View source for Dutch East India Company

[[Image:VOC.jpg|right|thumb|320px|The flag of the Dutch East India Company, a model of the ''Halve Maen'' - the ship on which Henry Hudson first sailed into what is now New York harbor. Model at Museum of the City of New York, exhibition in honor of the 400th anniversary of Hudson's "discovery" of New York & the Hudson River.]]
*''Founded: [[1602]]''
*''Dissolved: [[1800]]''
*''Japanese'': オランダ東インド会社 ''(Oranda higashi indo gaisha)''

The Dutch East India Company, or ''Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie'' (VOC, "United East India Company"), was a joint-stock company formed in [[1602]] which held a monopoly on Dutch colonial and mercantile activities in the Far East. The VOC maintained major bases of operations in Batavia (today, Jakarta), Fort Zeelandia (on [[Taiwan]]), and on the man-made island of [[Dejima]] in [[Nagasaki]] Harbor. Following the imposition of [[maritime restrictions]] in the 1630s, the Dutch were the only Europeans with whom Japan traded or otherwise interacted, for the duration of the [[Edo period]] (until the 'opening' of the country in the [[Bakumatsu period|1850s]]).

The VOC is often cited as the first company in history to sell stocks and operate based on responsibilities to stockholders. The history of multinational corporations and other similar developments are often traced back to the Dutch East India Company.

==History==
The Dutch originally established their presence in Japan with a [[factory]] in [[Hirado]] in [[1609]]. (The [[English East India Company]] established their Hirado factory in [[1615]], and closed it in [[1623]], leaving the Japan trade at that time.) The Dutch factory was moved to Dejima in [[1641]].


Tensions between the VOC and the English East India Company (EIC) sometimes escalated into actual violence. One of the more major incidents was the [[Amboyna massacre]], which took place in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) in [[1623]]. Agents of the Dutch East India Company executed a number of men in the service of the EIC, accusing them of being involved in corporate espionage. Though the English maintained no presence in Japan from 1623 until the 1850s, tensions, and violence, between the VOC and EIC continued. In [[1808]], in the so-called [[Phaeton Incident]], several British ships entered Nagasaki harbor looking for Dutch ships to harass; none were in port at the time.

The Dutch entered the Vietnam trade at [[Hoi An]] in [[1633]], where [[Nihonmachi|a community of Japanese traders]] was already established. For the first few years after this, the Japanese are said to have dominated commercial activity in the port, particularly in the trade of silks, despite the Japanese population being only a tiny fraction of the Chinese presence. After [[1635]], though, Japanese were no longer allowed to leave Japan and to return; Japanese involvement in overseas trade declined dramatically, but Japanese traders remained for some time hesitant to deal with the Dutch. They dealt chiefly with Chinese merchants, leaving very little supply for the Dutch to purchase, thus driving up the prices dramatically for the Dutch. Eventually, however, Japanese influence in the port died out, and the Dutch were able to fill the niche thus vacated. The Dutch remained active in central-southern Vietnam afterwards, but closed their factory in [[Hanoi]] (northern Vietnam) in [[1700]]. Their base in [[Ayutthaya]] (Siam) closed in [[1663]].

The Dutch presence in Nagasaki was of great importance for Tokugawa Japan not only economically (in terms of the importation of goods), but also in terms of the inflow of information. ''[[Rangaku]]'', or "Dutch studies", was a major development in the Edo period, with a number of scholars eagerly studying Dutch books and other materials (and, on very rare occasions, meeting with Dutchmen personally) and introducing to Japan new technologies, scientific information (especially in the fields of medicine and botany), world maps, and painting techniques. It was through the Dutch that Japan obtained telescopes and microscopes, among other technologies, and it was through the Dutch that Japan was kept up to date on world events.

Representatives of the Company journeyed to [[Edo]] to pay their respects to the [[Shogun]] once every few years. On occasion, they presented the Shogun with exotic animals, such as [[elephants]] or [[camels]], which stirred up great popular interest, but these animals rarely lasted very long.

The company went bankrupt in [[1799]], and was dissolved the following year, becoming nationalized. Dutch activities in the Far East after 1800 were more directly driven by the Dutch national government.

==Dutch Factors==
{{stub}}

==References==

[[Category:Economics]]
[[Category:Political Institutions]]