Joannes Benedictus van Heutsz was a Dutch military officer who was appointed governor general of the Dutch East Indies in 1904, years after he had become famous for bringing to an end to the long Aceh War.

The Aceh War, also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War (1873–1904), was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Kingdom of the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between representatives of Aceh and the United States in Singapore during early 1873. The war was part of a series of conflicts in the late 19th century that consolidated Dutch rule over modern-day Indonesia.