JAKARTA – History today, 211 years ago, June 29, 1811, the Governor General of the Dutch East Indies, Herman Willem Daendels returned to France. That day Daendels' power in the archipelago officially ended. His return was because Napoleon Bonaparte needed his services. Daendels' departure was greeted with great fanfare by Dutch officials in the archipelago.
They generally do not like the Daendels era. This is because Daendels has broken a lot of their profit chains with bureaucratic reform. He fights corruption. However, in the eyes of the native Daendels, there is no difference. He is still an invader.
Daendels was the golden son of Napoleon Bonaparte. The French emperor was amazed by Daendels' gait in leading the Batavian legions during the French Revolution. Moreover, France began to expand its territory to the Netherlands. aka Napoleon began to colonize the Netherlands. Therefore, all kinds of power held by the Dutch in the archipelago fell into the hands of the French.
Daendels was also sent to become the number one person in the Dutch East Indies in 1808. He was expected to carry out bureaucratic reform. Straighten wrong actions and without messing up the whole situation. He officially became Governor-General on January 14, 1808, succeeding Albertus Henricus Wiese.
Daendels stepped on the gas right from the start, landing his feet on the Dutch East Indies center of power in Batavia. He understands the task given by Napoleon via his younger brother who became king of the Netherlands, Louis (Lodewijk) Napoleon. The task included saving Java from British attacks. Second, fix the administrative system in Java.
The task was carried out well. All ulcers of the Dutch East Indies government from the past, such as corruption and extortion, were immediately eradicated. Even the gaps of previous Dutch officials for extortion were immediately closed. In fact, Daendels did not hesitate to put to death Dutch officials who were caught corrupting the colonial government in large numbers.
“One of the actions that the new governor general took was a total reform of the administration. Until the time of Daendels all the Dutch territory east of Cirebon formed one province, the province of the northeast coast of Java. The governor of the province, because of the various benefits associated with his position, enjoys an annual income of 100 thousand guilders, while if we take Daendels' words, the territory's income is practically zero.”
“By the decree of August 18, the province was divided into five prefectures and 38 regencies. All officials received military rank and adequate salaries. Gifts of bribes from Javanese regents, special benefits, all this abuse must be stopped,” said Bernard HM Vlekke in the book Nusantara (2018).
The figure of Daendels is also famous throughout the country. His assertiveness is well known everywhere. However, many Dutch officials did not like Daendels' leadership. Daendels' leadership is considered to have killed off much of the potential income of Dutch officials apart from salaries.
Hatred of Daendels is rampant. Daendels' big sin in building the Anyer-Panarukan Postal Highway was reviewed repeatedly. Daendels also considered it lonely. He continued to work, because he felt himself as a representative of Napoleon in Java.
However, Daendels' reign was short. On June 29, 1811, Daendels returned to France. Napoleon needed his services.
“On June 29, 1811, Daendels sailed back to Europe from the port of Surabaya. In September 1811, he was received by Napoleon Bonaparte in Paris,” concluded Angga Indrawan in the book Napak Tilas Jalan Daendels (2017).
The end of the reign of Governor General Daendels is part of today's history, June 29, 1811 in Indonesia.
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