Dutch Commerce and Chinese Merchants in Java: Colonial Relationships in Trade and Finance, 1800-1942 (Verhandelingen Van Het Koninklijk Instituut Voor Taal-, Land)

Glossary -- 1. Introduction -- Research outline -- Access to capital, information and security -- The Indonesian case -- Sources -- Research method -- 2. Prelude to rapid expansion (1800-1884) -- The colonial state and the economy -- The resilience of private enterprise -- Private enterprise under the cultivation system -- Tilting the balance : finance in transition -- Wholesalers and retailers -- 3. Crisis and adaptation (1884-1890s) -- Economic policy and political expansion -- The organization of trade -- The onset of the crisis : sugar and coffee -- The beginning of the crisis -- The crisis experienced -- The crisis prolonged : import and credit -- 4. Redefining Dutch-Chinese commercial relations (1890s-1910) -- An awkward alliance : the interdependence of Dutch and Chinese business -- The economic position of the Chinese under scrutiny -- A wave of failures : Surabaya in the late 1890s -- The Chinese boycot of the Handelsvereeniging Amsterdam -- 5. The road to expansion (1910-1930) -- The late colonial state : consolidation and conflict -- The colonial economy before 1914 -- The lure of sugar -- DJ B and the outbreak of the First World War -- The colonial economy after 1914 -- The Kwik Hoo Tong Handelmaatschappij : a prominent Chinese in sugar -- 6. Economic crisis and commercial resilience (1930-1942) -- The economic experience of the 1930s -- The incidence of failure : bankruptcy cases in the 1920s and 1930s -- Commercial resilience : two examples of crisis management in the 1930s -- 7. Conclusion -- A bird's-eye view of colonial trade -- Trade dynamics. Trading enterprise figures prominently in Indonesian history. Commercial activities penetrated deep into the economy, politics and society of the former Netherlands Indies. Dutch Commerce and Chinese Merchants in Java describes this, largely forgotten, world of commerce. During the period 1800-1942 this vanished world was, however, bustling. Merchants of very different background and stature cooperated and competed with each other. Trading relations were forged and dissolved, contracts were honoured and broken, fortunes were made and lost. Using unpublished archival sources in Indonesia and the Netherlands Alexander Claver recounts the diverse trading mechanisms, complex credit relations and countless participants involved. How Dutch, Chinese, and Arab traders related to each other in such demanding business environment is the fascinating story of this book. "Dutch Commerce and Chinese Merchants in Java" describes the vanished commercial world of colonial Java. Alexander Claver shows the challenges of a demanding business environment by highlighting trade and finance mechanisms, and the relationships between the participants involved. Trading enterprise figures prominently in Indonesian history. Commercial activities penetrated deep into the economy, politics and society of the former Netherlands Indies. Dutch Commerce and Chinese Merchants in Java describes this, largely forgotten, world of commerce. During the period 1800-1942 this vanished world was, however, bustling. Merchants of very different background and stature cooperated and competed with each other. Trading relations were forged and dissolved, contracts were honoured and broken, fortunes were made and lost. Using unpublished archival sources in Indonesia and the Netherlands Alexander Claver recounts the diverse trading mechanisms, complex credit relations and countless participants involved. How Dutch, Chinese, and Arab traders related to each other in such demanding business environment is the fascinating story of this book -- Provided by Publisher Trading enterprise figures prominently in Indonesian history. Commercial activities penetrated deep into the economy, politics and society of the former Netherlands Indies. Dutch Commerce and Chinese Merchants in Java describes this, largely forgotten, world of commerce. During the period 1800-1942 this vanished world was, however, bustling. Merchants of very different background and stature cooperated and competed with each other. Trading relations were forged and dissolved, contracts were honoured and broken, fortunes were made and lost. Using unpublished archival sources in Indonesia and the Netherlands Alexander Claver recounts the diverse trading mechanisms, complex credit relations and countless participants involved. How Dutch, Chinese, and Arab traders related to each other in such demanding business environment is the fascinating story of this book. Full text (Open Access)