Timeline of the Indonesian National Revolution

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This is the timeline of Indonesian National Revolution.

1945

  • early 1945: Small, mostly Dutch, commando units parachute into northern Sumatra.

August

Sukarno declares the independence of Indonesia.

September

  • September: Brawls break out in Surabaya between Indonesian youths and newly freed Europeans.
  • September: Australian forces accept the Japanese surrender in Japanese Navy area (with the exception of Bali and Lombok) bringing with them Dutch troops and administrators.
  • early September: Following the August disbanding of the PETA/Giyūgun and Heiho, Republican armed forces begin to form from local groups of young men with charisma and/or arms.
  • early September: Four rulers of the central Javanese principalities declare their support for the Republic.
  • 3 to 11 September: Republican youths take over control of Jakarta railway stations, tram system and radio stations, encountering little Japanese resistance.
  • 11 and 17 September: Mass pro-Republic rallies held in Surabaya.
  • mid September: News of the proclamation of independence reaches all outer islands.
  • 19 September: Pro-Republic rally of an estimated 200,000 people gathered by Tan Malaka is held in Jakarta in what is now known as Merdeka (Independence) Square. Fearing violent confrontations with the Japanese, Sukarno manages to convince the crowd to disperse.
  • mid-September to mid-October: Australian troops occupy the major cities of eastern Indonesia—in most cases before Republican administrations have been established—putting down demonstrations and arresting some pro-Republican officials. Pro-Republican rajas of southern Sulawesi decide against fighting the Australians and begrudgingly accept the return of the Dutch.
  • late September: British troops, mostly Indian, reach Jakarta.
  • late September: Major public infrastructure in Yogyakarta, Surakarta, Malang and Bandung is now controlled by Republican youths.
  • late September: News of the proclamation of Indonesian independence has now spread to all outer islands.
  • 9 November: First clash between Republican troops and Dutch forces in Banjarmasin.

October

November

December

  • 1945, 12 November – Resident of Pekalongan is overthrown by 'social revolutionaries' and replaced with a former secret PKI member and underground leader. In retaliation, local Republican army units and 'pemuda' sweep through the three regencies arresting 1,000 supporters of the 'social revolution', which end in defeat.
  • December: Amir's followers merge with those of Sjahrir's to form the Partai Sosialis ('Socialist Party').
  • mid December – Allies evacuate Japanese troops from Aceh. Civil war then breaks out.
  • December to March 1946 – Leading uleebalangs of Aceh and their families are imprisoned or killed.

1946

  • January: Tan Malaka forms the Persatuan Perjuangan (Struggle Front) that aims to create unity among the organisations that exist to achieve full independence for Indonesia and reject diplomacy before the recognition of sovereignty by the Dutch.
  • February: The Republican capital is moved to Yogyakarta following the Dutch occupation of Jakarta.
  • February: Communist Party members clash with Republican army units.
  • March: In east Sumatra,
    Bataks led by leftists attack the Malay, Simalungun Batak and Karo Batak rajas. Arrest and robbery leads to slaughter and hundreds of eastern Sumatran aristocrats die, including poet Amir Hamzah
    .
  • 23-24 March: In what is known as the Bandung Sea of Fire, Republicans burn Bandung's southern wards while patriotic militias flee after refusing British demands for surrender.
  • April: Leaders of the Eastern Sumatran social revolution are arrested or go into hiding but the authority of the rajas is irrevocably weakened.
  • April: 300 people are killed in Tapanuli (North Sumatra) in fighting between Toba Bataks and Karo Bataks, an ethnic conflict influenced by the Christianity among the Toba and Islam among the Karo.
  • 27 June: Opposition forces feel that '100 percent independence' is betrayed by a speech made by Hatta in Yogyakarta that reveals the limited nature of the government's negotiating position. Prime Minister Sjahrir is subsequently arrested by local army units hoping to reduce[clarification needed] Republic leadership. Sukarno declares martial law and demands Sjahrir's release.
  • 30 June: In a radio address, Sukarno declares that Sjahrir's arrest has endangered the unity of the nation, which shakes the confidence of the opposition; Sjahrir is released that same night.
  • 3 July: A Republican army delegation is sent to Yogyakarta to demand Sukarno sack the Cabinet and put Sudirman in charge of security affairs. The delegation, however, is arrested along with about one hundred opposition figures including Yamin.
  • July: At a Dutch-organised conference at Maliano (southern Sulawesi), thirty-nine Indonesian representatives of the rajas, Christians and several ethnic groups of Kalimantan and eastern Indonesia support the idea of a federal state and some form of continuing Dutch connection. The Dutch are surprised at the Indonesian request for some genuine autonomy. States of Kalimantan and for East Indonesia are planned.
  • October: Following negotiations from the previous year, ceasefires in Java and Sumatra are agreed upon by the Dutch and the Republic.
  • 12 November: The Linggadjati Agreement sees the Netherlands recognise the Republic as the 'de facto' authority in Java, Madura and Sumatra, and both sides agreeing to co-operate to establish a federal 'United States of Indonesia' by 1 January 1949; the Republic will be one of the states, the Dutch monarch will be the symbolic head of a Dutch-Indonesian union of sovereign states. The agreement does not last; compromises accepted by both parties provoke bitter political backlashes from both within the Republic and the Netherlands.
  • November: The Dutch federalist structure in Sulawesi is threatened by Republican youths returning from Java where they had received military training.
  • 14 December: The extra-parliamentary action group Nationaal Comité Handhaving Rijkseenheid is founded in the Netherlands by former Prime Minister Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy, channeling Dutch dissatisfaction with the Linggadjati Agreement.
  • December: The Dutch respond to the Republican pemuda threat in southern Sulawesi with troops led by Captain Raymond 'Turk' Westerling that use arbitrary terror techniques. These techniques are emulated by other anti-Republican forces. Over three months at least 3,000 Indonesians are thought to have been killed, and Republican youth forces are decimated.
  • December: The State of East Indonesia (Negara Indonesia Timur) is created at a conference in Denpasar Bali. Republican ideals are still influential; 'Indonesia Raya' is adopted as the national anthem, which is also used by the Republic, and a pro-Republic Bugis is almost elected president. Sjahrir protests at the unilateral creation of the state are ineffectual. All of Kalimantan cannot be incorporated as one state as the south and east coasts are too pro-Republican.
  • December: To improve chances of KNIP-ratification of the 'Linggatjati Agreement', the KNIP is increased from 200 to 514 members by packing it with pro-government figures from the left wing.

1947

The historic meeting of the KNIP in Malang, East Java to decide Indonesia's response to the Linggadjati Agreement

1948

Map of Java showing the Van Mook Line after the Renville Agreement.

1949

The United States of Indonesia
  • January:
    Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwana IX resigns as head of the Yogyakarta district after refusing Dutch attempts at persuading him to become leader of a new Javanese
    state. His court becomes a primary communication channel between the city and Republican units in the countryside.
  • January: Cabinets of the Dutch controlled states of East Indonesian and Pasudan resign in protest at the 'police action'.
  • 5 January: In Sumatra, the Dutch accept a UN call for a ceasefire but guerrilla fighting continues.
  • late January: The
    UN Security Council demands the release of the Republican cabinet, the establishment of an interim government, and full transfer of sovereignty to Indonesia by 1 July 1950. The United States government publicly condemns the Netherlands and threatens to cut off vital Marshall Plan
    reconstruction aid.
  • February: In a clash with another Republic group, Tan Malaka and his army unit are defeated; Tan Malaka is captured and executed.
  • 1 March: Lieutenant-Colonel Soeharto leads Republican forces in capturing Yogyakarta for six hours in what is known as the General Offensive of 1 March 1949. While the Dutch recover the city later, they are weakened at all fronts by the offensive.
  • April: The Dutch accept they must relinquish their claims on Indonesia but insist on preliminary talks with the Republican government.
  • 7 May: In the Roem–Van Roijen Agreement, the Dutch and Indonesia agree that Sukarno and Hatta will order a ceasefire upon their release and return to Yogyakarta, that the Dutch will accept the Republic at a round table conference, and that they will create no more federal states.
  • 17 May: Kalimantan Proclamation declared by Hasan Basry and Republican troops in South & Central Kalimantan.
  • May to June: The Dutch evacuate their citizens from Yogyakarta.
  • 6 July: The Republican government is returned to Yogyakarta although the army is initially reluctant to accept the authority of the civilians it believes deserted the Republic. The army expresses support for the civilian administration when Suharto threatens to resign.
  • July: A conference is held in Yogyakarta, and agrees that the Republican army will form the basis of the unified armed forces in a new 'Republic of the United States of Indonesia' (RUSI), with Sukarno and Hatta President and Vice-president respectively.
  • 1 August: A ceasefire is announced to take effect on 11 August in Java and 15 August in Sumatra. Following a ceasefire, Hamengkubuwana IX acts as Coordinator of Security and overseas a gradual transfer of military authority from Dutch troops and Indonesian irregulars, to Republic regular troops. Clashes break out and end in South Sulawesi, East Sumatra, South Kalimantan and West Java where local irregular troops resisted the transfer.
  • 7-10 August: Surakarta is besieged in the final major Republican offensive in Central Java, the Siege of Surakarta, striking a final blow to Dutch military morale in Central Java. This is the final battle before the 11 August ceasefire takes effect. The siege by Republicans fails and Dutch forces relieve the city.
  • 23 August to 2 November: The
    Netherlands-Indonesian Union
    , with the Dutch queen as a symbolic Head of State. Sukarno is named President with Hatta to as both Prime Minister and Vice-president. Dutch investments in Indonesia are provided with various guarantees with further agreement on the need for further financial consultations. Indonesia accepts continued Netherlands sovereignty over Dutch New Guinea, and also accepts responsibility for £4.3 billion of Dutch East Indies debt.
  • August to December: 12,000 Republican prisoners from Dutch jails are released.
  • 27 December: The Netherlands formally transfers sovereignty over Indonesia, with the exception of Dutch New Guinea, to the RUSI government. In celebration, the national flag is hoisted at the Independence Palace in a public ceremony.

1950

  • 23 January 1950:
    Westerling and about 800 troops capture key points in Bandung
    , but is persuaded by the Dutch High Commissioner and the commander of the Dutch garrison still in Bandung to withdraw the same day.
  • 24 January 1950: A Westerling plot to attack the Indonesian cabinet and assassinate several of its members is uncovered. His troops infiltrate Jakarta after leaving Bandung, but they are driven out.
  • 27 January 1950: Parliament of Pasudan requests that state be dissolved and territory given to the Republic following the arrest of several Pasudan leaders suspected of involvement in the Westerling plot. The request is later granted.
  • February: Westerling flees Indonesia in disguise.
  • March: Much of the smaller states now dissolved into the Republic. Hatta cabinet makes hasty legislative arrangements to cater for the shift to unitarism.
  • early April: Sultan Abdul Hamid II of Pontinak, head of the West Kalimantan state, is arrested as a major instigator in Westerling's plot. Authority of the state is taken over by the RUSI government, resulting in an increase of demands for merger with the Republic from residents and major business and social leaders.
  • April: Colonial soldiers (mostly Ambonese), clash with Republican units in Makassar.
  • 25 April: Dr Soumokil proclaims an independent Republic of South Maluku (RMS) in Ambon.
  • May: A new East Indonesia state cabinet is formed with the intention of planning for full merger with the Republic.
  • July to November: A tough campaign results in Republican troops crushing the RMS rebellion.
  • 17 August 1950: On the fifth anniversary of the proclamation of Indonesian independence, the RUSI, the Republic as an element of it, and the remaining states of East Sumatra and East Indonesia are replaced by a new
    Republic of Indonesia
    with a unitary (but provisional) constitution. Jakarta is made the capital of this new state.

See also

References

  • M.C. Ricklefs, "A History of Modern Indonesia Since c. 1200 Third Edition"; Palgrave Publisher, 2001

Further reading

  • Cribb, Robert and Kahin, Audrey (2004) Historical dictionary of Indonesia 2nd ed. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press.