WI The VOC never collapsed?

Heya.

I recently read about the story of the shipwreck of the Batavia, the famous Dutch East-Indies trader, and I wondered...

What if the Dutch East-Indies Trading Corporation never collapsed? What implications would this have for the world?

The VOC never collapsed. It went bankrupt and if it didn't go bankrupt at that time it would have during the Napoleonic War.

Sooner or later it's East India possessions would be nationalised and trade with the east would be opened up and while an organisation with the same name might survive in the open market the historical VOC would have ended, just like all the other national East India companies.

Arachnid said:

Sooner or later it's East India possessions would be nationalised and trade with the east would be opened up and while an organisation with the same name might survive in the open market the historical VOC would have ended, just like all the other national East India companies.

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Let's say we have an proto-adam smith-john maynard keynes-hybrid heavily influence the lowlands. i'm thinking a private but heavily subsidized VOC which works like the modern military contractors (blackwater with land & merchants). its lands would be the company's own property, a la Leopold's Congo. When it comes to foreign relations, it could technically work like a mandate, have legations. The dutch could also use it as a prisoner dump to boost population. i think such a system can have surprising longevity, if they can have a japanese style company loyalty (singing the corporation anthem), function as a neutral trading port in the pacific, and a great tax haven.

apart from the prisoner dump, you are describing how the VOC was in otl.
it had a large amount of own troops and her vessels were armed.

and remember the dutch pretty much invented modern capitalism.

wietze said:

apart from the prisoner dump, you are describing how the VOC was in otl.
it had a large amount of own troops and her vessels were armed.

and remember the dutch pretty much invented modern capitalism.

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i'm imagining a bit more autonomy than OTL though. a HQ in asia is for starters. Enough to remain neutral during dutch conflicts (somewhat appease the english?) . hiring foreigners. also, let's throw in some christians in japan so that it remains (at least partially) open to trading with the VOC. let them keep ceylon but stay out of the rest of india (let them "conquer" india via a ottoman capitulation-like system that appears to be beneficial to the indian states at first). make the oranjes flee to VOC like the portuguese.

EDIT : and how about some powerful english shareholders who can provide some capital and make sure their investment doesn't get screwed by british foreign policy..