The Dutch East Indies, now known as Indonesia, was a colony of the Netherlands from the 17th century until the Japanese invasion in 1942. The Dutch retained control of the islands during World War II, but were forced to withdraw in 1945 when the Japanese were defeated. Indonesia became an independent republic in 1949.
The Dutch East Indies was originally colonized in 1602 by the Dutch East India Company. The company was granted a monopoly on trade between the Netherlands …