New Batavia

From Roses, Tulips, & Liberty
New Batavia
Nieuw Batavia
Location of New Batavia
CapitalNoorstadt
Largest CityNieuw-Philadelphie
Government TypeParliamentary monarchy
Languages
  • Dutch (official)
  • Malay
  • Javanese
  • Chinese
  • Tiwi
  • Others
CurrencyGuilder

New Batavia (Dutch: Nieuw Batavia, Javanese: ꦲꦚꦂꦧꦠꦮꦶ) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Oceania, composing approximately one-sixth of the area of the Australian continent. New Batavia borders Australie to the east and Georgia to the south.

History

Initial Dutch Exploration

In August 1642, the Council of the Indies, consisting of Antonie van Diemen, Cornelis van der Lijn, Joan Maetsuycker, Justus Schouten, Salomon Sweers, Cornelis Witsen, and Pieter Boreel in Batavia dispatched Tasman and Franchoijs Jacobszoon Visscher on a voyage of exploration to little-charted areas east of the Cape of Good Hope, west of Staten Land (near the Cape Horn of South America) and south of the Solomon Islands. One of the objectives was to obtain knowledge of "all the totally unknown" Terra Australis. During his expedition, Tasman became the first European to discover Van Diemensland, New Zealand, Aotearoa & the continent of Australia which Tasman (and later cartographers) famously named "New Holland".

Throughout the rest of the 17th century the Dutch made no attempt to settle in Australia and Dutch sailors visited the region infrequently and mostly accidently or for the purpose of whaling. In 1756 & 1757, a series of VOC trade missions were conducted to Northern Australia for the purpose of determining whether the continent had any potential value in the spice trade. The VOC set up 11 trading posts, mostly trading alcohol & tobacco for feathers, tortoise shells and lumber with the native peoples of northern Australia but weren't able to make a significant profit in the endeavor. After 4 years years the VOC stopped manning their last trading post near present day Vijf-Rivieren but before leaving their trading posts, the Dutch VOC captain Jans Jackob Daendels claimed the entirely of Northern Australia for the Dutch Republic.

By 1800, the Dutch mostly forgotten about their claimed but unsettled territory of Northern Australia (which was still known internally as New Holland) but by 1830 both France & the British were starting to settle along the coast of the continent which led to the Dutch wanting to actualize their claims on the continent in fears that they would be sidelined for potential riches that could exist somewhere in the interior of the continent. Additionally the new Kingdom of the Netherlands felt the need to reinforce it's position in Northern Australia as a buffer between the profitable colonies of the East Indies and the Spanish New Guinea colony as tensions between the Spanish Empire & the Netherlands rose.

In 1834 the Dutch founded their first major settlement in Australia at Noordstadt, shipping in a dozen Javanese families and creating a small naval base and fort to protect the area. This colony, known as 'Dutch Australia', was administered under the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. This period saw a series of treaties signed between the Dutch and local tribes of the region, which the Dutch agreeing to not interfere in tribal affairs and not encroaching on their land in exchange for recognizing Dutch authority and allowing free access of traders and missionaries to native lands.

Expansion of Dutch Settlement

Between 1870 and 1893, several entrepreneurial Dutch settlers started to buy and rent land from the native tribes of the area for cattle ranching and the industry quickly took off becoming the primary industry of the colony. During this period several thousand European immigrants mostly from Netherlands but also prominently from French Flanders immigrated to the colony more than doubling the population to 14,000 non indigenous by 1893. By 1893, the French and the British were starting to encroach on land claimed by the Dutch and so in order to better administer the colony, Dutch Australia was separated from the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies and reorganized as the colony of 'New Batavia'.

New Batavia in the 20th Century

The early 20th century was dominated by stagnation in economic growth of the colony and further French settler encroachment in the east of the colony. By 1906 several skirmishes' had broken out between French settlers and Dutch cattle ranchers, in order to stop the escalation of tensions, the two nations called a series of conferences to determine the boundaries of their colonies. In 1907 these talks were joined by Britain and after nearly 2 years of debate (with an increase in private border skirmishes by settlers) the borders of the Australian colonies were finally divided up on August 1st 1909 with the Treaty of Ghent.

By 1912, the Dutch wanting to further develop their now secured colony started to give out large settlement grants south of Noordstadt in land confiscated from natives in 1910. Between 1912 and 1920 a large number of immigrants fleeing religious and ethnic persecution in the Ottoman empire settled in New Batavia due to the availability of cheap land. By 1925 the newly founded city of Nieuw-Philadelphie became the largest urban area in the colony serving as a major administration hub over the interior.

East Indies War & Refugee Crisis

Confederation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Government and Politics

Demographics

Throughout the 19th century, Dutch Australia saw much less immigration than the French & British colonies on the continent due to its climate and the government's military-based policy. By 1870, the country had a non-native population of 5,000, excluding seasonal Makassarese traders and residents. Most of these early residents were Javanese, Malay, Bugis, and Dutch.

Culture

See also