Why the Dutch support colonialism

50% of the Dutch support colonialism. They are also the first big western slave trading country to apologise for it. Why?

Sources:

Barkan, Elazar, The Guilt of Nations. Restitution and Negotiating Historical Injustices (Londen 2000).

Gert J. Oostindie - Squaring the circle: Commemorating the VOC after 400 years. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, Vol. 159, No. 1 (2003), pp. 135-161 Published by: KITLV, Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies

Rose Mary Allen, Esther Captain, Matthias van Rossum, Urwin Vyent (eds.) Staat & Slavernij - Het Nederlandse koloniale slavernij­ verleden en zijn doorwerkingen. (2023)

Thompson, Janna, Taking Responsibility for the Past: Reparations and Historical Injustice (Cambridge 2002).

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Comment for mistakes and additional nuance.

When it comes to apologies, many people think individual Dutch are being asked to apologise for the slave trade. This is not the case. It is the Dutch government apologising. As representatives of the state that has existed for hundreds of years.

Portugal wasn't part of the yougov poll, so I unfortunately don't have data for that!

At 02:40 I say the Netherlands was the first country to legalise abortion. This is false. It should have said, 'one of the first countries'.

[KarlSnarks]

7:47 For non-Dutch viewers, 'liberal' in the Netherlands is mostly associated free markets (and corporate welfare), rather than social-liberalism.

[robto]

Why wasn't Portugal included in the poll? That's odd, considering that country was one of the first, and last, European colonial powers to exist. And I would bet a million dollars that if the same poll was done on the Portuguese, up to 70% of the respondents would be "proud of their former colonial empire".

[ToastieBRRRN]

I think it comes from the perspective the Dutch saw themselves as the under dog when it comes to the age of colonialism. Like fighting for your Independence from Spain (the superpower at the time) and being able to rival bigger powers greater than themselves such as England and France. While make a success of it.

I think the fact you mentioned it as "cherry picking" the best bits is part of it because it's hard bitter pill to swallow. Many people rather be proud of something than be shameful it.

[x_griffin_x]

2:40 Actually the Soviet Union was the first country to legalise abortion

[topsnek]

The reason German colonial history isn't talked about much is because their colonial empire only really lasted 3 decades before their territories were seized during WW1. It was really the shortest lived colonial empire of any significant size.

[yourineeven]

My grandmother who died a few weeks ago at 99 was born and spend her childhood while Indonesia was still a Dutch colony. It is all not that long ago as a lot of people think.

[caioguimaraes-pqvb]

"The highest number off ALL european colonial empires"

Portugal after starting the discovery age, ruling the indic ocean and defeating the otomans various times but still not apearing in the map: bruhh

[theknightskyisi]

9:30 I love how addressing the value Dutch people hold for the remembrance of WW2 helped remembrance of slavery and colonialism hit home for the prime minister. Sometimes there is a clear truth that is hard for people to acknowledge, but using good parallels in the things they already find important can help bring them into that place of effective sympathy.

Excellent work by that spokeswoman there!

[schrire]

Would love to see a video on the Dutch relationship with South Africa in the 20th century, especially with the emergence of the system of apartheid.

[damarmar]

Being proud of our history has nothing to do with supporting colonialism. To even suggest that is stupid.

[aheroyaheroyalproductions]

5:52 this black man is from the Ashanti tribe, whose tribe made slaves, had slaves, and sold slaves first to Arabs later to Europeans.
This person had a big mouth to the Dutch about slavery but his tribe became very rich from selling slaves.
And in fact he was proud of it.
His name is Akwasi

[pieter-baspeppelenbosch]

I think Dutch people in general don't support colonialism, bit of a misleading title. Most people in the netherlands don't think people nowadays should apologise for something we had nothing to do with. Struggling working people in the netherlands can be rubbed the wrong way when they are being told that they became rich because of slavery and should feel ashamed.

[FNDMA]

Much like the Dutch, the Portuguese also are proud of their past. Back in the day those travels could be compared to going to the moon and returning.

[annekedebruyn]

1:00 to be fair. That wasn't much of a pro-colonial statement in the context of the full debate at all.
He was more so using the VOC as an example for out of the box thinking and taking risks.
Was it insensitive? Maybe. (You can hear a large part booing against that statement a moment after he said that, which was cut from the video.) But I feel like it's a tad misleading to couple that quote with the message of the video.
Otherwise fantastic video. Your production quality is really, really high.

[Eniphesoj]

Super interesting video, but just a correction: the Netherlands weren't the first to legalise abortion. The Soviet Union legalised it as early as 1920. This was later reversed by Stalin, but it began legal again in the 1950s.

This was still far earlier than in the Netherlands, where it was more or less tolerated (gedoogd) from the late 1960s onwards and officially legalised in 1984. The 1970s saw other countries such as Denmark, West Germany and France legalising it as well. So no, the Netherlands weren't the first!

[ds-yrqn]

As a dutch person this video is so insanely out of context first of people just didn't want to apologize for something they didn't do that's why the king and the Netherlands as a country apologized second most of the dutch ancestors were poor peasants that weren't one bit involved in de VOC or the slave trade only the state nobility and the church reeled in the money and wealth

[dickyarya]

as an indonesian, we dont really care, we barely even gave a thought about the dutch now

[moço_aquele]

I'm from Portugal and we should just own up to what we did in the past. You can show pride towards your countries achievements, but the darker parts of history shouldn't be ignored or repressed. Propaganda already did a number on us in the past, and we can't let that happen again.

[charlespirate]

WW2 has a lot to answer for. The cartoon evil of the Nazis has allowed much of Western Europe to define themselves with national myths built around resistance/victimhood. The British, the french, the Dutch. All do it.