Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Iran: Fars News Agency: A woman and her 6-year-old son were killed in an Israeli drone attack on Kermanshah Province
Iran: IRNA: Attack Wave 21 was not carried out, and the operation carried out minutes ago was from Yemen against targets in the occupied territories
Sirens are sounding in Tel Aviv and surrounding areas
Israeli military command: We identified missiles launched from Iran
Tunis: The legitimacy created by World War II is crumbling and the future belongs to free peoples of the world
Tunis: We emphasize that the aggression against Iran should not obscure other ongoing crimes, the first of which is the war of extermination against the Palestinian people
Tunis: International legitimacy does not permit or justify aggression against Iran under any cover or title
Tunisia: Foreign Ministry: We call for an end to the aggression against our sister country, Iran, and we do not limit ourselves to condemning the Zionist and American attacks
Iran: Nur News: An Israeli aerial assault is targeting the region of Parchin, east Tehran
Iran: Iranian TV: Iranian air defenses shot down an Israeli Hermes 900 drone over Markazi Province, central Iran

New study estimates wealth of Dutch rulers acquired from slavery

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: News Websites
  • 20 Jun 2023 00:08
  • 1 Shares
4 Min Read

A golden coach in The Hague with images of colonial offerings to Dutch rulers is valued at more than €545 million.

  • x
  • Three past Dutch rulers amassed wealth via slavery: Study
    Dutch King Willem-Alexander at The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, September 20. (AP)

A new study, State and Slavery, estimated the startling sum of colonial profit for Willem III (also king of England, Ireland, and Scotland), Willem IV, and Willem V.

The research was released last week at the request of the Dutch Parliament, just in time for the present King's long-awaited apologies for slavery. 

The Dutch House of Orange-Nassau's colonial commerce enslaved at least 600,000 African men, women, and children, and tortured and exploited roughly 660,000 and 1 million Asians.

Willem-Alexander is due to issue a public apology at Amsterdam's Oosterpark on July 1, the Keti Koti (breaking the shackles) festival, 150 years after Dutch slavery effectively ended.

Read more: Apology for slavery leaves Dutch divided

One example of loot begotten from The Netherlands' colonial past is a golden coach in The Hague with images of colonial offerings to Dutch rulers, which is valued at more than €545 million

The €545 million equivalent exceeds the money that the rulers, known as Stadhouders, received as state and military chiefs. Between 1675 and 1770, William III received 1,094,998 guilders as his share of the Dutch East India Company revenues - the equivalent of €196 million today.

Raymund Schütz, a researcher at The Hague's municipal archives, uncovered the statistics concerning the Dutch Stadhouders, or appointed regents, in Gerard van Vredenburch's private archive last year. This senior person in the Dutch East India Company was believed to have been storing and recording secrets "like poker cards."

Related News

Over 100,000 people march for Gaza in front of the Hague

Dutch election set for October 29 amid government collapse

Showing off with slaves

According to Schütz, “In some cases, they took enslaved people to the Netherlands to show off. It was a kind of conspicuous investment and consumption to show you were important, a kind of status symbol. These days, everybody is ashamed and it’s hard to imagine how it was seen at the time. But the main thing was making money.”

Schütz stated that it was unknown how much the Dutch rulers earned from slavery between 1621 and its abolition on July 1, 1863 (followed by ten years of obligatory labor for the slaves). 

Last year, the United Kingdom's King Charles, then Prince of Wales, expressed "the depths of his personal sorrow" for the misery inflicted by the British slave trade, while Germany gave €1 billion in acknowledgment of colonial-era atrocities in Namibia in 2021.

Months ago Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte apologized for the "appalling suffering" inflicted on generations, announcing a €200 million fund for awareness projects, but no restitution or damages.

Don Ceder, an MP for the Christian Union and a lawyer expressed that the apology is expected to be "of enormous significance in the reconciliation process,” as “The Dutch royal family received a significant portion of her wealth through the slave trade … A sincere reflection upon that past could contribute to a shared future.”

According to Linda Nooitmeer, president of the National Institute of the Dutch Slavery Past and Legacy (NiNsee), whose surname means “never again," "In 2019, an investigation showed that 5% of Dutch GDP [in 1770] came from slavery. What the community thought, seems to be true."

Roy Kaikusi Groenberg, of the Honour and Recovery Foundation, a Dutch Afro-Surinamese organization, stated that the apology "will be the start of another era," and will bring peace. According to Groenberg, descendants of slavery are today paying the price through racism, discrimination, and being undervalued. 

Organizations across the country have organized hundreds of “Keti Koti Tafels” shared meals where people discuss stories of discrimination experiences and how to resolve them.

According to a spokesperson, the aim is to bring people closer together and increase awareness. We share a society, we are all people and we need to come together.”

  • Netherlands
  • Slave Trade
  • Slavery

Most Read

Iran launches 9th wave of Op. True Promise 3, destroys IOF air defense

Iran launches 9th wave of Op. True Promise 3, destroys IOF air defense

  • MENA
  • 17 Jun 2025
Rescue team work at the site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025 (AP)

Wave 12 of Operation True Promise 3 launched, Sejjil deployed: IRGC

  • Politics
  • 18 Jun 2025
Israeli workers survey the site where a missile launched from Iran struck in Haifa on Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP)

True Promise 3, wave 20: 40 missiles launched, Kheibar-Shekan in first

  • Politics
  • 22 Jun 2025
Iran launches missile barrage to Tel Aviv, casualties reported

True Promise 3, wave 14: Tel Aviv targeted, casualties reported

  • Politics
  • 19 Jun 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani, speaks with then-Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis in a meeting in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, January 17, 2017 (AP)
Politics

Iran holds the initiative after nuclear strikes, Shamkhani says

Blood stains a religious painting inside Mar Elias Church, where a suicide bomber detonated himself in al-Dwela, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, on Sunday, June 22, 2025 (AP)
Politics

UN, regional governments condemn Damascus church bombing

A B-2 bomber arrives at Whiteman Air Force Base Missouri, Sunday, June 22, 2025, after returning from a massive strike on Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday (AP)
Politics

Israeli media: US-Israeli strike on Iran failed to end war

China UN Ambassador Fu Cong addresses the United Nations Security Council, Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Politics

China slam US strikes on Iran nuclear sites

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS