In this period, the East Indies were a colony governed directly by the Dutch - the local lords had been brought under the authority of the Netherlands. The East India Company was dissolved in 1800, after which the Dutch state nationalized the company's possessions, starting the next "period of the Netherlands East Indies," which lasted from 1800 to 1942 and - after the occupation by Japan - again briefly from 1945 to 1950. Initially, the Dutch had come to trade, not to conquer, and they built up a good working relationship with Java's many feudal lords. The capital was Batavia, present-day Jakarta. This has been called the "period of the Dutch East India company," and it lasted from 1602 to 1800. Besides the original spice trade, also non-indigenous cash crops like coffee, tea, cacao, tobacco, rubber and sugar were introduced. Within a short time, the Dutch set up a large network of trading posts and fortresses in the Indonesian archipelago. As a huge profit was made, soon the United East India Company (V.O.C.) was founded. The first Dutch expedition came in 1595 to the East Indies, with the motive to get access to the spice trade and kick out the Portuguese. But before we can talk about Multatuli's life or the Max Havelaar, we first have to understand the situation in the colony of the Dutch East Indies, present-day Indonesia.
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