What legacy did Europe's imperial expansion in the 19th century leave not only in the former colonies, but also in Europe itself? This project took a new approach to this timely question. It sought to examine how some 70,000 mercenaries from Germany, Belgium and France, who served in the Dutch colonial army between 1816 and 1914, contributed simultaneously to the building of the Dutch empire and the European regions from which they came. Uncovering this largely unknown historical link between colonial Indonesia and continental Europe is important for global European history, Dutch colonial history and the national histories of the countries mentioned.
Since all these soldiers were embedded in vast cross-border economic, financial, social, medical and scientific networks between Europe and Southeast Asia, understanding their life trajectories allows European societies outside the former Dutch metropolis to understand how and why they share an often violent, but connected history with what is now the Republic of Indonesia. These legacies can be found, for example, in the vast collections of regional museums of all the above countries. They contain cultural, zoological, botanical, etc. objects from the distant archipelago under Dutch imperial rule. These objects were brought back by European soldiers serving in the Dutch Colonial Army and handed over to local museums in their home towns. There they shaped scientific disciplines such as anthropology, geography and zoology. But they also became part of the imperial worldview in Europe.
With Indonesia now one of the fastest growing economies in the so-called global south, and the largest Muslim-majority democracy, it is important for European countries (many of which are members of the EU) to appreciate this shared history. In order to build equitable and sustainable relations in the future, it is important to reflect on how a shared violent imperial history has affected Europe and Indonesia in different ways.
