A historiographical analysis of the decline of the Dutch East India Company Erik van Megen Master thesis at the institute of Archeology, conservation and History. Faculty of Humanities University of Oslo Fall 2018 Summary The Dutch East India Company was the first multinational corporation in the history of humankind. Throughout the seventeenth and much of the eighteenth century, the company thrived. Both its trading posts and the number of its employees increased throughout the years. However, this success story came to a halt at some point during the eighteenth century, perhaps even before. All the way back to the nineteenth century, historians have discussed various causes of the decline of the Dutch East India Company. However, no one has written a historiographical analysis of the topic. Thus, the main aim of this master thesis is to produce a historiographical analysis of the decline of the Dutch East India Company. This historiographical analysis revolves around the viewpoints of five authors who have sought to explain the decline of the Dutch East India Company.1 Together, these authors represent the most widespread explanations to the decline of the VOC. The emphasis in this paper will not only be on the literature of these authors, but also on their personal background, as well as elements of historical theory and methods. In each chapter, the respective scholar will be compared to his/her preceding scholar, in chronological order. In addition, there is an introduction, a background chapter and a conclusion. 1 In Dutch: De Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC). Preface Writing a master thesis is like walking an endlessly long road, completely by yourself, never reaching a destination and continuously taking wrong turns on the way. At least, that is what it felt like, much of the time. Nevertheless, I finally got to my destination. This is because I was not completely by myself. I want to thank my supervisor for giving me excellent feedback, which guided me in the right direction. Furthermore, you were also good at listening to my opinion, so that we could come to a compromise. Ivy: I couldn´t have done this without you. I´m extremely lucky that I have you in my life. Thank you for always being there for me. You always encouraged me to study, and you helped evolve my English further. I want to thank my family for supporting me through this year. I´m thanking you dad for buying me books on the topic and always showing interest and encouraging me. Frida: thank you for making the most delicious dinners. Wibeke, aka auntie dog, you and your dogs always cheer me up. Suzanne: you are sweet and Ronja is adorable, and the light of our family. Last, but most important, I am addressing you mum: even though you were so sick the last year, you always supported me through it. I cannot find the words to describe how much it saddens me that you could not see it finished. A month before you passed away, you made me promise you that I would finish it before you died. I failed to do so, as you passed away, much too early. Still, I comforted you and made sure that I had everything under control, and I know that you had no doubt that I would have it finished. Tolkamer, The Netherlands, July, 2018. iii Contents 1.1: Why the Dutch East India Company? .................................................................................................... 1 1.2: Points in question .................................................................................................................................. 2 1.3: Sources ................................................................................................................................................... 3 1.4: The historians ......................................................................................................................................... 3 1.4.1: Holden Furber ..................................................................................................................................... 4 1.4.2: Fernand Braudel .................................................................................................................................. 5 1.4.3: Julia Adams ......................................................................................................................................... 6 1.4.4: Els Jacobs ............................................................................................................................................ 6 1.4.5: Chris Nierstrasz ................................................................................................................................... 7 1.5: Explanation of vocabulary and concepts ............................................................................................... 8 1.6: A historiographical analysis ................................................................................................................. 10 1.7: Chronology ........................................................................................................................................... 11 2.1: A brief background on the VOC ........................................................................................................... 12 2.2: Characteristics of the historiography ................................................................................................... 17 2.3: The historiography of the decline of the VOC ..................................................................................... 18 2.3.1: The first known accounts .................................................................................................................. 18 2.3.2: Van der Oudermeulen ...................................................................................................................... 18 2.3.3: De Jonge ............................................................................................................................................ 19 2.3.4: Mansvelt ........................................................................................................................................... 20 2.3.5: Blok ................................................................................................................................................... 20 2.3.6: Van Leur ........................................................................................................................................... 21 2.3.7: Glamann ............................................................................................................................................ 22 2.4: Conlusion ............................................................................................................................................. 24 3.1: Comparative approach and break with Blok ....................................................................................... 25 3.2: Characteristics & influences ................................................................................................................. 26 3.3: An Age of Partnership and the VOC ..................................................................................................... 26 3.4: Towards free trade .............................................................................................................................. 27 3.5: Furber, spices to tea and textiles ......................................................................................................... 30 3.6: Summary .............................................................................................................................................. 30 iv 4.1: Civilization and Capitalism ................................................................................................................... 32 4.2: A total history....................................................................................................................................... 33 4.3: Free-trade & monopolies ..................................................................................................................... 34 4.4: The importance of the Dutch Republic ................................................................................................ 34 4.5: The failure in the tea trade .................................................................................................................. 36 4.6: A fragile company ................................................................................................................................ 36 4.7: India vs Indonesia ................................................................................................................................ 38 4.8: Summary .............................................................................................................................................. 39 5.1: A sociological approach ....................................................................................................................... 40 5.2: Collapse of the company´s patrimonial chain of command ................................................................ 41 5.3: Disadvantage of rendezvous ................................................................................................................ 43 5.4: Private trade and a break of patrimonial relations .............................................................................. 44 5.5: Incentives ............................................................................................................................................