Forts in Sulawesi
21.11.10
The Portuguese were the first Europeans, who visited north Sulawesi in 1523. In 1607 the Spanish built a fort in Menado and later in Gorontalo. They abandoned their forts in 1660. At least one empty fort, Kota Maas in Gorontalo, was occupied by the local population.
The VOC arrived in 1657 and built fort Amsterdam in Menado (no remains). The Dutch signed a treaty with other several kingdoms in North Sulawesi. In Gorontalo, which was famous for its gold mining, they built fort Oranje.
These forts in north Sulawesi were also a part of the strategy of the VOC to prevent the trade of "illegal" produced cloves and nutmeg. The kingdom Gowa on the southwest coast of Sulawesi refused to cooperate with the Dutch and traded with Asian and European merchants.. Their capital Makassar was protected by modern European style forts. The Dutch soon found a pretext for war. In 1660 they took fort Panakukan and destroyed fort Sombaopoe. A treaty was signed but two years later a new war broke out. The Dutch under General Cornelis Speelman and their Bugis allies under Prince Arun Palakka occupied fort Sombaopu after a European style siege of several months. Sultan Alauddin surrendered.
In 1667 the Bongay treaty was signed which regulated the relations between the VOC and the south Celebes. All the forts were demolished with the exception of fort Ujung Pandang which became the Dutch fort Rotterdam. The Bugis under Arung Palakka got their own state Bone.
In the 17th and 18th century the Dutch influence was limited to the coastal area. They never organized military expeditions to the interior of the island.
Between 1811 and 1816 the English occupied the Dutch possessions in Sulawesi. Bone, which had supported the VOC in the 17th century and Tanetta used the opportunity and occupied parts of the former VOC area.
In 1816 the Duchy returned and occupied the forts Rotterdam, Maros, Bulu Sepong, Bonthain and Bula Komba. Several states including Boni and Tanette refused to renew the Bongai treaty. The Boni war is a good example of what happened the next decennia in south Sulawesi. The Dutch send several military expeditions but the result was always the same. The army occupied the area, build a fort and left. After their departure the resistance revived, the Dutch forts was attacked and often destroyed. The Dutch send another expedition to take revenge a.s.o. It was not before the begin of the 20th century before the Duchy firmly controlled all the small states in the coastal area. This time they send geographic expeditions to the interior of Sulawesi, which were followed by the army.
The last conquest of the Dutch was Tana Toradja, which was a rich coffee growing area. The Dutch occupied the mountain stronghold Buntu Batu and in 1907 the forts Ambesso and Alla.
After 1910 all the organized resistance against the Dutch was broken, but there were regular outbreaks of resistance. The army didn't build new forts but used anti guerilla tactics to stop the hostilities.
The Second World War on Sulawesi.
In the years before the war the Dutch prepared defenses in north Sulawesi. Concrete casemates were built as coastal defense, protected of the roads to Menado and Langoan airport. As usual the KNIL didn't have enough modern arms and planes and was not prepared to fight a modern invasion.
Concrete casemates were built as coastal defense near Menado, protection of the roads to Menado and Langoan airport.
On January 11, 1942 the Japanese landed near Menado and paratroopers attacked the airport. There were several fierce fights between the KNIL and the attackers, but nowhere the Dutch were not strong enough to stop the enemy.
Kendari was very important for the allied warfare. The big airfield Kendari II laid on a central position between Java and the Philippines. In 1942 the construction of the airfield was almost finished and there were big supplies of fuel and ammunition. On the day of the Japanese invasion (January 23, 1942) was only a small number of the Dutch bunkers near the harbor and airfield finished. Kendari was occupied after little resistance. The area was extra important for the Japanese, because the mines in the area produced more than half of the nickel used in their war industry.
After the fall of Kendari the Japanese troops sailed to Makassar, but the Dutch troops had left the city and went to prepared defenses inland (Tjamba lines). There the war continued till the news of the general capitulation reached the Dutch commander. The surrender was signed on March 17.
During the occupation the Japanese built several airfields and defenses on Sulawesi. There were several allied air attacks but the ground defenses were never tested in battle.
source:
Hoogenband, C. van den; Schotborgh, L.; Nederlands-Indiё contra Japan. Deel VI De strijd op Borneo en Celebes. Staatsdrukkerij- en uitgeverijbedrijf. ’s Gravenhage 1959.
Nortier, J.J.; De Japanse aanval op Nederlands-Indië. Ad. Donker. Rotterdam, 1988 page 22-101.
Hooyer,G.B.; De krijgsgeschiedenis van Nederlandsch- Indië. 3 volumes (Batavia/ Den Haag , 1895-1897)
Moor, J.A. De; Warmakers in the archipelago, Dutch expeditions in nineteenth century Indonesia. in J.A. de Moor and H.L. Wesseling (eds.) Imperialism and war. (Contemporary studies in Overseas History. volume 8) E.J. Brill / University press Leiden, 1989. page 50-71.
Moor, J.A. De; Met klewang en karabijn: een militaire geschiedenis van Nederladnsch Indië (1815-1949) in J.R. Bruijn, Dr. C.B. Wels (eds). Met man en macht. De militaire geschiedenis van Nederland 1550-2000 . Uitgeverij Balans. Amsterdam, 2003. page179-198.
21.11.10
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