Geography
“The history of Indonesia has been shaped by its geographic position, its natural resources, a series of human migrations and contacts, wars and conquests, as well as by trade, economics and politics. Indonesia is an archipelagic country of 17,000 to 18,000 islands (8,844 named and 922 permanently inhabited) stretching along the equator in South East Asia. The country’s strategic sea-lane position fostered inter-island and international trade; trade has since fundamentally shaped Indonesian history. The area of Indonesia is populated by peoples of various migrations, creating a diversity of cultures, ethnicities, and languages. The archipelago’s landforms and climate significantly influenced agriculture and trade, and the formation of states. The boundaries of the state of Indonesia represent the 20th-century borders of the Dutch East Indies.”
Colonialism
“Europeans such as the Portuguese arrived in Indonesia from the 16th century seeking to monopolize the sources of valuable nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in Maluku. In 1602 the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and became the dominant European power by 1610. Following bankruptcy, the VOC was formally dissolved in 1800, and the government of the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies under government control. By the early 20th century, Dutch dominance extended to the current boundaries. The Japanese invasion and subsequent occupation in 1942–45 during WWII ended Dutch rule and encouraged the previously suppressed Indonesian independence movement. Two days after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, nationalist leader, Sukarno, declared independence and became president. The Netherlands tried to reestablish its rule, but a bitter armed and diplomatic struggle ended in December 1949, when in the face of international pressure, the Dutch formally recognized Indonesian independence.” [Source: Wikipedia]
Diplomacy and Military Offensives
“With British assistance, the Dutch landed their Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA) forces in Jakarta and other key centers. Republican sources reported 8,000 deaths up to January 1946, in the defence of Jakarta, but the city could not be held. The Republican leadership thus established themselves in the city of Yogyakarta with the crucial support of the new sultan, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX. Yogyakarta went on to play a leading role in the Revolution, which would result in the city being granted its own Special Territory status. In Bogor, near Jakarta, and in Balikpapan, in Kalimantan, Republican officials were imprisoned. In preparation for Dutch occupation of Sumatra, its largest cities, Palembang and Medan, were bombed. In December 1946, Dutch Special Troops (KST), led by a commando and counter-insurgency expert Captain Raymond ‘Turk’ Westerling, were accused of trying to pacify the southern Sulawesi region using arbitrary terror techniques, which were copied by other anti-Republicans. As many as 3,000 Republican militias and their supporters were killed in a few weeks.
“On Java and Sumatra, Dutch military success was limited to major cities and towns, but they were unable to subdue the villages and countryside. On the outer islands (including Bali), Republican sentiment, was not as strong, at least among the elite. They were consequently occupied by the Dutch with comparative ease and autonomous states were set up by the Dutch. The largest, the State of East Indonesia (NIT), encompassed most of eastern Indonesia and was established in December 1946, with its administrative capital in Makassar.
“The Linggarjati Agreement, brokered by the British and concluded in November 1946, saw the Netherlands recognize the Republic as the de-facto authority over Java, Madura, and Sumatra. Both parties agreed to the formation of the United States of Indonesia by January 1, 1949, a semi-autonomous federal state with the Queen of the Netherlands as its head. The Republican-controlled Java and Sumatra would be one of its states, alongside areas that were generally under stronger Dutch influence: Southern Kalimantan; and the “Great East” consisting of Sulawesi, Maluku, the Lesser Sunda Islands, and Western New Guinea. The KNIP did not ratify the agreement until February 1947, and neither the Republic nor the Dutch were happy with it. On March 25, 1947, the Lower House of the Dutch parliament ratified a “stripped down” version of the treaty, which was not accepted by the Republic. Both sides soon accused each other of violating the agreement.
“The whole situation deteriorated to such an extent that the Dutch Government was obliged to decide that no progress could be made before law and order were restored sufficiently to make intercourse between the different parts of Indonesia possible, and to guarantee the safety of people of different political opinions.
“The Dutch launched a major military offensive at midnight on July 20, 1947, with the intent of conquering the Republic. Claiming violations of the Linggajati Agreement, the Dutch described the campaign as Politionele acties (“police actions”) to restore law and order. Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) drove Republican troops out of parts of Sumatra, and East and West Java. The Republicans were confined to the Yogyakarta region of Java. To maintain their force in Java, now numbering 100,000 troops, the Dutch gained control of lucrative Sumatran plantations and oil and coal installations, and in Java, control of all deepwater ports.
“International reaction to the Dutch actions was negative. Newly-independent India and neighbouring Australia were particularly active in supporting the Republic’s cause in the UN, as was the Soviet Union and, most significantly, the United States. Dutch ships continued to be boycotted from loading and unloading by Australian waterside workers; a blockade that began in September 1945. The United Nations Security Council became directly involved in the conflict, establishing a Good Offices Committee to sponsor further negotiations, making the Dutch diplomatic position particularly difficult. A ceasefire, called for by UN resolution, was ordered by the Dutch and Sukarno on August 4, 1947.
“The United Nations Security Council brokered the Renville Agreement in an attempt to rectify the collapsed Linggarjati Agreement. The agreement was ratified in January 1948 and recognized a cease-fire along the so-called “van Mook line;” an artificial line which connected up the most advanced Dutch positions. Many Republican positions, however, were still held behind the Dutch lines. The agreement also required referenda to be held on the political future of the Dutch held areas. The apparent reasonableness of Republicans garnered much important American goodwill.
“Diplomatic efforts between the Netherlands and the Republic continued throughout 1948 and 1949. Political pressures, both domestic and international, hindered Dutch attempts at goal formulation; similarly, Republican leaders faced great difficulty in persuading their people to accept diplomatic concessions. By July 1948, negotiations were in deadlock and the Netherlands pushed unilaterally towards Van Mook’s federal Indonesia concept. The new federal states of South Sumatra and East Java were created, although neither had a viable support base. The Netherlands set up the Bijeenkomst voor Federal Overleg (BFO) (or “Federal Consultative Assembly”), a body comprising the leadership of the federal states, and charged with the formation of a United States of Indonesia and an interim government by the end of 1948. The Dutch plans, however, had no place for the Republic unless it accepted a minor role already defined for it. Later plans included Java and Sumatra but dropped all mention of the Republic. The main sticking point in the negotiations was the balance of force between the Netherlands High Representative and the Republican forces.
“Mutual distrust between the Netherlands and the Republic plagued negotiations; the Republic feared a second major Dutch offensive, while the Dutch objected to continued Republican activity on the Dutch side of the Renville line. In February 1948, the Siliwangi Battalion of the Republican Army, led by Nasution, marched from West Java to Central Java which was intended to ease internal Republican tensions involving the Battalion in the Surakarta area. The Battalion, however, clashed with Dutch troops while crossing Mount Slamet, and the Dutch naturally believed it was part of a systematic troop movement across the Renville Line. The fear of such incursions actually succeeding, along with apparent Republican undermining of the Dutch-established Pasudan state and negative reports, lead to the Dutch leadership increasingly seeing themselves as losing control.
“Frustrated at negotiations with the Republic and believing it weakened by both the Darul Islam and Madiun insurgencies, the Dutch launched a military offensive on December 19, 1948, which it termed Operatie Kraai (Operation Crow). By the following day, it had conquered Yogyakarta, the location of the temporary Republican capital. By the end of December, all major Republican held cities in Java and Sumatra were in Dutch hands. The Republican President, Vice President, and all but six Republic of Indonesia ministers were captured by Dutch troops and exiled on Bangka Island off the east coast of Sumatra. In areas surrounding Yogyakarta and Surakarta, Republican forces refused to surrender and continued to wage a guerrilla war under the leadership of Republican military chief of staff General Sudirman who had escaped the Dutch offensives. An emergency Republican government, the PDRI, was established in West Sumatra.
“Although Dutch forces conquered the towns and cities in Republican heartlands on Java and Sumatra, they could not control villages and the countryside. Republican troops and militia led by Lt. Colonel (later President) Suharto attacked Dutch positions in Yogyakarta at dawn on March 1, 1949. The Dutch were expelled from the city for six hours but reinforcements were brought in from the nearby cities of Ambarawa and Semarang that afternoon. Indonesian fighters retreated at 12:00 p.m. and the Dutch re-entered the city. The Indonesian attack, later known in Indonesia as Serangan Umum (“March 1 Public Attack”), is commemorated by a large monument in Yogyakarta. A similar attack against Dutch troops in Surakarta was led by Lt. Col. Slamet Riyadi on August 7, 1949.
“Once again, international opinion of the Dutch military campaigns was one of outrage, significantly in both the United Nations and the United States. In January 1949, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution demanding the reinstatement of the Republican government. United States aid specifically earmarked for the Netherlands’ Indonesia efforts was immediately cancelled and pressure mounted within the American Congress for all United States aid to be cut off. This included Marshall Plan funds vital for Dutch post-World War II rebuilding that had so far totalled US$ 1 billion. The Netherlands Government had spent an amount equivalent to almost half of this funding their campaigns in Indonesia. That United States aid could be used to fund “a senile and ineffectual imperialism” encouraged many key voices in the United States—including those amongst the Republican Party—and from within American churches and NGOs to speak out in support of Indonesian independence.
“The resilience of Indonesian Republican resistance and active international diplomacy set world opinion against the Dutch efforts to re-establish their colony. The second “police action” was a diplomatic disaster for the Dutch cause. The newly appointed United States Secretary of State Dean Acheson pushed the Netherlands government into negotiations earlier recommended by the United Nations but until then defied by the Netherlands. A Dutch-Indonesian round table conference was held in The Hague from August 23, 194,9 to November 2, 1949, between the Republic, the Netherlands, and the Dutch-created federal states. The Netherlands agreed to recognize Indonesian sovereignty over a new federal state known as the “United States of Indonesia” (RUSI). It would include all the territory of the former Dutch East Indies with the exception of Netherlands New Guinea; sovereignty over which it was agreed would be retained by the Netherlands until further negotiations between Indonesia. The other difficult issue to which Indonesia gave concessions was Netherlands East Indies debt. Indonesia agreed to responsibility for this sum of £ 4.3 billion, much of which was directly attributable to Dutch attempts to crush the Revolution. Sovereignty was formally transferred on December 27, 1949, and the new state was immediately recognized by the United States of America.
“Republican-controlled Java and Sumatra together formed a single state in the sixteen-state RUSI federation but accounted for almost half its population. The other fifteen “federal” states had been created by the Netherlands since 1945. These states were dissolved into the Republic over the first half of 1950. An abortive anti-Republic coup in Bandung led by the infamous Westerling on January 23, 1950, resulted in the dissolution of the populous Pasudan state in West Java, thus quickening the dissolution of the federal structure. Colonial soldiers, who were largely Ambonese, clashed with Republican troops in Makassar in April 1950. The predominantly Christian Ambonese were from one of the few regions with pro-Dutch sentiments and they were suspicious of the Javanese Muslim dominated Republic, whom they unfavourably regarded as leftists. On April 25, 1950, an independent Republic of South Maluku (RMS) was proclaimed in Ambon but this was suppressed by Republic troops during a campaign from July to November. With the state of East Sumatra now being the only federal state remaining, it too folded and fell in line with the unitary Republic. On August 17, 1950, the fifth anniversary of his declaration of Indonesian independence, Sukarno proclaimed the Republic of Indonesia as a unitary state.
“The revolution destroyed a colonial administration ruled from the other side of the world and dismantled with it the obsolete and powerless raja and rigid racial and social categorizations of colonial Indonesia. Tremendous energies and aspirations were created amongst Indonesians; a new creative surge was seen in writing and art, as was a great demand for education and modernization. Independence saw the birth of the largest self-governing Muslim country in the world, one that had never been conquered by any Islamic power but where 90 percent of the population had become Muslim due to the peaceful propagation of Islam.” [Source: newworldencyclopedia.org]