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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Any Jewelry, post: 1543686, member: 2844&quot;]Fid, you may want to read up on VOC history, and compare it to that of the other European trading companies in Asia. For an easy read I can recommend &quot;Being Dutch in the Indies&quot; by Ulbe Bosma and Remco Raben, which focuses specifically on the interaction between Europeans and Asians (also in the post-VOC period).</p><p><br /></p><p>Although the VOC were far from perfect, they were not the worst colonists ever. For instance they didn&#039;t impose their religion on others (something which led to genocide by other Europeans). In fact administrators and social servants were given a Quran and lessons on Islam before they were sent to Java.</p><p>The VOC generally left the local social and power structures as they were, although they did meddle in local politics to rally and support allies.</p><p>As for infrastructure in Ceylon, they used the existing Ceylonese and Portuguese infrastructure, which was good quality, but added canals which are still used by the locals today. They didn&#039;t colonize the entire island, like the Brits did, so further works weren&#039;t necessary, that was up to the Ceylonese kings.</p><p>Of course the VOC did much more about infrastructure in Indonesia, simply because they were there for a longer period of time, and more was needed.</p><p>In Ceylon they also improved the social status of the former Portuguese slaves, whose descendants are still called &#039;Burghers&#039;, the Dutch word for (equal) citizens, to this day. Some Burghers married into prominent Dutch families.</p><p><br /></p><p>I think what Jacques meant was that, unlike some other Europeans, the VOC was never intended as a colonial power. It was set up as a trading company, just like for instance the Swedish East India Company. They didn&#039;t want to occupy countries, they wanted to trade.</p><p>And yes, trading companies are opportunist by their very nature, working for their investors in the main cities in faraway Europe. They had trading posts all over South and Southeastern Asia, often under the auspices of local rulers. (Deshima in Japan and Ayudhya in Thailand, for instance.)</p><p>Things slowly moved towards a form of colonialism when the VOC wanted to enforce a monopoly on the spice trade. That is when the aggression started, mostly against European competitors, but also against Asian ones, like my Madurese (Indonesian) ancestors.</p><p>There was hardly any control from VOC headquarters in Amsterdam over the day to day management of the settlements. Some governors were downright criminal, others had a conscience and good relationships with local people. But even these made some bad and even disasterous decisions.</p><p><br /></p><p>Fid, you may remember that one of my Madurese ancestors died in captivity on Robben Island after his country was taken from him, something which was even mentioned by Nelson Mandela before he left the island.</p><p>I mention this bit of family history to show that I am not at all in favour of the dealings of the VOC. But I do try to keep an open mind, and take more things into account than just my own peronal feelings.</p><p><br /></p><p>I am sorry if certain Swiss mercenaries didn&#039;t get paid (why did they keep enlisting though?), but my family lost a whole lot more than a soldier&#039;s pay. They had no choice, whereas the Swiss did, in spite of their poverty. But like the other Europeans, the Swiss were in it for the money.</p><p>As you said, the VOC would never have had the power they did without foreign mercenaries. Don&#039;t worry, I don&#039;t blame the Swiss, I know they were desperate at the time. As I said, I try to keep an open mind.<img src="styles/default/xenforo/smilies/wink.png" class="mceSmilie" alt=";)" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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