During the 1620s the VOC established a presence on the island of Taiwan, then called Formosa. Research on this colony has mostly focussed on the later decades and its dramatic loss at the hand of a...Show moreDuring the 1620s the VOC established a presence on the island of Taiwan, then called Formosa. Research on this colony has mostly focussed on the later decades and its dramatic loss at the hand of a Chinese warlord in 1662. This thesis examines those early years through the construction of Fort Zeelandia, the colony’s administrative capital. This was a slow process, in places equally as dramatic as the colony’s downfall, which shows us that the advantages that allegedly fuelled European expansion could often be ill-suited to the colonial environment.Show less
I believe the importance of Japanese mercenaries and recruited civilians for the VOC cannot be forgotten in the debate about the establishment of Dutch power in the Indonesian Archipelago....Show moreI believe the importance of Japanese mercenaries and recruited civilians for the VOC cannot be forgotten in the debate about the establishment of Dutch power in the Indonesian Archipelago. Certainly not in the 21st century, in which we question issues like colonialism and imperialism. My main question will be: ‘What difference did the Japanese mercenaries and recruited Japanese civilians make to the VOC during their establishment of power in the Indonesian Archipelago between 1609-1641?’Show less
In the 1750s the VOC returned to Cochinchina to revive trading relations. For a few years trade resumed, but soon after the VOC ordered the factory in Cochinchina to close. With the help of the VOC...Show moreIn the 1750s the VOC returned to Cochinchina to revive trading relations. For a few years trade resumed, but soon after the VOC ordered the factory in Cochinchina to close. With the help of the VOC-archives the events of this part of history are told.Show less
What made the collaboration between the Chinese and the Europeans in the early colonial Maluku Islands different from the well-known cases in Manila and in Batavia? I think the answer lies in the...Show moreWhat made the collaboration between the Chinese and the Europeans in the early colonial Maluku Islands different from the well-known cases in Manila and in Batavia? I think the answer lies in the nature of Dutch policy in Maluku, monopoly, and the character of Chinese trade in Maluku, arbitrage, as well as their special relationship: strange monopoly vis-à-vis elusive arbitrage. By reading both Dutch and Chinese sources, I argue that, before Coen became the Governor-General of the VOC in 1618, Chinese traders, like many other Asian traders, made arbitrage between different counterparties in the world of Maluku, such as the Dutch, the Spaniards, and the local rulers, because their rivalry distorted commodities prices in local and global markets. After Coen became the Governor-General, he initially tried to expel all of Asian traders from the Maluku Islands, but, as this policy turned out to be impractical, he chose to leave the Chinese as “regulated arbitrageurs” to replace other “unregulated arbitrageurs” in order to maintain his strange monopoly policy.Show less
