00:00:04
Pepper, mace, nutmeg: Exotic spices...
00:00:08
supplied by the United
East India Company (VOC).
00:00:13
That is clove.
00:00:14
It became an immense enterprise,
with 30,000 employees.
00:00:18
Hundreds of ships, dozens of forts.
00:00:22
It's insane!
00:00:25
Huge profits, but at what cost?
00:00:29
It was custom to take the
head of the enemy with you.
00:00:33
Terrorists. Yes.
00:00:35
The VOC mentality of Jan Pieterszoon Coen.
00:00:41
Globalization and violence
in the Dutch 17th century.
00:00:46
THE GOLDEN AGE
00:00:49
A GLOBAL ENTERPRISE
00:01:08
These acts do not deserve a statue.
00:01:15
He committed mass murder. He is a murderer.
00:01:22
The goal never justifies the means.
00:01:28
Someone had to do it, and that was
our Coen. Let the statue shine.
00:01:34
YOU WILL BE THE JUDGE
00:01:41
The case Jan Pieterzoon Coen.
00:01:44
Worthy of a Statue. Not Worthy of a Statue.
00:01:50
This isn't ancient history?
00:01:55
No definitely not. Apparently not.
00:01:57
Otherwise the Hoorn city council
wouldn't have passed that motion.
00:02:03
A teacher thought the statue
didn't belong on the square.
00:02:15
I think it's very good that
we reflect on colonialism.
00:02:22
It's natural to have a discussion
00:02:25
about the empire builder of the
Netherlands, Jan Pieterszoon Coen.
00:02:32
This is the great empire builder.
- Yes, this is him.
00:02:37
What kind of man was he?
00:02:39
Yes, well, just look at the painting, then
you'll think of all the clichés:
00:02:44
Resolute, full of duty, strict,
totally humorless when you see this.
00:02:52
He was a steadfast man and
a formidable organizer.
00:02:58
Without him, the VOC would never
have succeeded in the early years.
00:03:04
What was his idea, what was the
VOC supposed to become?
00:03:08
In the 17th century people had different
economic ideas than we have today.
00:03:14
It was 'make trade' and 'take trade'.
00:03:19
So you were looking for a trade to build
and you took trade from other people.
00:03:26
Wherever possible, you tried to
monopolize a certain product.
00:03:33
A monopoly was worth killing for?
00:03:38
Yes. This was all at the start of the VOC.
00:03:41
Laying it on thickly.
00:03:45
His motto: Do not despair.
00:03:49
There have been many moments in his life
00:03:54
that he was really in
trouble in the Indies...
00:04:01
while he would say: Continue!
Do not give up!
00:04:06
THE HERO OF JACATRA
00:04:15
BUTCHER OF BANDA
00:04:21
On 20 March 1602, the VOC was granted
a charter by the States General.
00:04:26
Formal permission to get started.
00:04:29
That day is still celebrated every year
at the Amsterdam stock exchange.
00:04:34
With the arrival of the
VOC, stock trade was born.
00:04:38
Eight, seven, six, five, four...
00:04:41
three two one!
00:04:53
A condition of the charter the
VOC received in March 1602
00:04:59
was that everyone could sign
up for shares, rich and poor.
00:05:06
The initial offering took place at
the home of one of the initiators.
00:05:10
A modest beginning for such
an emblem of the Golden Age.
00:05:14
Behind the front door,
00:05:16
the directors sat with a big ledger
where people could register.
00:05:23
The ledger is fascinating. This is it? Yes.
00:05:28
You see here that the directors
all register for 12,000 guilders.
00:05:34
They had apparently agreed that
they would start like that.
00:05:39
It was not just big merchants,
but also a beer brewer,
00:05:44
three bakers, seven preachers, and
the famous mathematician Bartjens.
00:05:51
Him signing up was a good sign.
So everyone participated.
00:05:55
Bartjens participated? Yes,
he deposited 1200 guilders.
00:05:59
For him a huge amount.
00:06:01
The megalomaniac merchant Isaac Le Maire
bought 85,000 guilders worth of shares.
00:06:05
But also the maid of
accountant, Barend Lampe,
00:06:09
who registered for 50 guilders at the last
minute, at midnight on the 31st of August.
00:06:17
What a difference, hey.
So from high to low people participated?
00:06:21
Yes, everyone. It was a blazing fire.
00:06:25
The first voyages of the
VOC were very promising.
00:06:30
Everyone wanted to take a piece of
the profits that could be made.
00:06:36
It was a kind of internet bubble,
everyone wanted to participate? Yes.
00:06:40
World Online revisited.
00:06:46
The special thing about the VOC was
that the shares were tradable.
00:06:51
If I had a share and you wanted to
buy it from me, you could do so here.
00:06:55
Here, in the headquarters of the
VOC, the East Indian House.
00:07:00
The board of the VOC, the
Gentlemen XVII, sat here.
00:07:04
Because of the special nature of the
shares, that they were tradable...
00:07:09
I could sell them to you
and get my money back.
00:07:14
With a little profit, because
the company did well.
00:07:18
But the Gentlemen XVII did have that
capital permanently at their disposal.
00:07:23
So they could invest in the long term.
00:07:26
The long-term character was a
major economic innovation.
00:07:31
It's now a lecture hall.
00:07:35
They reconstructed the
directors's conference table.
00:07:38
With paintings of the important
possessions in Asia above.
00:07:44
Before 1602 there were also fleets
going from the Republic to the East.
00:07:49
What made the VOC so different?
00:07:51
The VOC received powers from the
Dutch state, the Republic...
00:07:56
to not only to trade but
also to build forts...
00:08:00
to wage war and to sign
treaties with potentates.
00:08:04
They no longer went
only back and forth,
00:08:06
they wanted to settle in Asia
as though they were a state.
00:08:10
It was not only a company of trade, but
also of war. A state within the state.
00:08:15
Building fortresses is something a
state does, not a trading company.
00:08:21
Nowadays international tribunals
would prosecute us immediately.
00:08:25
The Gentlemen XVII were
prepared to do anything
00:08:29
to get a monopoly
on the spice trade.
00:08:38
This was the starting point
for the fleets of the VOC.
00:08:43
The island of Texel on the sheltered
Wadden Sea side.
00:08:48
Over there lies Amsterdam.
00:08:50
There is the sea channel
towards the Indies.
00:08:52
This is where the ships of
the VOC used to anchor,
00:08:55
sometimes a hundred
or more at a time.
00:09:31
They were not small ships for that time.
00:09:36
But look at the route they had to sail:
From Texel along Europe, along Africa...
00:09:43
here a bit to the west to
catch the good wind...
00:09:47
around Africa to the east...
00:09:50
until shortly before the coast of
what is now called Australia...
00:09:53
then up, between Sumatra and Java.
00:09:57
Here lay the new Batavia,
and then, the Spice Islands.
00:10:01
30,000 km, almost literally
the other side of the world.
00:10:09
With Menno Witteveen I fly
to Jakarta, formerly Batavia.
00:10:14
Looking for relics from the VOC era.
The legacy of Jan Pieterzoon Coen.
00:10:21
A 15 hour flight, back then
eight months of sailing.
00:10:27
When the fleet finally appeared
before Batavia...
00:10:31
a quarter of the crew had sometimes
not survived the trip...
00:10:36
the church bells would ring out.
00:10:38
Welcome.
00:10:43
Who is approaching Jakarta from the sea...
00:10:46
sees a completely different
picture than the VOC-era fort.
00:11:01
In Indonesia we're joined by journalist
Sri Kusmiati, Atik for short.
00:11:08
She interprets when necessary.
00:13:54
There are even still shutters in there.
00:13:57
It's really insane.
00:14:01
It's unbelievable.
00:14:03
It's of a strange beauty.
00:15:07
Those walls are now completely
overgrown with endless jungle roots.
00:15:15
Menno, in 1618 the VOC exists for 16 years.
Coen becomes governor general.
00:15:20
He succeeds where his predecessors
failed: He founded Batavia.
00:15:25
Yes. We have seen the
castle, what is left of it.
00:15:29
What were the next steps?
00:15:31
Well, Coen was a man with a mission.
00:15:34
He was sent out to do three things.
00:15:38
One of them was the establishment
of a stronghold for the Dutch.
00:15:43
With brute force, he founded
Batavia for that purpose.
00:15:48
He also had to make sure that this
became the main trading city of Asia.
00:15:52
For that he had to have
the right merchandise.
00:15:55
So, he had to conquer
the monopoly on the spice trade.
00:16:00
The VOC had a few little forts, but
certainly no monopoly yet.
00:16:04
It was as leaky as a basket. Despite
all the costs they incurred.
00:16:08
In their own words: They shaved the
pigs and the competitors the sheep.
00:16:13
They did not earn anything.
00:16:15
Why did Coen succeed where others failed?
00:16:21
He felt almost as sent by God.
00:16:24
He was very influenced by the Old
Testament, also in his choice of words.
00:16:29
He thought he was an instrument of God
in carrying out the work of the VOC.
00:16:35
"Do not despair." Yes!
Because God is with us.
00:16:38
"Something grand can be achieved there"!
00:16:41
His language was wonderful.
00:16:43
All his statements fit this picture.
00:16:46
'Do it big or do not do it.'
00:16:49
"Every grain of sand
is made of gold."
00:16:52
Folk wisdom.
- Yes, but he did live up to it.
00:17:32
The Javanese call him Mur Jangkung.
00:17:36
The Javanese used to say that
the Dutch were rather tall.
00:17:41
So they gave them a nickname. They
would say, oh, Mur Jankung. J.P. Coen.
00:17:58
A mighty general like him walks like this.
00:18:03
This is someone with a dignified character.
00:18:08
(in Dutch) Hey, damn it.
Like that.
00:18:12
Because he's a leader, he's supposed
to walk in a dignified way.
00:18:23
Indonesian's think he's bad.
00:18:26
In the Netherlands he's
probably seen as a hero.
00:18:29
In Indonesia, he'll remain the enemy or
a bad guy. So, he has two positions.
00:18:36
When he's facing Sultan
Agung, he's on the left.
00:18:41
When he's facing his
men, he's on the right.
00:18:47
He can't command from the left: Be
ready to confront Sultan Agung.
00:19:20
We were in Jakarta. Now we follow Coen at
the second stage of his great mission:
00:19:26
Establishing a monopoly on trading in
the most expensive spices of his time.
00:19:32
Which only grew in one place
in the whole world, here.
00:19:35
The Banda Islands. Another
2500 kilometers from Jakarta.
00:19:44
Say, from Amsterdam to Moscow and
then a few hundred kilometers more.
00:19:49
It says something about the
distances here in the East Indies.
00:20:58
A view all around the island.
It's beautiful, isn't it?
00:21:03
You have to imagine that 800 men
were stationed in these two forts.
00:21:07
And there are also forts on
all those little islands.
00:21:14
Coen came here in 1621.
How many ships?
00:21:16
With about 20 ships, a fleet of 2000 men.
00:21:20
Where did they anchor?
00:21:22
Over here, in the bay.
00:21:26
A big spectacle?
00:21:27
Yes, that must have been terrible,
those big three-masters.
00:21:32
The locals were not used to such fleets?
- Actually, they were.
00:21:35
Because in 1609 the Dutch were here for
the first time with a large fleet...
00:21:40
which led to quite some fights.
00:21:43
Coen was already present in 1609?
- Yes.
00:21:49
Coen was aboard the fleet of
Admiral Verhoef as a sub-merchant.
00:21:54
What brought Verhoef here?
00:21:56
Well, Verhoef was actually
commissioned by the Gentlemen XVII
00:22:00
to build a fort here on Banda Neira.
The Bandanese tried to stall him.
00:22:04
They invited him for negotiations and asked
him not to bring too many men with him.
00:22:12
He did that? He did that, yes.
00:22:15
This is an eye witness report
from a German VOC employee.
00:22:19
They referred to the Bandanese as 'Moors'.
00:22:24
"The decapitated the admiral
and took them with them."
00:22:34
What did they bring, the
men or the heads? The heads.
00:22:38
His crewmen discovered
30 decapitated bodies.
00:22:45
Why did they take the heads?
- An element of headhunting.
00:22:49
It was customary to take
the head of an enemy.
00:22:53
Bad news for the Dutch.
00:22:58
The Dutch were shocked and stayed
aboard for a month.
00:23:03
Finally, they carried out the
assignment of the Gentlemen XVII...
00:23:06
by constructing Fort Nassau down there.
00:23:09
The wall is still visible?
Yes, down there.
00:23:17
Coen returns to Banda 12 years
after the murder of Verhoef.
00:23:20
He retaliates mercilessly.
00:23:22
The Gentlemen XVII ordered him to
literally depopulate the islands.
00:23:28
The inhabitants of Bandalontor, the largest
island, with the most nutmeg plantations...
00:23:34
are first driven into the mountains
and then deported to Batavia.
00:23:38
About 2% remains behind. Their leaders are
sentenced to death after a sham trial.
00:23:44
The verdict is executed in the
courtyard of Fort Nassau.
00:23:50
This is where the Orangkayas, the
local leaders, were brought?
00:23:56
There were 44 of them, four already died
during interrogation.
00:24:01
40 survived. And the eight that were
most guilty were left to six samurai,
00:24:11
who cut them in half and
cut off their heads.
00:24:17
Samurai, those are the Japanese! Yes.
00:24:20
These were mercenaries employed by the VOC.
00:24:25
With such an insane sword? Yes.
00:24:29
A torrential rain added to the horror.
00:24:35
So these people were
literally slaughtered? Yes.
00:24:38
It must have been a hideous spectacle.
00:24:41
With the other leaders present? Yes, and of
course those who condemned them.
00:24:51
I'd like to read to you some
Dutch memories of this event.
00:24:59
Remorse or conscientious objections
about this whole affair.
00:25:06
An anonymus of the conquest who
has been there, who writes:
00:25:11
"This being accomplished, with
astonishment each of us departed
00:25:18
to his quarter, finding no
pleasure in such commerce."
00:25:26
They were not pleased with it anyway?
No no.
00:25:29
That sounds like a euphemism. Yes.
00:25:33
Remorse after all?
00:25:36
The people who were present
might have felt some remorse.
00:25:40
The Gentlemen XVII had appointed
Coen and had instructed him to do so.
00:25:48
They said: You could have used less force,
but we are very happy with the conquest.
00:25:53
So they just close their eyes?
I'm not sure.
00:25:59
The Gentlemen XVII knew exactly
who they had appointed.
00:26:03
His ideas and his way of
working were well known.
00:26:09
We were a country that was created by war.
00:26:12
We had established a company
with an aggressive objective.
00:26:17
And to achieve that, these kinds
of measures were necessary.
00:26:21
People were committed to fight.
00:26:25
So the large-scale violence practiced
here is part of our Golden Age.
00:26:31
Yes, at least here in Asia.
00:26:34
When people talk of a 'VOC
mentality' it actually means:
00:26:40
The end justifies the means.
00:26:54
Coincidence or not, a
tropical downpour starts.
00:27:00
It brings the slaughter closer.
00:27:03
Demonic samurai warriors, rolling heads.
00:27:07
Rain mixed with blood.
00:27:27
I'll show you the names of the leaders
that were slaughtered by Coen.
00:27:34
These are the names of the orangkaya's.
00:27:48
When thinking back on this, there
is a feeling of hate towards Coen.
00:27:54
Not towards the Dutch people. Towards Coen.
00:27:59
He ordered this slaughter of our ancestors.
00:28:08
The Dutch consider him a hero.
00:28:14
Who provided a lot of gold
and who built up Rotterdam
00:28:17
and Amsterdam with
money from Banda.
00:28:20
But we consider him a
criminal, even a terrorist.
00:28:59
Some resemblance? Certainly.
Fort Belgica is still there.
00:29:04
We were up there.
00:29:07
The landscape is still exactly as it was.
00:29:11
Coen depopulated the island.
How did he organize it?
00:29:18
Coen must have premeditated it.
00:29:22
He parceled out these
islands, as if it were a polder.
00:29:26
The plots were handed out to so-called
'perkeniers', loyal VOC employees.
00:29:32
As the original population was
deported, he provided them with slaves
00:29:39
to tend to the nutmeg trees.
00:29:42
On the condition that they handed
over their entire harvest to the VOC.
00:29:49
This was the result?
00:29:53
De Beemster... in the orient.
00:29:56
He was that methodical.
00:30:27
Yes, I am a 'perkenier' here.
00:30:30
As perkenier, I continue
the work of my ancestors.
00:30:34
I'm the 13th generation descendent
of Pieter van der Broecke.
00:30:40
The plantation used to be extensive,
but now only 12,5 hectares are left.
00:30:49
On the island Ai there
were three plantations:
00:30:52
Prosperous, Well-Contented,
Western Cliff.
00:30:55
On the island Banda Besar: Little Current
and Big Current. So, 5 in total.
00:31:07
Come over to help getting
that nutmeg from the tree.
00:31:40
You have to cut from the side.
00:32:03
Mace.
00:32:12
In Indonesian it's "nutmeg flower".
00:32:16
This will be dried in the sun for 4 hours.
00:32:24
The nuts will be put in a smoking room.
00:32:28
We use smoke for that. Only after
three weeks they'll have dried.
00:32:37
The price of nutmeg is going down
now, because of the crisis in Europe.
00:32:44
After all, this is an export commodity.
00:32:49
Because of the crisis, prices dropped
by 40 percent under normal levels.
00:33:02
Bonkie van der Broecke is the last
independent perkenier on Banda.
00:33:08
In his house there is a portrait of his
ancestor Pieter painted by Frans Hals.
00:33:14
A reproduction, anyway.
00:33:19
Back in Amsterdam.
In the Beurs van Berlage.
00:33:23
Coen executed his orders from the Gentlemen
XVII with mathematical precision.
00:33:29
How did the Fatherland profit
from the bloodshed in the orient?
00:33:39
Well, it's worth the climb.
- I say, this is nice,
00:33:45
Wow!
00:33:49
The ports were located at the
present Central Station.
00:33:53
The VOC ships would
arrive there.
00:33:56
A canal would lead to Dam Square.
The fish market was three.
00:34:01
As merchants would meet at Dam Square,
they built a stock exchange there.
00:34:10
VOC ships arrived in large numbers.
00:34:16
How was the profit?
- A huge disappointment.
00:34:19
The first ten years they
did not earn anything.
00:34:24
A lot had to be invested in
forts, ships, and so on.
00:34:28
The directors of the Company
needed all the money they could get.
00:34:31
So they returned as little as possible to
the shareholders for as long as possible.
00:34:36
This an example of a very early share.
Yes, this is from Enkhuizen.
00:34:43
If initial investors paid
off their installments,
00:34:47
the VOC would give
them a receipt.
00:34:51
That's what we call the first ever share.
00:34:55
Remarkably, at the back, they recorded
exactly what was paid out in dividends.
00:35:03
Investors had to wait 10 years
for the first dividends.
00:35:10
Because the VOC had no money at all.
00:35:13
So, the VOC promised profits,
but they did not pay yet.
00:35:17
First they wanted
to pay in spices.
00:35:19
The shareholders refused, fearing
the market would be flooded.
00:35:24
The profits of this
shareholder were very modest.
00:35:30
Things change in 1633. They got
their act together in Asia.
00:35:38
The VOC supplied spices steadily.
It no longer needed to hold onto profits.
00:35:45
So, dividends went up.
00:35:48
This person remained a
shareholder for 48 years.
00:35:53
By that time, he had
earned a lot of money.
00:35:57
But he had to wait for 38 years.
00:36:03
'Who seeks gain should incur expense.' But
that was not always true in Coen's time.
00:36:09
Exactly at that time, speculation came up.
00:36:11
Naked short selling, speculating
on the stocks going down,
00:36:16
was invented in Amsterdam a few years
after the founding of the VOC.
00:36:23
Greed is of all times.
00:36:25
So, what was the essence of the VOC?
00:36:28
A last visit to Menno Witteveen...
00:36:31
who owns an investment company.
00:36:34
The modern VOC. Modern Batavia.
00:36:38
But still quite different.
00:36:40
It's fascinating to see a plane leave
for Indonesia, China or Japan,
00:36:49
with just as many people
on board as on a VOC ship.
00:36:57
The quantum leap of capitalism.
00:37:01
Yes, you can say that.
00:37:04
The VOC was a quantum leap into itself.
00:37:07
Yes, it was a huge leap.
00:37:11
For the first time people could invest
in a company for a longer period of time.
00:37:18
It was the basis to the
organization of world trade...
00:37:21
and the way of doing
business as we know it now.
00:37:25
The idea of a limited company.
- Yes.
00:37:29
A director is no longer personally liable.
00:37:32
He is, as soon as he breaks the law.
00:37:34
But the VOC wrote its own laws.
00:37:40
Because there a screen is drawn between
your private life and business,
00:37:44
people are doing things that they would
never have done as a private citizen.
00:37:49
Coen on Banda is a case in point.
A loyal merchant's son.
00:37:53
He would have never
done what he did
00:37:58
without the weight of the
VOC's power behind him.
00:38:04
So, the VOC's structure laid
the foundation for capitalism.
00:38:12
And this structure induces
to transgressing moral borders?
00:38:20
Yes, often it does.
00:38:22
So the corporate scandals
of the last years
00:38:26
are for a large part a
distant legacy of a certain
00:38:30
way of operating that started
with the Dutch VOC. Yes.
00:38:37
Beautiful legacy.
00:38:44
In Jakarta the VOC and Jan
Pieterszoon Coen are far away.
00:38:48
Here the future prevails with ultramodern
offices, hotels and shopping centers.
00:39:00
The colonial past is viewed ironically.
00:39:04
A potpourri of cheerful
costumes in a bicycle parade.
00:39:55
Only from here you can see how the country
was turned upside down in the 17th century.
00:40:00
Next week: Water will be land.
And land becomes city.
00:40:03
The remarkable transformation
of Holland in the Golden Age.
00:40:10
God created the world, but the Dutch
created Holland.
00:40:15
For contemporaries it
must have been awesome.
00:40:17
But there is even more Golden Age.
00:40:19
Next Sunday in Welcome
to the Golden Age my guests are:
00:40:25
I am Prince Frederick Henry of Orange.
00:40:28
And I am Amalia Von Solms.
00:40:30
So join us, a quarter
past six on Zapp.
