Evaluate the reasons for the decline of the Dutch East India Company (VOC).

The question requires that candidates make an appraisal of the reasons for the decline of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Candidates may refer to how the VOC, from its creation in 1602, was required to protect itself against native rulers who were held in economic bondage. The maintenance of a large army, a vast bureaucracy to administer and policing their possessions became a prime reason for the Company’s decline. Smuggling and private trade was being carried out from the most junior clerk to the governor-general. Rampant corruption led to declining profits and deficits. Other relevant factors may be evaluated, for example, the outdated mode of commercial operations and financial irregularities brought the company to bankruptcy. Competition in the spice trade came from the English and French and the Dutch even suffered a military defeat at the hands of the English in 1784. Candidates’ opinions or conclusions will be presented clearly and supported by appropriate evidence.