# data[].attributes.headline
Were the local people better off as a result of these changes?

# data[].attributes.subject
Were the local people better off as a result of these changes?

# data[].attributes.headline
What changes did the Dutch introduce to centralise administration?

# data[].attributes.subject
What changes did the Dutch introduce to centralise administration?

# data[].attributes.body
Dutch brought the territories in Indonesia, the extensive territory comprising over 13,000 islands came under one ruler.

# data[].attributes.headline
Who benefitted from these changes? (provide reasons)

# data[].attributes.subject
Who benefitted from these changes? (provide reasons)

# data[].attributes.body
The Dutch were able to extend their control to the far-flung corners of Indonesia, enabling them to implement laws and policies more comprehensively,  to tax the population more efficiently and raise revenue for public projects.

Government revenues increased from 57 million guilders in 1900 to 361 million guilders in 1928.

# data[].attributes.headline
Who was worse off because of these changes? (provide reasons)

# data[].attributes.subject
Who was worse off because of these changes? (provide reasons)

# data[].attributes.body
The local rulers and priyayis became salaried employees, retained their positions but lose the power to make decisions about land, labour and property, also lost the rights to collect taxes and impose compulsory labour from the people. Hereditary rights to office were abolished.

# data[].attributes.headline
What were some steps the Dutch took to decentralize power?

# data[].attributes.subject
What were some steps the Dutch took to decentralize power?

# data[].attributes.body
As part of the Ethical Policy, the Dutch decided to allow local people to have their opinions heard regarding the affairs of the government.

(National Level) : Volksraad - meaning the People's Council, was set up in 1916 to advise the Governor General on local affairs. The Volksraad itself had no power to make laws.
30 of the 61 seats were given to wealthy and powerful locals.

Short-term:  allowed wealthy locals to have some limited participation in making policy.

Long-Term: gave nationalist leaders who wanted independence a valuable platform to share their views with the nation as well as their Dutch masters.

# data[].attributes.headline
Secular: something unconnected to religious or spiritual matters.

# data[].attributes.subject
Secular: something unconnected to religious or spiritual matters.

# data[].attributes.body
A secular leader would be someone whose decisions were not influenced by religious ideas or considerations. They would also be not use religion to help sway the public's thinking or actions.

# data[].attributes.headline
What did the Dutch do to ensure Secular leadership in government?

# data[].attributes.subject
What did the Dutch do to ensure Secular leadership in government?

# data[].attributes.body
They appointed regents whose authority came from family relations with the King, and not from their appointment as leaders of Islam.

They also enhanced the prestige of these secular leaders with greater privilleges then what they had enjoyed before. They conferred ranks and titles such as Temenggong, Ario and Adipati which enhanced their social standing. Their economic status now allowed them to maintain a more extravagant lifestyle.

# data[].attributes.headline
Did Indonesia as a country benefit? How so?

# data[].attributes.subject
Did Indonesia as a country benefit? How so?

# data[].attributes.body
Due to their encounter with religious fanaticism in the Aceh and Padri wars, the Dutch saw Islam as a potential anti-colonial force. They wanted to counter the influence of Islam by supporting others instead of Muslim competitors.

# data[].attributes.headline
How did the nation benefit from these changes? 

# data[].attributes.subject
How did the nation benefit from these changes? 

# data[].attributes.body
By creating a government that was free of religious influence, the Dutch paved the way for the leaders of modern Indonesia who would work to improve their country without being confined or restrained by religious considerations

# data[].attributes.headline
What was political structure before the Dutch?

# data[].attributes.subject
What was political structure before the Dutch?

# data[].attributes.body
Indonesia had a traditional hierarchy and the king's relatives automatically became high-ranking court officials ,including military ,civil and religious leaders.The people from the royal family were set apart from the commoners and inherited their status as the aristocracy . There were also religious leaders who derived their status from their religious appointments.

In the old system, which family you were born into was the most important factor in deciding political destiny.

# data[].attributes.headline
What political changes did the Dutch introduce?

# data[].attributes.subject
What political changes did the Dutch introduce?

# data[].attributes.body
The dutch instituted a system of indirect rule in Indonesia.  The Regency System (figure 4.11, pg 143)  allowed them to hold powers at the top of the hierarchy but ruled indirectly through the traditional leaders. The dutch divided the land into units called residencies , each under the supervision of a dutch resident . Traditional rulers were appointed as regents , heads of organisations. Some became officials with ranks in the colonial government. The dutch also helped maintain their symbolic representations of power such as privileges initially , gradually , their social and economic status declined as stricter requirements were imposed on them and they started to demonstrate competence as administrators.

# data[].attributes.headline
Who benefitted from these changes? (provide reasons)

# data[].attributes.subject
Who benefitted from these changes? (provide reasons)

# data[].attributes.body
The Dutch Colonial government. They were now able to better control,exploit and tax Indonesia through their new, more competent bureaucracy.

The local people also benefitted from these changes. Their country was now more competently governed and through educational merit it was now possible to join the junior ranks of the Dutch Bureaucracy as an official, where previously government would have depended entirely on one's relations with the King.