The dutch state decided that if they wanted to have a profitable, profitable trade in asia, then they should have control over the spice producing areas. They did something similar to the portuguese, but at the same something different. In the case of nutmeg, soin the de banda islands and the moluckan islands. Yes, they did take control. And that gave them a very powerful position. Begas, i pick up the word conquered, because, let's get it right there, brutality went on If they couldn't get what they wanted by negotiation,. The dutce particularly, iwill tell me i'm wrong if i'm wrong. We're very
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC, known in English as the Dutch East India Company. The VOC dominated the spice trade between Asia and Europe for two hundred years, with the British East India Company a distant second. At its peak, the VOC had a virtual monopoly on nutmeg, mace, cloves and cinnamon, displacing the Portuguese and excluding the British, and were the only European traders allowed access to Japan.
With
Anne Goldgar
Reader in Early Modern European History at King's College London
Chris Nierstrasz
Lecturer in Global History at Erasmus University, Rotterdam, formerly at the University of Warwick
And
Helen Paul
Lecturer in Economics and Economic History at the University of Southampton
Producer: Simon Tillotson.