In the process of competing for the Asian market, Western European countries have become colonial companies from large capital in order to raise capital, diversify risks, obtain a package of preferential colonial policies given by the government, and realize colonial rule in an orderly and efficient manner.
Soon after the establishment of these "companies", they became special colonial commercial entities of a monopolistic nature by obtaining government concessions, and some colonial companies were even absorbed by the government and became agents for their domination of the colonies, such as the British East India Company.
The "Dutch East India Company" we are discussing today has another major feature - the joint-stock system. The Dutch East India Company is known as the first joint-stock "company" to issue securities, and even with the later colonial effect in Europe, it is estimated that the market value is as high as $7.9 trillion today - becoming the "highest market capitalization" joint-stock company of that era.
In the "post-maritime age" of the 16th and 17th centuries, the small country of northwestern Europe, the Netherlands, was socially prepared by completing the "independence of the Spanish colonies" and the "Reformation";
At the same time, in the long-term struggle with the Eastern Rhine League and its successor, the Hanseatic League, the Netherlands had extremely developed offshore technology and already had the conditions for ocean navigation, but the stimulation of the outside world made the Netherlands really set sail.
During this period, as Spain and Britain were fighting fiercely in the Caribbean, the Netherlands chose to compete with Portugal for sea supremacy in Asia - compared with Spain and Britain, the two established colonial empires and rising stars, Portugal seemed to be at ease with trade and mission.
At the same time, Portugal enjoyed richer areas of influence within the sphere of influence defined by the Papal Meridian, including the traditionally coveted India and China and Japan, as well as the East Indies, the Spice Islands, which attracted Europe's jackal states.
Portugal intended a naval blockade of Dutch "trading houses" along the way, but this blockade had the opposite effect - prompting the Netherlands to open new trade routes, and the profits of direct trade with the East made the rising Netherlands unstoppable.
Dutch adventurers confirmed the feasibility of the Eastern Voyage through the success of their first voyages, and many trading companies sent their ships to the East for trade. Fierce competition exposed many shortcomings, and early companies eventually merged. This led to the birth of the Dutch East India Company.
With the Portuguese control of spices, the huge profits obtained stimulated the nerves of Dutch merchants. Traditionally, Indian and Arab merchants shipped spices by land and sea to southern Europe and then to various countries through Venice, becoming the classic model of spice distribution in early Europe.
With the rise of the Muslim empire, Europeans began to have to obtain spices at extremely high prices, which eventually prompted Spain and Portugal to compete to open the "Indian route" - of course, Spain was out in the wrong direction, and the "East" fell into Portugal's pocket, becoming its "first pot of gold" that dominated the Eastern route for more than a hundred years.
As Portugal entered the east, the spice trade in Europe gradually came under Portuguese control, the route was changed to Lisbon, and the pepper sold in the European market was basically shipped from India by the Portuguese.
From 1510, Portugal could earn 1 million cruzado per year from the spice trade alone, and by 1558 Portugal could still profit 89%, or even 152%, from the pepper trade. Spain, also located on the Iberian Peninsula, was not to be outdone.
Since the 1520s, the number of Spanish ships going to the East has doubled, and the size of the ships has doubled. By the end of the 16th century, the number of Spanish ships to the East Indies had reached 150 to 200. The success of Portugal and Spain in trade in the east became a direct attraction for the Netherlands.
At this time, the Netherlands faced the need to get rid of its status as a "Spanish lowland colony", and Spain's restrictions on Dutch shipping and the obstruction of traditional channels for transshipment of goods from the East also forced the Netherlands to take steps towards direct trade with the East.
The so-called "enemy of the enemy is a friend" - before the war, the Netherlands was active in the port of Lisbon as an "agent", reselling oriental goods throughout Europe. But the outbreak of the Dutch War of Independence finally broke this situation. In 1585, King Philip II of Spain declared an embargo on Dutch ships, prohibiting them from entering any port on the island of Iberia. In 1595, as many as 50 Dutch merchant ships were seized by Spain. When Iberian ports were blocked, the re-export of Dutch goods to the East was less profitable.
Around 1580, Portugal's system of trading Asian goods began to take the form of contracts. An Indian pepper contract was signed, allowing a group of merchants to buy pepper in India and Malacca, ship it to the Royal Palace in Lisbon, and distribute it throughout Europe at a fixed price.
The emergence of trade barriers of different nature was a more decisive factor than Spain's embargo policy.
In March 1594, the first merchant ships finally sailed east from Dutch ports.
In June 1596, Dutch merchant ships arrived in the waters of Banten, Jakarta and Bali, Indonesia. The first voyage did not bring much commercial profit due to the Dutch involvement in disputes with the local aborigines, but it proved that the Portuguese trading power in India was far less powerful than imagined, and it was not enough to "lock up" the western to eastern shipping routes, which gave the Dutch a bright hope of direct access to eastern trade.
After the success of the first trip to the East, the Dutch poured into the establishment of "colonial companies", and there was a boom in the establishment of oriental trading companies. Various "companies" of all sizes have been established successively: Far East Company, Rotterdam Company, Old Company, Zeeland Joint Company and Amsterdam Joint Company, etc.
Between 1595 and 1602, 65 Dutch ships sailed for Asia, 50 of which returned safely. The establishment of these companies and the continuous dispatch of merchant ships to the East showed great profit margins, but also gradually exposed the serious shortcomings of the Dutch decentralized organization.
Although several companies share the common goal of opposing Portugal's monopoly on Asian trade, they lack unity in their actions. These companies competed with each other for hegemony, especially between Amsterdam and Zeeland. Dutch companies snapped up spices in Maluku and Java, causing local spices prices to soar eightfold.
In particular, these companies face Southeast Asia's well-established trading system – a predominantly Chinese-controlled commerce system and a "tributary trade" with China sustained by local princely states – which are by no means opposed to weak "private companies."
However, it did not stop there, when there was a shortage of goods, these companies even carried out internal fires among the natives. In addition, these companies were too small to obtain funds in the East India trade and could not successfully conclude contracts with local princes. At the same time, Britain had already supported the establishment of a chartered East India Company.
The withdrawal of its "North Sea neighbors" and the fact that the "Western Hemisphere War" began to target the East was already a stretch of time for the Dutch government – Britain, like the Netherlands, was a Protestant country, and the characteristic of such a regime was not to actively preach, which greatly reduced the difficulty of these countries in facing the traditional "theocratic" system in the East.
Moreover, Britain has also begun to make contact with Japan in the Far East, and if Britain establishes control of the Eastern route, the Netherlands will forever lose the opportunity to "get a piece of the pie".
At this time, the establishment of a strong Asian trading joint venture was also a formidable military and economic weapon against Spain. At the initiative of the Dutch parliament, inspired by the British East India Company, negotiations began in the coastal cities of the Netherlands. Despite fears that the Amsterdam company, which has the most financial power, could dominate the combined company, the idea of sharing the risk and avoiding vicious competition eventually reached an agreement.
In March 1602, the Dutch East India Company was founded. The Government of the Republic of the Netherlands granted the company a charter, and for 21 years since the charter was issued, the company monopolized trade between the Netherlands and the East Indies via the Cape of Good Hope.
In this way, five cities of Amsterdam, Delft, Hohlen, Rotterdam, Nkuitzen and a separate company VOC were founded. It is made up of five cities: Amsterdam, Delft, Hollen, Rotterdam and Nquitzen, as well as six companies with offices in Zeeland Middelburg.
The company's logo is a simple combination of the three letters of VOC. Six trade divisions made up of six cities, eight from Amsterdam, four from Zeeland and one each from the other smaller departments.
With the exception of Amstetten, each department has one director, and Amstetteen rotates into the "Council of Seventeen Gentlemen" to become the company's top management. The Dutch East India Company was granted a 21-year monopoly on shipping trade from the Dutch Republic to the eastern Cape of Good Hope and through the Strait of Magellan.
In addition, the Dutch East India Company had the right to conclude treaties with local governments or kings, establish trading posts, hire soldiers, build forts to protect their interests, wage war if necessary, mint their own currency, and establish a legal system for the members and subjects of the company in Asia.
Initially, eastern affairs were handled on a rotational basis by the commanders of the fleet of the Dutch East India Company, which made it difficult for the company to develop a consistent policy.
In order to manage more firmly the affairs of the Dutch East India Company in the east, the Dutch East India Company created the post of governor of the Dutch East Indies in 1610. From 1610 onwards, the activities of the Dutch East India Company in Asia were mainly decided by the governor.
In this way, its comprehensive strength can be used to oppose the maritime trade network dominated by the Chinese, and it can even destroy the early Chinese community state in Nanyang, such as the "Lanfang Company".
The establishment of the Dutch East India Company not only pooled the business capital of the early companies, but also relied on the power of the state. With the establishment of the Dutch East India Company, the chaos of Dutch Eastern ended, and Dutch business activities in Asia were governed by a single policy – starting a nightmare of colonization in the waters on the edge of East Asia that lasted for about 400 years.