in the archipelago. Gradually, the Dutch began to form a VOC trading partnership and practice monopoly trade in Indonesia. To maintain its power, the Dutch also made many policies such as forced labor and a system of forced cultivation which of course made the Indonesian people suffer even more.
