Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies

The Japanese occupation of Indonesia refers to the period between 1942 and 1945, during World War II, when the Empire of Japan ruled Indonesia.

Background

Main article: Netherlands East Indies campaign

Until 1942, Indonesia was ruled by the Netherlands and was known as the Netherlands East Indies. In November 1941, Madjlis Rakjat Indonesia, an Indonesian organization of religious, political and trade union organizations, submitted a memorandum to the Dutch East Indies Government requesting the mobilization of the Indonesian people in the face of the war threat. The memorandum was refused because the Government did not consider the Madjlis Rakyat Indonesia to be representative of the people. Within only four months, the Japanese had occupied the archipelago. On the night of January 10-11, 1942, the Japanese attacked Menado in Celebes. At about the same moment they attacked Tarakan, a major oil extraction centre and port in the north east of Borneo.

Japanese advance through Indonesia, 1942

In January the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDCOM) was formed to co-ordinate Allied forces in South East Asia. On February 27, the Allied fleet was defeated in the Battle of the Java Sea. From February 28 to March 1, 1942, Japanese troops landed on four places along the northern coast of Java almost undisturbed. In Magelang the local population welcomed them enthusiastically, and in Aceh the local population rebelled against the Dutch colonial authorities, even before the arrival of the Japanese. On March 8, the Allied forces in Indonesia surrendered. Dutch civilians who were still in the country, were put away in internment camps.

The occupation

Initially Japanese occupation was welcomed by the Indonesians as liberator.Encyclopædia Britannica Online (2007). "Indonesia :: Japanese occupation". Retrieved 2007-01-21. Though initially welcomed as liberators, the Japanese gradually established themselves as harsh overlords. Their policies fluctuated according to the exigencies of the war, but in general their primary object was to make the Indies serve Japanese war needs. {{cite web}}: Check |authorlink= value (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |accessyear=, |month=, |accessmonthday=, and |coauthors= (help); External link in |authorlink= (help) The Japanese claimed to be the eldest brother of Asians. During the occupation, the Indonesian nationalist movement increased in popularity. In July 1942, leading nationalists like Sukarno accepted Japan's offer to rally the public in support of the Japanese war effort. Both Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta were decorated by the Emperor of Japan in 1943.

Experience of the Japanese occupation of Indonesia varied considerably, depending upon where one lived and one's social position. Many who lived in areas considered important to the war effort experienced torture, sex slavery, arbitrary arrest and execution, and other war crimes. Many thousands of people were taken away from Indonesia as unfree labour (romusha) for Japanese military projects, including the Burma-Siam Railway, and suffered or died as a result of ill-treatment and starvation. People of Dutch and mixed Dutch-Indonesian descent were particular targets of the Japanese occupation.

John W. Dower cites a United Nations report stating that four million people died in Indonesia as a result of famine and forced labor during the Japanese occupation, including 30,000 European civilian internee deaths (Dower, 1986, War Without Mercy).

Materially, whole railway lines, railway rolling stock, and industrial plant in Java were lifted and shipped back to Japan and Manchuria. British intelligence reports during the occupation noted significant removals of any materials that could be used in the war effort.

End of the occupation

General MacArthur had wanted to fight his way with Allied troops to liberate Java in 1944-45 but was ordered not to by the joint chiefs and President Roosevelt. The Japanese occupation thus officially ended with Japanese surrender in the Pacific and two days later Sukarno declared Indonesian Independence but Indonesia would have to spend the next four years fighting the Dutch for its independence. American restraint from fighting their way into Java certainly saved many Japanese, Javanese and American lives. On the other hand, Indonesian independence would have likely been achieved more swiftly and smoothly had MacArthur had his way and American troops occupied Java.

See also

• Netherlands Indian roepiah

References

further reading

• Anderson, Ben (1972). Java in a Time of Revolution: Occupation and Resistance, 1944-1946. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-0687-0.
• Hillen, Ernest (1993). The Way of a Boy: A Memoir of Java. Toronto: Viking. ISBN 0-670-85049-7.