ABSTRACT
August 1799: During the Napoleonic Wars, English forces invaded and occupied Dutch Guiana. 25 March 1802: The Treaty of Amiens ended the War of the Second Coalition and returned the territory to the French-created Batavian Republic in the Netherlands; however, in May 1804 the British recaptured Dutch Guiana. 1808: The trading of slaves in the territory was prohibited by the British occupying regime. February 1816: Following the Congress of Vienna (1814-15) and the subsequent signing of the Treaty of Paris in November 1815, which ended the European wars with revolutionary France (the Napoleonic Wars), Dutch Guiana was formally returned to the newly created Kingdom of the United Netherlands. The colony was henceforth administered by a Governor, with the assistance of a Political Council, the members of which were appointed by the Governor, following nomination by the colonial planterclass. 1828: The administration of all Dutch West Indies colonies was centralized under a Governor-General (the first being Johannes Graaf van den Bosch), stationed in Dutch Guiana, who reported directly to the Colonial Office in the Netherlands. 1 July 1863: King William III of the Netherlands abolished slavery in all the Dutch colonies. The freed slaves were, nevertheless, forced to work at the plantations for a further 10 years, although they received wages for doing so. 1866: The Koloniale Staten (Colonial Assembly), a representative body with limited local power, was established. However, ultimate power continued to reside in The Hague. 1922: The colony was designated an integral part of the Netherlands. 1949: Universal adult suffrage was introduced. 1950: Suriname was granted internal self-government by the Dutch. 15 December 1954: Suriname became an autonomous region within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which also included the Netherlands Antilles. The Dutch retained the right to rule in matters of defence and foreign affairs. 1960s: The Nationale Partij Suriname (NPS), led by Johan Pengel and the Verenigde Hindostaanse Partij (VHP), led by Jaggernath Lachmon, formed a Creole-Hindustani alliance. 1969: Pengel was replaced as Prime Minister by Dr Jules Sedney of the Progressieve Nationale Partij (PNP). 1970: Pengel died, he was replaced as leader of the PNP by Henck Arron. November 1973: An alliance of the NPS, the Partij Nationalistische Republiek (PNR) gained 22 of the 39 seats in the legislature. Arron was appointed Prime Minister. 25 November 1975: Full and complete independence was granted to Suriname by the Dutch. Johan Ferrier became the first President. 25 February 1980: The elected Government was overthrown by 16 non-commissioned army officers, led by Sgt-Maj. Desi Bouterse. Dr Hendrik Chin-A-Sen was appointed Prime Minister of a new Government, which was named the Nationale Militaire Raad (NMR).
