The Dutch East India Company: The Richest Company In The World

#dutcheastindiacompany #voc #history

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Visitors to Amsterdam will be familiar with it’s tall, narrow buildings and labyrinth of canals which run past the winding streets with typical Dutch names such as Lindenstraat, Keizersgracht and Damstraat. But away from the well-trodden tourist paths of the city centre, in the eastern district, are some streets with not-so typical Dutch sounding names like Balistraat, Sumatrastraat, and Borneostraat. These are situated within what is known locally as the Indian neighbourhood and are named in reference to what was once the Dutch controlled East Indies.

Constituting much of the modern state of Indonesia, these islands came to be ruled by the Netherlands over 7000 miles away, when the Dutch East India Company established itself in the region some 400 years ago and quickly grew to become the richest company the world had ever seen.

Possessing quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, strike its own coins and establish colonies, it is often considered to be the world’s first multinational corporation and one which set the precedent for how modern business and international trade are conducted to this day. But what inspired these Dutch merchants to undertake the lengthy and perilous journey to the far side of the world? This is the history of the Dutch East India Company.

The United East India was a chartered company established on 20 March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock company in the world, granting it a 21-year monopoly to carry out trade activities in Asia. Shares in the company could be bought by any resident of the United Provinces and then subsequently bought and sold in open-air secondary markets (one of which became the Amsterdam Stock Exchange). It is sometimes considered to have been the first multinational corporation. It was a powerful company, possessing quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, strike its own coins, and establish colonies.

Statistically, the VOC eclipsed all of its rivals in the Asia trade. Between 1602 and 1796 the VOC sent almost a million Europeans to work in the Asia trade on 4,785 ships, and netted for their efforts more than 2.5 million tons of Asian trade goods. By contrast, the rest of Europe combined sent only 882,412 people from 1500 to 1795, and the fleet of the English (later British) East India Company, the VOC's nearest competitor, was a distant second to its total traffic with 2,690 ships and a mere one-fifth the tonnage of goods carried by the VOC. The VOC enjoyed huge profits from its spice monopoly through most of the 17th century.

Having been set up in 1602 to profit from the Malukan spice trade, the VOC established a capital in the port city of Jayakarta in 1609 and changed its name to Batavia (now Jakarta). Over the next two centuries the company acquired additional ports as trading bases and safeguarded their interests by taking over surrounding territory. It remained an important trading concern and paid an 18% annual dividend for almost 200 years. Much of the labour that built its colonies was from people it had enslaved.

Weighed down by smuggling, corruption and growing administrative costs in the late 18th century, the company went bankrupt and was formally dissolved in 1799. Its possessions and debt were taken over by the government of the Dutch Batavian Republic. The former territories owned by the VOC went on to become the Dutch East Indies and were expanded over the course of the 19th century to include the entirety of the Indonesian archipelago. In the 20th century, these islands would form the Republic of Indonesia.

[DrengrByHeart]

I would love a VOC based assassins creed

[stijnp]

Till this day, 300 years later, as we speak as dutch natives to each other, we use the words “dat is peperduur” that is translated to; “that is pepper expensive”. Fascinating to be honest.

[spacegerrit]

I spit out my tea when you tried to speak Dutch.

10/10 for effort.

[michaelplunkett]

He who controls the spice controls the universe.

- Frank Herbert

[gorilladisco]

The VOC demise was directly caused by American war of independence. The reason American war of independence was a success was the intervention, not just by the French as popularly believed, but also by the Dutch and Spain. With four wars at once, the English was unable to concentrate on one enemy, but the side effect of it also resulted in the destruction of VOC cargo fleet by English, and French financial drain that resulted in revolution later on. Only Spain gained with the war. After the war, VOC was unable to replenish its fleet and soon declared bankruptcy.

[jemoedermeteensnor]

The answer to the question is kinda missing in the video. Which is by monopolising goods that are in relative high demand. With a quick rise to the top by the invention of the stock exchange in a country that is relativly rich.

[ohimats]

Really great video. However I'd like to point out 2 "light" mistakes:
-The Merchant's mark of the EIC used in the video is not the correct one. You used the one from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. A cool design but not historical. The Historical one is a heart with the initials. You can find them in coins and stamps.
- In the map of the Netherlands, you kept Flevoland which wouldn't exist in at the time. This is the issue with the dutch who keep adding more land XD.
As I said, these are really insignificant issues and your video is really good. Keep up the good work !

[Scar_tisseu-]

It's nicely told but you forgot a verry important part at the beginning, the story of privateer piet hein who raided the Spanish silver fleet, that allowed the voc to have the finance to grow the fleet of the voc drastically.

[sbnvr]

You're highly underrated, keep making this great content and I'm sure you'll be discovered by many

[Matz]

The seas around the Celebes, West New Guinea and Timour as shown here, are some of the most difficult to navigate under sail.

[sergeant_chris]

Very underrated channel! Really good quality and interesting subjects

[rickintexas]

Fascinating history. It is amazing that so much of this narrative was because of Europe’s desire for spices.

[Brevicauda]

Growing up Indonesian, I didn't learn much about the world history instead we were taught about VOC until I was sick of it 😂 I don't want to study them anymore!! But here I am unable to free myself from it 😢

[jopdekeijzer]

Good effort on the Dutch version of the company

[s.c.scheermeijer]

Your map if the Netherlands shows land we didn't create yet in that age.

[nikiindzhiev]

This channel deserves so much more exposure!

[TylerGrowOfficial]

I just watched your informative video on the East India Company, and it so happens that we're currently developing a drama series based on The East India Company. We're urgently seeking a knowledgeable consultant to help us ensure some historical accuracy and effectively characterize some key events from the East India Company's history. I couldn't locate your email address on your about page, so I hope you'll respond to this message so we can discuss further. By the way, excellent work on the video; it was truly well done.

[goldeagle]

Also noteworthy: the Dutch with the VOC invented the stock market where VOC shares could be publicly traded. The invention of a new asset class (stocks), only recently surpassed by the invention of a new asset class: digital crypto-assets.

[alexbroere]

As a Dutchman I'm always amazed at what the Dutch did in the times of VOC or WIC. Not all positive but just amazing without any modern guidance and so many risks. ❤

[richardmalumbot]

lack of information in how the local Kingdoms in Indonesia being loss wars to VOC and made batavia and banten as the capital point of their voyages in Asia, it should stated that the contribution of ancient economy in local kingdoms in Indonesia to the richness of vampires VOC