Academic English: Writing1.

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Changing views on our colonial past.

Introduction. 
Looking from a certain point at the past and thus framing an perspective  is what one calls history. This perspective on the past is a changing one because everyone who studies an object brings his own perspective to a case. If one remembers this notion, one should not be surprised that the general view on our Dutch colonial history has changed and probably will stay changing as long as that there are people studying this colonial history.  However, when the views to a certain history change one can also see changing views in culture toward that same studied  subject. To showcase the phenomenon of changing views on a subject in history  we will describe in this essay the different historiography perspectives on Johannes Benedictus van Heutsz. 

Short biography. 
Jo, as he was called, van Heutsz was born in Coevorden on the third of February 1851. He was born in a military family and so one could say that it was no surprise that Johannes also joined the army. The family van Heutsz had not enough money to send Johannes directly to the military academy, and therefore Johannes worked himself up beginning as a soldier but soon to be a Lieutenant serving in Aceh. So far a brief and objective review of van Heutsz early live because from this moment on Johannes actions are disputed by different perspectives.
After several decades of unrest in Aceh  the Dutch colonial government finally decide that it was time  for a different approach to counter these unrests. In 1896 the command was given to begin an offensive war and van Heutsz  joined the leading officers in rang of this campaign.  In recognition of his contribution to the war van Heutsz is made Governor-General of the Dutch Indies. In those days van Heutsz also earned a nickname among  his contemporaries: 'de grote pacificator van Indie'. This nickname reflects in Dutch  that someone brings peace[ he who  pacified the Indies] and can be seen as a very positive remark.
In his role as governor van Heutsz embodies something else, naming the ethical politics that were the policy  at that time. The idea of the ethical politics was to uplift the native peoples of the Dutch Indies in the wealth of nations under Dutch rule and van Heutsz carried out this policy by pacifying the whole of the Dutch Indies and thereby uplifting the people. During his life van Heutsz all ready was celebrated for his deeds by granting him the highest royal and military orders. However, his trip to superhero status started after his dead because in the Netherlands he was granted a state funeral, something that was only common for the royal family. Van Heutsz deeds and his person were remembered in the Netherlands by placing plaquettes and building statues and monuments.

Aceh conflict.
If one take a look at the first big office van Heutsz held in the Dutch Indies, namely  military and civil Governor of Aceh, we also see the first controversies. These started when  the Dutch Government in the Indies chose to appoint in 1898 the Dr. C. Snouck Hurgronje to be a adviser on the matter Aceh. Snouck Hurgronje would advise the Government on the way van Heutsz handled the situation in Aceh and later he would advise van Heutsz personally. Snouck Hurgronje was from a total different background than Van Heutsz this was the result of his study theology and Semitic languages and that Snouck Hurgronje was an assumed converted Muslim due to his visit to Mecca. This background enabled Snouck Hurgronje to understand the Muslim inlanders far better than most of his colleagues from Dutch origin.
The core of the conflict in Aceh lay in three problems. First of all the Dutch always governed 
with the help of assumed local leading figures, for example a Sultan. However, Aceh was not a central governed state, it was a complicated mix of federations and agricultural local communities. Second the Aceh identity was not one in the sense of a national identity but rather of an Islamic nature and thirdly  was that the conflict seems to be a cause of piracy in itself. To address these three problems the approach of an ongoing offense in Aceh was chosen to frighten and exhaust the people so much that they had to gave in. This policy was thought out by Snouck and executed with great success by van Heutsz. 
After this 'pacificatie' of Aceh there aroused a conflict between the two men, because it was van Heutsz view that the strategy didn't need a follow-up , this in contrary with Snouck. Snouck Hurgronje thought that it was now time to plea for an Enlightened colonial government. The outcome of the conflict would be that van Heutsz views were applied and  that Snouck Hurgonje could go back to the Netherlands.   
The conflict between the two men is nowadays become the subject of debate. Pre World War II views are in favor of van Heutsz approach, while those post-WWII views are in favor of Snouck Hurgronje's views. One could state that it is an ongoing debate, in this sense that people with use from hindsight now argue that ongoing approach by van Heutsz wasn't a good thing and even criminal. However, maybe further generations will take an different perspective on the case due to a furthermore changed view perspective.


Conclusion.
One start off as a opportunist whom with help from others became Governor-General and along the road builds an Colonial Empire. During live you already are the top off the bill and moreover, after your dead you embody the greatness of the Dutch Empire. However this attitude towards the greatness of the Dutch Empire was changed for a lot of people after the decolonization of that same Empire. What was a great deed for everyone some day had now become an act of exploiting the peoples of Indonesia. One can therefore state that; ones place in history does not reflects someone deeds, but the perspective of the people studying those same deeds. 


Literature.
Maurice Blessing,'Jo van Heutsz(1851-1924) Te praktisch om een racist te zijn' Historisch Nieuwsblad nummer 03 (2006). 
 'Immortelle', Trouw(Amsterdam 19,02,2003).
Jan Kuijk,'Paradox van een onttakelde held', Trouw(Amsterdam 19,01,1999).
J.C. Lamster, J.B. van Heutsz als Gouverneur Generaal 1904-1909(Amsterdam 1946).
J.W. Naarding,Het conflict Snouck Hurgronje-van Heutsz-van Daalen. Een onderzoek naar de verantwoordelijkheid(Utrecht 1938).