About Indonesia History In European colonialization Era III

 

    Under this system it was stipulated that Indonesian peasants had to use 20% of their agricultural land for cash cultivation. export crops such as indigo, coffee and sugar, country's total revenue.

    Farmers were often forced to use more than 20% of their agricultural land, or the most fertile soil, to grow cash crops. This system led to increased famine and disease among Javanese farmers in the 1840s. According to one estimate, the death rate increased by as much as 30% during this period. 

    According to one study, the death rate in Java would have been 10–20% higher in the late 1870s if the Cultivation system had not been abolished. Java experienced rapid population growth during the 19th century and there was no significant famine in Java after 1840. -an.

    Another source of profit is the so-called coolies, a term for low-paid contract workers. Large-scale plantations were established to grow cash crops and Javanese, Chinese, Malays, Bataks, and Indians. people were sent to plantations in Sumatra and Java to do manual labour. 

    It is estimated that over 500,000 porters were transported to Sumatra during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The exact mortality rate among coolie workers is unknown due to scarce or unreliable records but is estimated to be as high as 25%. Although coolies were often paid laborers working of free will, in practice their situation often involved forced labor and was closer to slavery. They are often misled when signing employment contracts or even forced to sign contracts. 

    Others are kidnapped or forced to work out of debt. The Coolie Ordinances ("Koelieordonnanties") of 1880, which permitted plantation owners to act as judge, jury, and executioner, resulted in widespread cruelty. That includes criminal sanctions that allow owners to physically punish their coolies as they see fit. The punishments used against coolies were lashes or beatings, after which salt was added to the wound to increase the suffering. 

    Other punishments used were electric shocks, crucifixion and hanging by the toes or thumbs of porters until they fell off. Medical treatment for coolies was rare and often aimed at curing punished coolies so they could return to work or be abused for a longer period of time. Rape of female coolies and their children is also common.

    The coolie system was roundly criticized, especially after 1900 with the advent of the so-called "Ethical Policy". The document describes the violations committed against coolies including the torture and sexual abuse of a 15-year-old female coolie who refused the sexual advances of a Dutch plantation supervisor. Penal sanctions were finally abolished in 1931 and the Coolies Ordinance ended in the early 1940's.

    More and more Dutch immigrants arrived in colonial Indonesia, which led to a shortage of women, as most of the immigrants were men. The Dutch then bought "Njai", namely native women who were officially maids but often also used as concubines. 

    Despite being legally contract workers, these women enjoy few rights. They could be bought and sold together with the house where they worked as so-called "Perabotan Adat" (Pedalaman Meubel). Njai were also not allowed to take care of any children they had with their Dutch employers, and when they were fired, their children would be taken away.

    In the 1910s the number of Njai decreased, despite the rampant prostitution. However, the practice did not die out when the Japanese Empire invaded and occupied the Indies. During the occupation, the Njai and their mixed-race children were forcibly separated from the European men who were placed in camps. - exile camp.

    In 1898, the population in Java had reached 28 million, while another 7 million people occupied the outer islands of Indonesia. In the first half of the 20th century, large-scale immigration began by Dutch and other Europeans to the colonies, where they worked in the government or private sectors. About 75% of these Europeans are in fact native Eurasians who are known as Indo-Europeans.

    The Dutch colonizers formed a privileged upper social class consisting of soldiers, government officials, managers, teachers and pioneers.The Dutch East Indies had two legal classes for a citizen; European and native. A third class, foreign Orientals, was added in 1920.

    In 1901, the Dutch adopted what they called the Ethical Policy, in which the colonial government had the task of improving the welfare of the Indonesian people in the areas of health and education. Industrialization did not significantly affect the majority of Indonesia's population, and Indonesia remained a colony dependent on agriculture. The Dutch school system expanded to allow young Indonesians to pursue an education, and the most prestigious schools accepted both Dutch and upper-class Indonesian children. 

    The second level of schooling is based on ethnicity with separate schools for Indonesians, Arabs and Chinese taught in the Netherlands using the Dutch curriculum. Common Indonesians were educated in the Malay language with a Roman alphabet, and "connection" schools prepared bright Indonesian students for entry into Dutch-language schools.

    Chinese and Arabs, who are officially called "foreign easterners", cannot enroll in vocational or primary schools. The proliferation of these schools was further fueled by new Muslim schools in a Western mold that also offered secular subjects.