You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
alternatehistory.com
A few nights ago, I stumbled upon a peculiar book whilst researching for my timeline. The work, written in 1880, is mainly devoted to the author's travels in Sarawak with a few snippets of the Dutch East Indies and Spain in the final chapters. In one particular paragraph, he noted that the state of the Dutch armed forces in Java were simply deplorable with a part of the recruits actually being French communists who fled Europe during the past decade.
I'm not familiar with the communist movement, but I haven't found any supporting evidence yet that backs up his claim. Are there really escaped communists that fled to East Asia during this time period? Or is the author just biased against the Dutch in general? He certainly didn't view them kindly in the book.