Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes ProCon History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
Johannes Benedictus van Heutsz
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Read Next
Colorful mulitcolord illuminated gallery tunnel rainbow passage under NAI building, Netherlands Architecture Institute near Museum Park, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
6 Buildings You'll Want to Visit in the Netherlands
Boat travels down a canal in Amersterdam, The Netherlands
11 Amazing Paintings in the Netherlands
The Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863. (Civil War, Pennsylvania)
9 Worst Generals in History
Map of the Netherlands
Is "Holland" the Same Place as "the Netherlands"?
Discover
Thumbnail for flags that look alike quiz Russia, Slovenia, Iceland, Norway
Flags That Look Alike
Baseball laying in the grass. Homepage blog 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society, sports and games athletics
10 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time
The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. (Alice in Wonderland)
11 Banned Books Through Time
Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1855), founder of the house of Rothschild; lithograph by Friedrich Lieder, c. 1830.
Where Do Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories About the Rothschild Family Come From?
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. Engraving by Cosomo Colombini (d. 1812) after a Leonardo self portrait. Ca. 1500.
10 Famous Artworks by Leonardo da Vinci
Iraqi Army Soldiers from the 9th Mechanized Division learning to operate and maintain M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks at Besmaya Combat Training Center, Baghdad, Iraq, 2011. Military training. Iraq war. U.S. Army
8 Deadliest Wars of the 21st Century
Title: Senate Square, St. Petersburg, December 14, 1825: repression of the troop mutiny - watercolor by Carl Ivanovitch Kollman, 1825 depicts Decembrist uprising clashing with cavalry, with spectators watching. (new style December 26, 1825) Europe. Saint
8 of the Largest Empires in History

Johannes Benedictus van Heutsz

Dutch general
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Article History
Quick Facts
Born:
Feb. 3, 1851, Coevorden, Neth.
Died:
July 10, 1924, Montreux, Switz.

Johannes Benedictus van Heutsz (born Feb. 3, 1851, Coevorden, Neth.—died July 10, 1924, Montreux, Switz.) was a Dutch general and governor-general of the Dutch East Indies (1904–09) who conquered the Sumatran kingdom of Aceh (also spelled Acheh, or Atjeh) and brought all of Indonesia directly under Dutch rule.

Van Heutsz was sent to Aceh as a subaltern in 1873 and won fast promotions. By 1887 he was chief of staff, and in 1899 he was appointed military and civil governor of Aceh; he managed to subdue the kingdom in a year. As governor-general, van Heutsz brought the rest of the outer islands under direct control and thereafter was able to attract international investors. He introduced primary schools in the villages and made instruction in the Indonesian language (a dialect of Malay) compulsory.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.