Names of Indonesia Oceania and Maritime Southeast Asia. During that era, the East Indies portion now called "Indonesia" fell under Dutch colonial control and therefore was referred to as Dutch East Indies. Insulindia or Insulinde, is an archaic geographical term for Maritime Southeast Asia, encompassing the entire area situated between Australasia and Indochina. More common in Portuguese and Spanish, it is a combined word (portmanteau) from "insula" ("island") and "india" (India). "Indonesia" derives from the Latin and Greek "Indus" (Ἰνδός), and the Greek "nésos" (νῆσος), meaning "island". The name dates to the 18th century, far predating the formation of independent Indonesia. In 1850,
Indos in colonial history South Moluccas. To ensure a sizeable European military segment and enforce the return of Indos to the KNIL the colonial government introduced obligatory military service for the (Indo-)European population of the Dutch East Indies in 1917. The introduction of mandatory military service for (Indo-) European conscripts successfully boosted the European segment in the colonial army, while simultaneously reducing costly recruitment in Europe. In 1922 a supplemental legal enactment introduced the creation of a ‘Home guard’ (Dutch: Landstorm) for (Indo-)European conscripts older than 32. By 1940 these legal measures had successfully mitigated the strong trend of Indos deserting the colonial armed