Netherlands/ Indonesia: J.B. van Heutsz, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, 1904-09.

J. B. (Joannes Benedictus) van Heutsz (1851—1924), was a Dutch military commander who was appointed governor general of the Dutch East Indies in 1904 following his defeat of the Sultanate of Aceh after more than 30 years of conflict.

In this 1908 portrait, van Heutsz sports the orange ribbon of the insignia of the the Order of William, introduced by King Willem I in 1815. But although van Heutsz was richly rewarded for his heroic role in concluding the Aceh War, historians note that the Dutch massacred thousands of civilians, including women and children, in their determination to establish Aceh as an Dutch East Indies colony.

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Pictures From History