Misplaced Pages

First Aceh Expedition

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
(Redirected from First Aceh War) March – April 1873 Dutch campaign
First Aceh Expedition

General J.H.R. Köhler killed in Mesigit
Date26 March 1873 – 25 April 1873
(4 weeks and 2 days)
LocationSultanate of Aceh
Result Acehnese Victory
Belligerents
 Netherlands Sultanate of Aceh
Commanders and leaders
J.H.R. Köhler  † Panglima Polim
Sultan Alauddin Mahmud Syah II

The First Aceh Expedition, was a military campaign undertaken by the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) against the sultanate of Aceh in the north of Sumatra in 1873. The expedition was launched as a punitive measure by the Dutch colonial authorities in response to perceived challenges to their control over the region and Aceh's resistance to Dutch interference in its affairs.

The campaign resulted in a Dutch victory. However, it was costly for both sides, with significant loss of life on both sides and extensive destruction of Aceh's infrastructure and economy.

Early in 1873, the American Consul in Singapore had discussions with an Acehnese emissary about a possible Acehnese-American treaty, which the Dutch saw as justification for intervention. In March 1873, the Dutch bombed the Acehnese capital Banda Aceh (Kutaraja) and in April they landed 3,000 troops led by Johan Harmen Rudolf Köhler. Having misjudged their Acehnese opposition, the Dutch were forced to withdraw losing Köhler and eighty men. They then established a blockade and Acehnese troops (estimates of whom range from 10,000 to 100,000) prepared for battle.

This was followed by the Second Aceh Expedition in late 1873.

See also

References

  1. "Aceh: History, Politics and Culture". ISEAS Publishing Online Bookshop.
  2. Saleh, I. A., The Dutch-Indonesian Aceh War (1873-1904): The Dutch Perspective, Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science, 9(1), 1-23

Sources

  • Ricklefs, M. C. (1991). A History of Modern Indonesia Since c. 1300 (2nd ed.). Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-57689-6.


Stub icon

This Indonesia-related article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

Categories: