When-The-Dutch-Ruled-The-World-The-Rise--Fall-of-the-Dutch-East-India-Company
This video provides an introduction to the rise and fall of the Ducth east India Company (VOC). It may be noted that the trade in the north of Europe was much more profitable than the trade overseas.
Also view the video on the role of the Jews in setting up the Dutch West India trading company and basis of the international global financial system https://odysee.com/@InterestingTimes:e/Untold-History-Jewish-Slavetrade--doc:6
As a further introduction herewith an excerpt of a report by AILISH LALOR, DECEMBER 21, 2021
" What was the VOC? The Dutch East India Company explained;
The Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) or Dutch East India Company is a crucial part of Dutch history. For over 200 years, the VOC brought the Netherlands international power and wealth while exploiting local populations, creating colonies, and trading in human beings. The story of the VOC is complicated, and this is not an exhaustive history of it (if you want that, buy a book — or 10). This article offers a primer on the VOC: a less-than-casual introduction.
The VOC was established in 1602 as a chartered company whose goal was to trade with Mughal India, where most of Europe’s cotton and silk originated. Quickly, the Dutch government gave it a 21-year monopoly on the spice trade with South Asian countries, and the company took off from there.
The VOC soon became the first conglomerate company: a fancy way of saying they did many different things (like shipbuilding, slave trading, and colonisation) under the same company name.
In the early 1600s, the VOC became the first company listed on the stock exchange. Along with its worldwide reach and transnational employees, it is among the reasons the VOC was a forerunner of modern-day multinational corporations.
The VOC had powers that a corporation today would hopefully never have: it could wage war, take and execute prisoners, coin money, negotiate treaties, and establish colonies. It did all of this. As much as modern-day corporations like Google and Shell have way too much power, the VOC was a whole different level.
The VOC started operating in India and South Asia in general. Over the next century, it expanded its operations to Mauritius, South Africa, Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Not all of these locations were the sites of permanent settlements or even permanent trading posts: but listing them all here gives us a sense of how massive this company was. How did such a transnational company work in the age before instant communication? It was, in fact, far more than a company — it was also a war machine.
The VOC was ostensibly founded after a Dutch ship returned from South East Asia filled with very profitable spices in 1596. What was going on in the Netherlands that would have made this massive company worth investing in?
Put simply, the Netherlands was under threat. It had just declared its independence from Spain in 1581, forming the Dutch Republic. Quite an ambitious move, considering that the Spanish had the force of half of Europe behind them, considering how much of the continent they controlled at the time.
Given this vulnerability, you can see the advantages of drawing wealth from outside the tiny Dutch Republic and using it to shore up the newly established country against foreign control.
The VOC was also an instrument of war. The VOC created the shareholding system (and also global capitalism). The VOC is considered the first modern multinational company and first made use of many of the features we associate with modern corporations: think shareholders, corporate identity, legal personhood, separation of ownership and management, etc. This collection of innovations meant that the VOC could mobilise wealth so that only monarchies could before, giving it the sort of unprecedented power we see massive companies like Google and Shell making use of today.
When it comes to acquiring this wealth, the VOC was also innovative. It formed Amsterdam as the financial capital of the contemporary world. By allowing public members to invest in the company (rather than in things the company was doing, as had been the previous methodology for gathering money).
A massive company like the VOC naturally attracted attention- and because of its dominance in international trade, that attention was mainly negative. It got into conflict with the British East India Company for obvious reasons: they were both going for the same thing.
Because of the weird space the VOC occupied — part company, part state — its trade objectives often aligned with military goals. For example, in 1667, when the Treaty of Breda was signed, ending the war with Britain, the VOC acquired sole control over the nutmeg trade.
Wars also played a role in the colonisation of different areas."
Further text: https://dutchreview.com/culture/history/voc-dutch-east-india-company-explained/
Original video by BC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewCs5CF5HE
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