This Is the Netherlands East Indies, One of the United Nations
A sheet headed 'this is the NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES' with photographs of a Buddhist statue, rubber tapping, a school and temples, a statistics panel of population and products, and an essay stating 'Indonesia is an integral part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, not a "colony"'. The tell for euphemism is that sentence, which replaces the term 'colony' with a constitutional description; card-stacking is the selection of cultural scenes and products with no mention of opposition to Dutch rule.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1939
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Netherlands Information Bureau, an Agency of the Netherlands Government; artists F. C. Veit and S. M. Adler
- Region
- Southeast Asia
- Country
- Netherlands
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Gerbrandy Government
- Leader
- Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy
- Audience
- Foreign public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Themes
- War and the military, Empire and colonialism, Media and information
- Event
- World War II
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Foreign Posters, retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- Held by NARA, Unrestricted; hosted by owner decision (foreign-government imprint lithographed in the US)
Netherlands Information Bureau; F. C. Veit and S. M. Adler, National Archives and Records Administration, 44-PF-899l.
Text on the object
this is the
NETHERLANDS
EAST INDIES
It is the largest archipelago in the world, situated between Asia and Australia and the Pacific and Indian Oceans. [...] The Indonesians excel in textile weaving and metal working.
Indonesia is an integral part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, not a "colony." The Governor-General administers the territory in the name of the Queen. He is assisted by an advisory "Council of the Indies," and a Cabinet. The Parliament is called "Volksraad" ("Peoples' Council"); in this legislative assembly the non-Dutch members have a majority.
THE BUILDING OF THE PEOPLE'S COUNCIL, FORMERLY AN ADVISORY COUNCIL, WHICH BECAME A CO-LEGISLATIVE BODY IN THE LAST TWO DECADES.
the people
JAVANESE GIRL AND BUDDHIST STATUE
TAPPING A RUBBER TREE
BALINESE MAN AND WIFE
HYGIENE CENTER, JAVA
GIRLS' SCHOOL JAVA
WOMEN OF MINANGKABAU, SUMATRA
THE COUNCIL OF THE INDIES
the country
SUMATRA LANDSCAPE
RAILROAD STATION, BATAVIA
TIN DREDGER
VILLAGE SCENE, INDONESIAN RESTAURANT
BORO BUDUR, ONE OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST BUDDHIST MONUMENTS, JAVA
RICE FIELDS, BALI
their work
POPULATION: The total population is about 70,000,000. [statistics and special features not reproduced]
f. c. veit and s. m. adler
Lithographed in the United States of America
ONE OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Issued by Netherlands Information Bureau
An Agency of the Netherlands Government
