Indonesian National Revolution

This article describes the events that led to Indonesian independence from the Netherlands in the late 1940s. For the events related to the 1998 fall of President Suharto, see Indonesian 1998 Revolution.

The Indonesian National Revolution or Indonesian War of Independence is the name of the conflict between Indonesia and the Netherlands from the time of Indonesia's declaration of independence in 1945 and the Netherlands recognition of independance in 1949.

Aftermath of World War Two

After the collapse of Japan at the end of World War II, Indonesian nationalists under Sukarno took the opportunity to declare independence from Dutch colonial rule. With the assistance of indigenous army units created by the Japanese, an independent Republic of Indonesia with Sukarno as its president was proclaimed on August 17, 1945.

The Netherlands, only recently freed from German occupation itself, initially lacked the means to respond, allowing Republican forces to establish de facto control over parts of the huge archipelago, particularly in Java and Sumatra. On the other hand, in the less densely populated outer islands, no effective control was established by either party, leading at times to chaotic conditions.

Flag Affair in Surabaya

On September 19, 1945, several Dutch citizens (former prisoner of war/POW) led by Mr Pluegman raised Dutch tri-color flag Red-White-Blue on the left side of Hotel Yamato (formerly Hotel Orange) in Surabaya.

Indonesian militia got angry, overran the guards (Japanese troops) and attack the Dutch citizens. Mr Pluegman was killed by the militia. The militia took down the flag, tear up the blue part and raise the Indonesian flag, Red and White.

Battle in Surabaya

On October 25, 1945, the United Kingdom sent in 6000 lightly armed British-India troops from 49th Indian Infantry Brigade, 23rd Division, led by Brigadier General A.W.S. Mallaby to take over Surabaya from the Japanese and soon found itself in conflict with the Republic Indonesia (RI) troops and militia.

British forces brought in a small Dutch military contingent which it termed the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA).

The British became worried about the increasing boldness and apparent strength of the nationalists, who attacked demoralized Japanese garrisons across the archipelago with crude weapons like bamboo spears in order to seize their arms.

The main goals of British troops in Surabaya were seizing weapons from Japanese and Indonesian troops/militia, taking care of former prisoner of war (POW), and sending the remaining Japanese troops back to Japan.

The Japanese troops surrendered their weapons, but more than 20000 Indonesian troops and several thousands militia refused to hand over their weapons.

On October 26, 1945, Brigadier General, A.W.S Mallaby reached an agreement with Mr Suryo, the Republic of Indonesia's governor of East Java that British will not ask Indonesian troops/militia to hand over their weapons.

Unfortunately there is a misunderstanding between British troops HQ in Jakarta (led by Leutenant General Sir Philip Christison) and British troops HQ in Surabaya.

On October 27, 1945, a British Dakota plane from Jakarta dropped leaflet in Surabaya that all Indonesian troops and militia should surrender their weapons.

The leader of Indonesian troops and militia got angry and on October 28, 1945, they attacked British troops in Surabaya. More than 200 ill-prepared British troops were killed by the suprise attack.

To avoid defeat, Brig. Gen. Mallaby ask Major General Douglas Cyril Hawthorn (the commander of British 23rd division) and Ir. Soekarno, the president of RI to come to Surabaya and clear up the misunderstanding.

On October 29, 1945, Ir. Sukarno, Hatta (the vice president of RI), and Amir Syarifuddin Harahap (the minister of information of RI) come to Surabaya for a negotiation with Maj. Gen. Hawthorn and Brig. Gen. Mallaby.

On the noon of October 30, 1945, a new agreement was reached and the trapped British troops will be evacuated from Surabaya to Jakarta. Maj. Gen Hawthorn and RI leaders left Surabaya and went back to Jakarta.

Brigadier General Mallaby spread the news about the new agreement to his troops around Surabaya. When his car approached the British troops post on Internatio building near Jembatan merah, his car was surrounded by Indonesian militia that had surrounded the building.

Fearing that their commander will be attacked by the militia, the British troops on the Internatio building led by Major Venu K. Gopal fired to the air to disperse the Indonesian militia. The militia fired back at the British troops. Captain R.C. Smith throw grenade at the militia, but the grenade missed its target and unfortunately fell on the Brigadier Mallaby's car. The car exploded, caught fire and Mallaby and his driver were killed.

Lt. Gen. Sir Philip Christison got angry when he heard that Brig. Gen. Mallaby was killed in Surabaya. The initial report blamed Indonesian militia for the death of Brig. Gen. Mallaby.

Lt. Gen. Sir Philip Christison sent additional 24000 fully armed Indian 5th Division troops led by Major General E. C. Mansergh, with 21 M4 Sherman tanks, 2 cruisers and 3 destroyers to conquer Surabaya.

On November 9, 1945, British issued an ultimatum for Indonesian troops and militia to surrender all their weapons.

On November 10, 1945, British troops began to bomb Surabaya from air and sea. The fierce battle in Surabaya went on for 10 days. On November 10, 1945, two British planes were shotdown by Indonesia troops. One of the passengers, Brigadier General Robert Guy Loder-Symonds was badly injured and passed away on the following day.

On November 20, 1945, British troops managed to conquer Surabaya with more than 1000 casualties.

More than 20000 Indonesian troops, militia and residence of Surabaya were killed during the battle. Most of Surabaya were destroyed during the battle.

The battle for Surabaya was the bloodiest single engagement by British troops in the war and demonstrated the determination of the rag-tag nationalist forces.

It also made the British reluctant to be sucked into a war it did not need, considering how outstretched their resources in southeast Asia were during the period after the Japanese surrender. On November 1946, the last British troops left Indonesia.

The "10 November Hero" statue in Surabaya commemorated this epic battle. 10 November is declared as "Hero Day" in Indonesia.

Battle in Bandung

During the Dutch police action, there was an ultimatum for the Indonesian combatants in Bandung to leave. As for the answer, on March 24th 1946, the southern part of Bandung was deliberately burned down as they were leaving. This event is known as Bandung Lautan Api or Bandung as the sea of flame. A heroic song "Halo-halo Bandung" was sang along by these hundreds of patriots.

During the evacuation process on March 1946, Mohammad Toha, a member of Indonesian militia smuggled several sticks of dynamite to a large scale ammunition dump guarded by Japanese and Dutch troops, near the Dutch military HQ in Dayeuh Kolot.

After overpowering the guards, he put the dynamites in several warehouses full of ammunition. He then commited suicide by igniting the dynamites. The massive violent explosion killed him and several Dutch, Japanese troops in the area. The explosion created a small lake ("situ") in Dayeuh Kolot. The main street in the area is called "Mohammad Toha Street".

Dutch reaction

As a consequence, the Dutch were asked to take back control, and the number of NICA forces soon increased dramatically. Initially the Netherlands negotiated with the Republic and came to an agreement at Linggajati, in which the 'United States of Indonesia' were proclaimed, a semi-autonomous federal state keeping as its head the Queen of the Netherlands.

Both sides increasingly accused each other of violating the agreement, and as consequence the hawkish forces soon won out on both sides. A major point of concern for the Dutch side was the fate of members of the Dutch minority in Indonesia, most of whom had been held under deplorable conditions in concentration camps by the Japanese. The Indonesians were accused of not cooperating in liberating these prisoners.

Police actions and guerilla war

The Netherlands government then mounted a large military force to regain what it believed was rightfully its territory. The two major military campaigns that followed were declared as mere 'police actions' to downplay the extent of the operations. There were atrocities and violations of human rights in many forms by both sides in the conflict. Some 6,000 Dutch and 150,000 Indonesians are estimated to have been killed.

Although the Dutch and their indigenous allies managed to defeat the Republican Army in almost all major engagements and during the second campaign even to arrest Sukarno himself, Indonesian forces continued to wage a major guerrilla war under the leadership of General Sudirman who had escaped the Dutch onslaught.

A few months before the second Dutch offensive, communist elements within the independence movement had staged a failed coup, known as Madiun Affair, with the goal of seizing control of the republican forces.

Indonesian independence

The continuing existence of Republican resistance following the second 'Police action', paired with active diplomacy, soon thereafter led to the end of colonial rule. Journalistic opinion in much of the rest of the world, notably in the United States of America, began to disfavor the Dutch. The Netherlands government was forced back into negotiations, and after the Round Table conference in The Hague, the Dutch finally assented to Indonesian independence on December 27, 1949.

In the following decades, a diplomatic row between the governments of Indonesia and the Netherlands persisted, over the officially recognized date of Indonesian independence. Indonesians commemorate as the anniversary of the August 17, 1945 day of Sukarno's proclamation as their official independence day holiday. The Netherlands, having taken in a number of loyalist exiles who (for various reasons) viewed Sukarno's government as illegitimate, would only recognize the date of the final withdraw of Dutch forces from Indonesia on December 27, 1949. This changed in 2005 when the Dutch Foreign Minister, Bernard Bot, made several well-publicized goodwill gestures: officially accepting Indonesian independence as beginning on August 17, 1945; expressing a regret for all that suffering caused by the fighting during the war; and attending 60th anniversary commemoration of Sukarno's independence proclamation, as a part of the first Dutch delegation to do so.

References

• http://countrystudies.us/indonesia/16.htm
• "Speech by Minister Bot On the 60th anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia’s independence declaration" - Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs' apology statement to the Indonesian government and people, dated August 16, 2005.
• J.G.A. Parrot, "Who killed Brigadier Mallaby"; Cornell University; "Indonesia Magazine", July 1976, pg. 91.
• Template:Id icon History of Surabaya.