The Indonesian National Revolution also known as the Indonesian War of Independence, was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during postwar and postcolonial Indonesia. It took place between Indonesia's declaration of independence in 1945 and the Netherlands' transfer of sovereignty over the Dutch East Indies to the Republic of the United States of Indonesia at the end of 1949.
Jan Pieterszoon Coen was an officer of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in the early 17th century, holding two terms as governor-general of the Dutch East Indies. He was the founder of Batavia, capital of the Dutch East Indies. Renowned for providing the impulse that set the VOC on the path to dominance in the Dutch East Indies, he was long considered a national hero in the Netherlands. Since the 19th century, his legacy has become controversial due to the brutal violence he employed in order to secure a trade monopoly on nutmeg, mace and clove. During the last stage of the Dutch conquest of the Banda Islands, Coen depopulated the islands to such a degree he massacred about 14,400 people in Banda, about 800 of whom were transferred to Batavia.
Hubertus Johannes "Huib" van Mook was a Dutch administrator in the East Indies. During the Indonesian National Revolution, he served as the Acting Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1942 to 1948. Van Mook also had a son named Cornelius van Mook who studied marine engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also wrote about Java - and his work on Kota Gede is a good example of a colonial bureaucrat capable of examining and writing about local folklore.
The Linggardjati Agreement was a political accord concluded on 15 November 1946 by the Dutch administration and the unilaterally declared Republic of Indonesia in the village of Linggajati, Kuningan Regency, near Cirebon in which the Dutch recognised the republic as exercising de facto authority in Java, Madura, and Sumatra.
The Renville Agreement was a United Nations Security Council-brokered political accord between the Netherlands, which was seeking to re-establish its colony in Southeast Asia, and Indonesian Republicans seeking Indonesian independence during the Indonesian National Revolution. Ratified on 17 January 1948, the agreement was an unsuccessful attempt to resolve the disputes that arose following the 1946 Linggadjati Agreement. It recognised a cease-fire along the Status Quo Line or so-called "Van Mook Line", an artificial line that connected the most advanced Dutch positions.
Raymond Pierre Paul Westerling was a Dutch military officer of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army. He orchestrated a counter-guerrilla operation in Sulawesi during the Indonesian National Revolution after World War II and participated in a coup attempt against the Government of Indonesia in January 1950, a month after the official transfer of sovereignty. Both actions were denounced as war crimes by the Indonesian authorities. Born in the Ottoman Empire, despite his nickname, The Turk, Westerling was of mixed Dutch and Greek descent.
The 1949 Federal Constitution of the United States of Indonesia replaced the 1945 Constitution of Indonesia when sovereignty was officially transferred from the Netherlands to Indonesia following the Dutch-Indonesian Round Table Conference. It came into force on 27 December 1949 and was replaced by the Provisional Constitution of 1950 on 17 August 1950.
Operation Kraai was a Dutch military offensive against the de facto Republic of Indonesia in December 1948, following the failure of negotiations. With the advantage of surprise, the Dutch managed to capture the Indonesian Republic's temporary capital, Yogyakarta, and seized Indonesian leaders such as de facto Republican President Sukarno. This apparent military success was, however, followed by guerrilla warfare, while the violation of the Renville Agreement ceasefire diplomatically isolated the Dutch. This led to the Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference and recognition of the United States of Indonesia.
The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference was held in The Hague from 23 August to 2 November 1949, between representatives of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of Indonesia and the Federal Consultative Assembly, representing various states the Dutch had created in the Indonesian archipelago.
Operation Product was a Dutch military offensive against areas of Java and Sumatra controlled by the de facto Republic of Indonesia during the Indonesian National Revolution. It took place between 21 July and 4 August 1947. Referred to by the Dutch as the first politionele actie, in Indonesia, the military offensive is more commonly known in Indonesian history books and military records as Agresi Militer Belanda I.
The Malino Conference was organised by the Dutch in the Sulawesi town of Malino from 16 to 25 July 1946 as part of their attempt to arrange a federal solution for Indonesia. From the end of World War II, Indonesian Republicans had been trying to secure Indonesian Independence from the Dutch colonial control.
The South Sulawesi Campaign was a campaign during the Indonesian National Revolution. It was a counter-insurgency offensive of the special forces of the KNIL against Indonesian infiltrations from Java and pro-Indonesian local militias. It was masterminded by the controversial Raymond Westerling, a captain in the KNIL. Westerling's operation, which started in December 1946 and ended in February 1947, succeeded in eliminating the insurgency and undermining local support for the Republicans by instituting summary executions of suspected enemy fighters.
The State of Pasundan was a federal state (negara bagian) formed in the western part of the Indonesian island of Java by the Netherlands in 1948 following the Linggadjati Agreement. It was similar to the geographical area now encompassed by the current provinces of West Java, Banten and Jakarta.
The United States of Indonesia was a short-lived federal state to which the Netherlands formally transferred sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies on 27 December 1949 following the Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference. This transfer ended the four-year conflict between Indonesian nationalists and the Netherlands for control of Indonesia. It lasted less than a year, before being replaced by the unitary Republic of Indonesia.
Alphonse Jean Henri (Fons) Wijnen was a Dutch soldier. He was the officer in charge when the Rawagede massacre took place during the Indonesian National Revolution in which Dutch troops killed over 400 Indonesian civilians.
Liesbeth Zegveld is a Dutch lawyer, legal expert and professor.
Tadjuddin Noor was an Indonesian politician and nationalist. He was a deputy speaker of the Provisional People's Representative Council between 1950 and 1956, and chaired the legislature of the State of East Indonesia (NIT).
The Rengat massacre was committed by the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army on 5 January 1949 in Rengat, Riau during Operation Kraai. Following the capture of the town, paratroopers of the Korps Speciale Troepen under lieutenant Rudy de Mey subjected confirmed and suspected TNI militants, civil servants, and ordinary townspeople to looting, rape, and summary execution. Bodies were disposed of in the Indragiri River.
Raden Abdulkadir Widjojoatmodjo was a military officer, diplomat, and high-ranking official of the Dutch East Indies.
The Dutch Honorary Debts Committee Foundation is an independent interest group in the Netherlands and Indonesia for victims of Dutch colonialism in the former Dutch East Indies (1603–1949), in particular within the context of the Indonesian National Revolution of 1945–1949.
Indonesiaportal 