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"The Government Believes That History Unfolds as History Unfolds" In what ways have consecutive Dutch governments sought to address Dutch violence during Indonesia's independence war of 1945-1949? A study into the approaches applied by Dutch governments over the course of almost seventy years

Since the end of the twentieth century, more and more countries have been confronted with how to deal with injustice from the past. Current governments are increasingly asked requested to assume accountability for crimes committed by their predecessors. Due to the growth of human rights, the discuss...

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Main Author: Assies, Tessa
Other Authors: Scanlon, Helen
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Political Studies 2020
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access_status_str Open Access
author Assies, Tessa
author2 Scanlon, Helen
author_browse Assies, Tessa
Scanlon, Helen
author_facet Scanlon, Helen
Assies, Tessa
author_sort Assies, Tessa
collection Thesis
description Since the end of the twentieth century, more and more countries have been confronted with how to deal with injustice from the past. Current governments are increasingly asked requested to assume accountability for crimes committed by their predecessors. Due to the growth of human rights, the discussion surrounding this, a more conscious society and the empowerment of victims, old cases are increasingly being exposed. This is also the case for the Dutch government. During the war of independence in Indonesia between 1945 and 1949, the population of this country fought to be released from under the Dutch rule. Later research would show that the Dutch army committed crimes there under the guise of 'an internal mission' to preserve the colony for the kingdom. After the war, it remained undiscussed, and successive Dutch governments even actively 'neutralised' the case. Later, when a clearly defined group of victims emerged, the Dutch government had to deal with it differently. In the spirit of the global developments concerning human rights and interest in history, the Dutch government took some tentative steps in addressing the Indonesian issue. Real changes however were enforced through a lawsuit filed by the aforementioned group of victims. These victims won their case, and the ruling established for the first time that the Dutch state had a responsibility towards the group of victims from Indonesia. Did this lead to a change in the Dutch governmental approach towards the Dutch violence during the independence war? Has anything actually changed over the years to this approach? This thesis examines the attitude and approach of successive Dutch authorities towards Dutch violence in Indonesia, divided over three periods: the five-decades post-war; the period 1995-2011 (in this last year the lawsuit was filed); and the time post-lawsuit.
format Thesis
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:44:45.586Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2020
publishDateRange 2020
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publisher Department of Political Studies
publisherStr Department of Political Studies
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/31532 "The Government Believes That History Unfolds as History Unfolds" In what ways have consecutive Dutch governments sought to address Dutch violence during Indonesia's independence war of 1945-1949? A study into the approaches applied by Dutch governments over the course of almost seventy years Assies, Tessa Scanlon, Helen political studies Since the end of the twentieth century, more and more countries have been confronted with how to deal with injustice from the past. Current governments are increasingly asked requested to assume accountability for crimes committed by their predecessors. Due to the growth of human rights, the discussion surrounding this, a more conscious society and the empowerment of victims, old cases are increasingly being exposed. This is also the case for the Dutch government. During the war of independence in Indonesia between 1945 and 1949, the population of this country fought to be released from under the Dutch rule. Later research would show that the Dutch army committed crimes there under the guise of 'an internal mission' to preserve the colony for the kingdom. After the war, it remained undiscussed, and successive Dutch governments even actively 'neutralised' the case. Later, when a clearly defined group of victims emerged, the Dutch government had to deal with it differently. In the spirit of the global developments concerning human rights and interest in history, the Dutch government took some tentative steps in addressing the Indonesian issue. Real changes however were enforced through a lawsuit filed by the aforementioned group of victims. These victims won their case, and the ruling established for the first time that the Dutch state had a responsibility towards the group of victims from Indonesia. Did this lead to a change in the Dutch governmental approach towards the Dutch violence during the independence war? Has anything actually changed over the years to this approach? This thesis examines the attitude and approach of successive Dutch authorities towards Dutch violence in Indonesia, divided over three periods: the five-decades post-war; the period 1995-2011 (in this last year the lawsuit was filed); and the time post-lawsuit. 2020-03-10T13:31:08Z 2020-03-10T13:31:08Z 2019 2020-03-10T13:29:50Z Master Thesis Masters MPhil http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31532 eng application/pdf Department of Political Studies Faculty of Humanities
spellingShingle political studies
Assies, Tessa
"The Government Believes That History Unfolds as History Unfolds" In what ways have consecutive Dutch governments sought to address Dutch violence during Indonesia's independence war of 1945-1949? A study into the approaches applied by Dutch governments over the course of almost seventy years
thesis_degree_str Master's
title "The Government Believes That History Unfolds as History Unfolds" In what ways have consecutive Dutch governments sought to address Dutch violence during Indonesia's independence war of 1945-1949? A study into the approaches applied by Dutch governments over the course of almost seventy years
title_full "The Government Believes That History Unfolds as History Unfolds" In what ways have consecutive Dutch governments sought to address Dutch violence during Indonesia's independence war of 1945-1949? A study into the approaches applied by Dutch governments over the course of almost seventy years
title_fullStr "The Government Believes That History Unfolds as History Unfolds" In what ways have consecutive Dutch governments sought to address Dutch violence during Indonesia's independence war of 1945-1949? A study into the approaches applied by Dutch governments over the course of almost seventy years
title_full_unstemmed "The Government Believes That History Unfolds as History Unfolds" In what ways have consecutive Dutch governments sought to address Dutch violence during Indonesia's independence war of 1945-1949? A study into the approaches applied by Dutch governments over the course of almost seventy years
title_short "The Government Believes That History Unfolds as History Unfolds" In what ways have consecutive Dutch governments sought to address Dutch violence during Indonesia's independence war of 1945-1949? A study into the approaches applied by Dutch governments over the course of almost seventy years
title_sort the government believes that history unfolds as history unfolds in what ways have consecutive dutch governments sought to address dutch violence during indonesia s independence war of 1945 1949 a study into the approaches applied by dutch governments over the course of almost seventy years
topic political studies
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31532
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