Ethical politics known in English, ethische politiek , was essentially the official policy of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) colonial government for four decades from 1901 until the Japanese occupation in 1942.
It was announced by the Queen of the Netherlands, Wilhelmina, that the Netherlands had an ethical responsibility for the welfare of the Indonesian people. The announcement stands in stark contrast to the previous official doctrine that Indonesia is a profit making territory.
This social reality also marked the start of modern development policies, whereas power in the other sense of colonialism spoke of the mission of civilization, which mainly involved spreading their culture to colonized peoples.
This policy emphasizes improving material living conditions, which is pursued through a trilogy, namely education, irrigation, and transmigration.
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The application of ethical politics through the trilogy has had an impact on the Indonesian nation, one of which is the emergence of educated people.
Ethical Politics
The Dutch were starting to feel pressured because of the change from the previous profit policies that were obtained from the Indonesian Nation.
The Netherlands felt indebted to Indonesia for all the wealth it had managed to extract during the previous decades. Ethical Policy or what we know by the term ” ethical politics ” is the result of this feeling.
It started from 1901 to 1902 and was intended to increase the welfare of the people in the colony above profit by focusing on three main areas of development: education, irrigation, and transmigration.
Ethical politics did have some gains, and the Netherlands did increase spending on public health by about ten times but ultimately failed.
Part of this failure was due to the impact of population growth on Java, but it should also be noted that the colonial government emphasized economic development above the welfare of the general public.
In an educational sense, ethical politics not only failed to reach the majority of the population, but must be measured against the efforts of other current colonial regimes.
The closest example that can be compared is America in the Philippines, which was far more successful in providing education to the local population than the colonial administration in the Dutch East Indies.
In terms of its significance, in the field of education, although ethical politics not only failed to reach a large part of the population, it helped to produce leaders, like Sukarno, of the future Indonesian nationalist movement.
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Viewed in this way, ethical politics played a significant, if not accidental, role in the growth of Indonesian nationalism.
Definition of Ethical Politics
Ethical politics is a progressive thought that the Dutch government has a moral obligation to provide welfare to the Indonesian people because it has provided prosperity for the people and the Dutch kingdom.
So that in this case ethical politics is a policy or it can also be called the Dutch Ethical Policy which was the official policy of the Indonesian colonial government for four decades from 1901 until the Japanese occupation in 1942. The Dutch Ethical Policy emphasized improving material living conditions.
However, this policy faced problems such as a serious shortage of funds, inflated expectations and a lack of acceptance of the Dutch colonial establishment, and was largely eradicated by the onset of the Great Depression in 1930.
Understanding of Ethical Politics According to Experts
The definition of ethical politics according to experts, among others:
1. Encyclopedia Britannica
Ethical politics in Indonesian history is a program introduced by the Dutch in the East Indies at the turn of the 20th century which aims to advance the welfare of the indigenous people of Indonesia (Java).
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History of Ethical Politics
As the borders of the Dutch East Indies began to shape present-day Indonesia, Dutch Queen Wilhelmina made an announcement in her annual address in 1901 informing her that a new policy, the “Ethical Policy” would be launched.
This policy (acknowledging that the Dutch owed a debt of honor to the Indonesians) was aimed at raising the standard of living of the indigenous population.
The way to achieve this was direct state intervention in (economic) life, which was developed under the slogan “ education, irrigation and transmigration ”. However, this new approach has not proven successful in raising the standard of living of Indonesians.
This Dutch ethical policy implies a deep and far-reaching side effect. Its educational component contributed significantly to the rise of Pan-Indonesian nationalism by providing Indonesians with the intellectual tools to organize and articulate their objections to colonial rule.
Ethical politics provided a small number of Indonesian elites with Western political notions of freedom and democracy. For the first time the indigenous people of the Archipelago began to develop their national consciousness as “Indonesians”.
In 1908 students in Batavia founded the Budi Utomo association, the first indigenous political society. This event is often considered as the birth of Indonesian nationalism.
This established a political tradition in which cooperation between Indonesia’s young elite and the Dutch colonial government was expected to lead to the gain of independence.
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Ethical Political Background
There are several reasons behind the emergence of ethical politics, including:
- The forced cultivation system caused suffering to the Indonesian people
- The liberal economic system cannot improve people’s welfare
- The Dutch put pressure and oppression on the people
- People lost their land
- There was criticism from intellectuals who came from the Netherlands itself
Content of Ethical Politics
Van Deventer stated that there are 3 ways to improve the fate of the Indonesian people which are called the Van Deventer Trilogy. The contents of the trilogy are:
1. Education (Education)
His initial education was carried out at first grade schools which were reserved for the children of civil servants and people who had positions or wealth.
In 1903 there were 14 first grade schools located in the Capital of the Residency and 29 in the Capital of Afdeling. The subjects taught are reading, writing, arithmetic, earth sciences, natural sciences, history and drawing.
Second class education is specifically for native children who belong to the lower class. In 1903 in Java and Madura there were 245 public second-class schools and 326 Fartikelir schools, including 63 from Zending.
And In 1892, the number of students is as many as 50,000. In 1902 there were 1,632 native children studying in European schools.
There are three Osvia schools aimed at producing civil service candidates, each of which is located in Bandung, Magelang and Probolinggo.
2. Irrigation (Watering)
Irrigation or watering is a very important tool for agriculture. This system has been run by the government since 1885 with an area of 96,000 bau for Berantas and Demak irrigation. Then in 1902 the area increased to 173,000 bou. Through irrigation, agricultural land will become fertile and production will increase
3. Transmigration (Population Movement)
The transmigration program has had a positive impact on the management or cultivation of land outside Java that had not previously been cultivated into plantation land.
Income will be generated through the processing of the land. In addition, transmigration was also carried out with the aim of reducing the population density of Java.
In 1865 the total population of Java and Madura was 14 million people. Then in 1900 it had doubled. In the 19th century there was population migration from Central Java to East Java, which was associated with the expansion of sugarcane and shoot plantations.
Population migration from Java Island to North Sumatra was due to the large demand for plantation workers in North Sumatra, especially in Deli, while those who migrated to Lampung had the goal of settling down.
Purpose of Ethical Politics
Ethical politics aims to advance three areas, namely education which is carried out by providing education, irrigation which is carried out by making irrigation facilities and networks, and transmigration which is carried out by organizing population movements, as explained above.
At first glance, the ethical policy carried out by the Dutch through improvements in the fields of education, irrigation, and transmigration may seem noble, but behind all that, the goals of these programs lead to the interests of the Netherlands itself.
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The Impact of Ethical Politics for the Indonesian Nation
Some of the impacts of the enactment of ethical politics for the Indonesian nation, include:
- Infrastructure development such as the construction of railroads facilitates the smooth movement of goods and people.
- The existence of these schools gave rise to educated people or intellectuals who became pioneers of the National Movement, for example Soetomo, a STOVIA student who founded the Budi Utomo Organization.
- Development of agricultural infrastructure which in this case is a useful dam in irrigation.
- The establishment of schools such as:
- Hollandsc Indlandsche School (HIS) which is equivalent to Elementary School (SD)
- Meer Uitgebreid Lagare Onderwijs (MULO) which is equivalent to Junior High School (SMP)
- Algemeene Middlebare School (AMS) which is equivalent to a Public Middle School (SMU)
- Kweek School (Teacher’s School) which is intended for the sons of the earth
- Technical Hoges School
- School Tot Opleiding Van Indische Artsen or abbreviated as STOVIA which is a medical school
So, that was the article that we can present to all readers regarding the understanding of ethical politics according to experts, history, background, content, objectives, and its impact on Indonesian society. Hope this gives some insight to everyone.