Netherlands New Guinea

Overview
Netherlands New Guinea (Dutch: Nederlands-Nieuw-Guinea) refers to the West Papua region of Indonesia while it was an overseas territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1949 to 1962. The Spanish discovered New Guinea, naming it Nueva Guinea. Until 1949 it was a part of the Dutch East Indies. It was commonly known as Dutch New Guinea. It contained what are now Indonesia's two easternmost provinces, Papua and West Papua (administered under a unified government prior to 2003 under the name Irian Jaya).

During the Indonesian Revolution, the Dutch launched 'police actions' to capture territory from the Indonesian Republic. However, the harsh methods of the Dutch had drawn international disapproval. With international opinion shifting towards support of the Indonesian Republic, the Dutch managed in 1949 to negotiate for the separation of Netherlands New Guinea from the broader Indonesian settlement, with the fate of the disputed territory to be decided by the close of 1950. However, the Dutch in coming years were able to argue successfully at the UN that the indigenous population of Netherlands New Guinea represented a separate ethnic group from the people of Indonesia and thus should not be absorbed into the Indonesian state.

In contrast, the Indonesian Republic, as successor state to the Netherlands East Indies, claimed Netherlands New Guinea as part of its natural territorial bounds. The dispute over New Guinea was an important factor in the quick decline in bilateral relations between the Netherlands and Indonesia after Indonesian independence. The dispute escalated into low-level conflict in 1962 following Dutch moves in 1961 to establish a New Guinea Council.

Following the Vlakke Hoek incident, Indonesia launched a campaign of infiltrations designed to place pressure on the Dutch. Facing diplomatic pressure from the United States, fading domestic support and continual Indonesian threats to invade the territory, the Netherlands decided to relinquish control of the disputed territory in August 1962, agreeing to the Bunker Proposal on condition that a plebiscite to determine the final fate of the territory be conducted at a later date. The territory was administered by the UN temporarily before being transferred to Indonesia on 1 May 1963. A plebiscite, the Act of Free Choice, was eventually held in 1969 but the fairness of the election is disputed.

Stats

 * 1) Motto: "Setia, Djudjur, Mesra" (Indonesian) "Loyal, Honest, Affectionate".
 * 2) Anthem: "Wilhelmus" (Dutch) "'William"\Hai Tanahku Papua (Wast Papuan) "Oh My Land Papua". (proposed)
 * 3) Capital: Hollandia
 * 4) Languages: Dutch, Papuan languages and Austronesian languages
 * 5) Religion: Christianity (official) and Animism (folk/ethnic)
 * 6) Political structure: Colony
 * 7) Historical era: Cold War
 * 8) Established: 27 December 1949
 * 9) Disestablished: 1 October 1962
 * 10) Area: 420,540 km² (162,371 sq mi)
 * 11) Currency: NNG gulden
 * 12) Preceded by: the Dutch East Indies
 * 13) Succeeded by: the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority
 * 14) Today it is a part of Indonesia

Pre-World War II
Until after the Second World War the western part of the island of New Guinea was part of the Dutch colony of the Netherlands Indies. The Netherlands claimed sovereignty over New Guinea within the Netherlands Indies through its protection over Sultanate of Tidore, a sultanate on an island west of Halmahera in the Maluku Islands. In a 1660 treaty the Dutch East India Company (VOC) recognised the Sultanate of Tidore's supremacy over the Papuans, the inhabitants of New Guinea. Probably this referred to some Papuan islands near the Maluku Islands, although Tidore never exercised actual control over New Guinea. In 1872 Tidore recognised Dutch sovereignty and granted permission to the Kingdom of the Netherlands to establish administration in its territories whenever the Netherlands Indies authorities would want to do so. This allowed the Netherlands to legitimise a claim to the New Guinea area.

The Dutch established the 141st meridian as the eastern frontier of the territory. In 1898 the Netherlands Indies government decided to establish administrative posts in Fakfak and Manokwari, followed by Merauke in 1902. The main reason for this was the expansion of British and German control in the east. The Dutch wanted to make sure the United Kingdom and Germany would not move the border to the west. This resulted in the partition of the island of New Guinea.

In reality the most part of New Guinea remained outside colonial influence. Little was known about the interior at the time, with large areas on the map white coloured unexepored blank zones and the number of inhabitants of the island was unknown. As numerous explorations were made into the interior from the turn of the 20th century on. The indigenous inhabitants of New Guinea were the Papuans, living   hunter-gatherers  in tribes.

Pre-World War II economic activity was limited. Only coastal and island dwellers traded to some extent, mostly with the Maluku Islands. A development company was founded in 1938 to change this situation, but it was not very active. So, until World War II, New Guinea was a disregarded and unimportant territory within the Netherlands Indies.

Homeland for the Eurasians
The group that was most interested in New Guinea before the war were the Eurasians or Indo-people (part Dutch, part local races). Before the war some 150,000 to 200,000 Eurasians were living in the Netherlands Indies. They identified with the Netherlands and the Dutch way of life and the colonial society of the Netherlands Indies, which held a higher social status than indigenous Indonesians ("inlanders"). They were mostly employed as office workers, but were bared from farming in Java and lacked many key skills for creating there own businesses.

In 1926, a separate Vereniging tot Kolonisatie van Nieuw-Guinea (Association for the Settlement of New Guinea) was founded. In 1930, it was followed by the Stichting Immigratie Kolonisatie Nieuw-Guinea (Foundation Immigration and Settlement New Guinea). A few more occered at other timemes in the mid and late 1930s. Some of these political marginal organisations were linked to the nazi NSB party and other fascist organisations.

These organisations regarded New Guinea as an untouched, almost empty land that could serve as a homeland to the sidelined Eurasians. A kind of tropical Holland, where Eurasians could create an existence. It was mostly a failure because of the harsh climate and natural conditions, and because of the fact the settlers, previously office workers, were not skilled in agriculture.

Papua New Guinean's political interests
There had been intermittent ideas and plans set towards a peaceful unification of the kindred islanders during the Cold War era.

Dutch political intrigues
.

Australia's political interests
.

Governors

 * 1) Jan Pieter Karel van Eechoud (29 December 1949 – 8 February 1950; acting)
 * 2) Stephan Lucien Joseph van Waardenburg (8 February 1950 – 24 April 1953)
 * 3) Jan van Baal (24 April 1953 – 31 March 1958)
 * 4) Jan Christoffel Baarspul (31 March 1958 – 1 May 1958; acting)
 * 5) Pieter Johannes Platteel (1 May 1958 – 28 September 1962)
 * 6) Henk Veldkamp (28 September 1962 – 1 October 1962; acting)

Also see

 * 1) United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA)
 * 2) United Nations
 * 3) West New Guinea dispute (1950–1962)
 * 4) Papua Conflict
 * 5) Republic of South Maluku
 * 6) The insurgency in Aceh Province
 * 7) The Indonesian occupation of E. Timor
 * 8) Jenderal Besar TNI Purn. Haji Muhammad Suharto
 * 9) Acehnese rebellion of 1976 to 2005
 * 10) Free Aceh Movement (GAM)