The Rise and Fall of Dutch Taiwan, 1624-1662: Cooperative Colonization and the Statist Model of European Expansion

In: Journal of world history: official journal of the World History Association, Band 17, Heft 4, S. 429-450

Abstract

This study, based on Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese sources, examines the
rise and fall of Dutch Taiwan in the light of a model of European expansion first
sketched (separately) by historians John E.Wills Jr. and Michael N. Pearson. According
to the Wills-Pearson model, Europeans were successful in colonization attempts
because they received support from European states, whereas Asian states were less
likely to support overseas adventurism. The case of Taiwan strongly supports the
model—not just the establishment of a Dutch colony on Taiwan, but also the loss of
that colony to the Chinese military leader Zheng Chenggong, who ousted the Dutch
in 1662, because Zheng's state was similar to many western European states in its
dependence upon revenue from seaborne commerce and its concomitant willingness to
undertake overseas expansion. The article concludes by urging scholars to learn more
about non-Western colonization, suggesting several possible avenues of research.