Beginning of the Aceh War

Date: March 26, 1873 • Location: Banda Aceh, Indonesia

This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 1873–1904.

A Dutch military expedition was launched to bombard Banda Aceh, the capital of the Aceh Sultanate in present-day Indonesia, beginning the Aceh War.

The First Aceh Expedition was a military campaign undertaken by the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) against the Sultanate of Aceh in the north of Sumatra in 1873. The expedition was launched as a punitive measure by the Dutch colonial authorities in response to perceived challenges to their control over the region and Aceh's resistance to Dutch interference in its affairs.