Group Lot of 43x Dutch East Indies 1936-1945 Decimal, 43pcs

Group Lot of 43x Dutch East Indies 1936-1945 Decimal, 43pcs

1602 saw the founding of the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, also known as the Dutch East India Company. Seeking control over Asian trade to Europe -- especially spices such as cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mace -- the company rapidly expanded, establishing forts and colonies that dotted Asia from the Arabian Peninsula, through India, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, and into the Indonesian archipelago. This last area was known in the colonial period as the Dutch East Indies. In the late 18th century, the Dutch East India Company was dissolved, and control of the colonies passed to the Dutch government, which continued to exploit the islands and their inhabitants for resources. Agricultural policies were so harsh that they triggered famines through the tail end of the 19th century, as cash crops took precedence over the cultivation of rice. By the 20th century, independence movements were gaining ground. When Japan invaded in 1942, the Japanese were initially welcomed as liberators. Of course, Japanese occupation turned out to be even worse, involving horrific war crimes and the deaths of millions of native Indonesians, Indo-Europeans ("Indos"), and Dutch colonisers. When Japan was finally driven out, the violence continued into a genocidal independence movement that targeted those with Dutch ancestry, but rapidly expanded to include just about every minority group on the islands. The Dutch had had enough by 1949, granting Indonesia sovereignty.