The beginnings of the independence movement In 1918, the Dutch authorities in the
Dutch East Indies established a partly-elected People's Council, the
Volksraad, which for the first time gave Indonesian nationalists a voice. Meanwhile, Indonesian students studying in the Netherlands formed the
Perhimpoenan Indonesia, or Indonesian Association. Among its leaders were future Indonesian vice-president
Mohammad Hatta and future prime minister
Sutan Sjahrir. In September 1927, Hatta and other members were arrested for inciting resistance to Dutch authority in the East Indies, but thanks to a rousing defense speech by Hatta, they were acquitted. Back in the East Indies, in 1927, nationalist and future Indonesian president
Sukarno turned his study club into the Indonesian Nationalist Association, which in May 1928 became the
Indonesian National Party (PNI). The party aimed to achieve Indonesian independence through mass-based non-cooperation with the authorities. In October 1928, the representatives at a Youth Congress held in Batavia, the capital, adopted the ideals of one motherland, Indonesia; one nation, the nation of Indonesia; and one language, the
Indonesian language. This expression of national unity was a reaction to the older generation, which tended to identify with their region or ethnicity, and subsequently became known as the
Youth Pledge.
The pre-war period The PNI grew rapidly, causing concern for the authorities, who arrested Sukarno and seven party leaders in December 1929. They were put on trial for being a threat to public order and in September 1930 received sentences of one to four years – Sukarno received the longest sentence. The PNI dissolved itself in 1931, and in the same year, Sjahrir returned from the Netherlands and established a party called the New PNI which rather than focusing on mass action and being dependent on one leader, aimed to create a group of leaders who could ensure continuity if any were arrested. In 1931, Sukarno was released and joined the small
Indonesia Party (Partindo), while in August 1932, Hatta returned from the Netherlands and assumed the leadership of the rival New PNI, which had a more Marxist and revolutionary platform than Partindo. Sukarno was arrested again in August 1933, and was exiled first to
Flores, then to
Bencoolen, while Hatta and Sjahrir were arrested and exiled to the
Boven Digul detention camp in western New Guinea. The detention of these nationalist figures effectively ended the non-cooperation movement, and in December 1935 the moderate Indonesian National Union and
Budi Utomo merged to form the
Great Indonesia Party (Parindra), which aimed to work with the Dutch to achieve Indonesian independence. When in 1936,
Volksraad member Soetardjo submitted a
petition asking for a conference to be held that would lead to Indonesian self-government as part of a Dutch-Indonesian union over a decade, Parindra was lukewarm, resenting the possibility of Soetardjo succeeding where the other nationalist organizations had failed. The petition was passed by a majority of the
Volksraad, but rejected by the Dutch in November 1938. In May 1937, Parindra, the Indonesian People's Movement (Gerindo), was established by younger Marxists including
Amir Sjarifuddin, another future prime minister, to campaign for the formation of an Indonesian parliament in cooperation with the Dutch, which was the same aim of the
Indonesian Political Federation (GAPI), formed two years later from a merger of almost all the nationalist organizations. However, the outbreak of the
Second World War resulted in the occupation of the Netherlands, and the Dutch government in exile was in no position to respond to GAPI's request for a Dutch-Indonesian union and an elected legislature, although Dutch
Queen Wilhelmina made a speech in London in May 1941 promising unspecified changes to the relationship with the East Indies after the war. On 23 January 1942, three years before the 1945 proclamation, an independence activist
Nani Wartabone declared "Indonesian independence" after he and his people won in a revolt in
Gorontalo against the Dutch who were afraid of Japanese invasion of Celebes. He was later imprisoned by the Japanese after they had invaded the area.
The Japanese occupation Early years With the outbreak of the
war in the Far East, and the initial successes of Japan, in early 1942, the Dutch authorities gave Amir Sjarifuddin money to establish an underground resistance movement and sent Hatta and Sjahrir back to Java. In January 1942, the Japanese invaded the Dutch East Indies, and rapidly overran the archipelago. The Dutch surrendered on 8 March. The Japanese banned the use of the Dutch language as well as the Indonesian
flag and
anthem, and the Japanese calendar was imposed. The archipelago was administered as three separate regions:
Sumatra by the
Twenty-Fifth Army,
Java and
Madura by the
Sixteenth Army and
Kalimantan and the resource-rich
eastern islands by the
Imperial Japanese Navy. As the area controlled by the Navy was the source of essential supplies, including food, to the other areas, rear-admiral
Tadashi Maeda was appointed to the liaison office of the naval attaché in Batavia to expedite deliveries and to ensure the maintenance of good relations with the Army. In April 1943, the Japanese established the
Triple-A mass movement. Its name was taken from the Japanese propaganda slogan portraying Japan as the leader, protector and light of Asia. However it failed to gain support as no significant Indonesian nationalists were involved, and the propaganda was too heavy-handed. The Japanese then decided that it would be more effective to use pre-war nationalists to mobilize the population in support of their war aims. In July, the 25th Army freed Sukarno from exile in Sumatra, and he joined Hatta and Sjahrir in Jakarta, as Batavia had been renamed. They agreed that Sjahrir would work underground, while Sukarno and Hatta would cooperate with the Japanese, still with the ultimate goal of Indonesian independence. The two men urged the Japanese to establish a popular political organization that they would lead, and this came about in March 1943 with the formation of
Putera, the Centre of People's Power. Although it was controlled by the Japanese, it was led by Sukarno, Hatta,
Hajar Dewantara and pre-war Islamic figure
Mas Mansoer. Like the Triple A, it achieved very little.
Japanese support for Indonesian nationalism As the tide turned against Japan and its territorial expansion halted, Japan started to talk of greater Indonesian involvement in the governance of Java, where the 16th Army was much more in favor of such participation than the 25th Army or the Navy in other parts of the archipelago. A
Central Advisory Council was established, again headed by Sukarno, and more Indonesians were appointed as advisors to the Japanese. In October 1943, the Japanese formed the
Defenders of the Homeland (PETA) volunteer army intended to help fight off an allied invasion of the East Indies, and also established the
Council of Indonesian Muslim Associations (Masjumi) as an umbrella group for Muslims. In 1944, Putera was dissolved and replaced by the Java Service Association (
Jawa Hokokai), with Sukarno and Hatta given key positions in it, albeit answering to the military governor. Although intended to mobilise the masses for Japanese interests, Sukarno in particular took advantage of his role to tour the archipelago making speeches. On 7 September 1944, Japanese Prime Minister
Kuniaki Koiso promised independence for the 'East Indies' "later on" (
di kemudian hari). The authorities in Java then allowed the flying of the Indonesian flag at
Jawa Hokokai buildings. Rear-admiral Maeda provided official funds for tours around the archipelago by Sukarno and Hatta, and in October 1944, established a Free Indonesia Dormitory to prepare youth leaders for an independent Indonesia. With the war situation becoming increasingly dire, in March 1945 the Japanese announced the formation of an
Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence (BPUPK), comprising members of the older political generation, including Sukarno and Hatta. Chaired by
Rajiman Wediodiningrat, in two sessions in May and June, it decided on the basis for an independent nation and produced a draft
constitution. Meanwhile, the younger activists, known as the
pemuda, wanted much more overt moves towards independence than the older generation were willing to risk, resulting in a split between the generations.
Japanese plan for independence Following the
call from the allies for Japan to surrender, the Japanese decided to grant Indonesian independence to create problems for the Dutch when they reoccupied their colony. At a meeting in Singapore at the end of July, it was decided that Java would become independent at the end of September, followed by other areas. On 6 and 9 August,
atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On 7 August, the Japanese announced the formation of a
Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (PPKI) to accelerate preparations for establishing an Indonesian government for the whole of the East Indies, not just Java. Two days later, Sukarno, Hatta and
Rajiman Wediodiningrat were flown by the Japanese to
Dalat, near
Saigon, to meet with Field Marshall
Hisaichi Terauchi, the Japanese commander of the
Southern Expeditionary Army Group, who promised independence for the territory of the former Dutch East Indies and formally appointed Sukarno and Hatta as chairman and vice-chairman of the PPKI. On 15 August, Japan
surrendered, and the Japanese authorities in the East Indies were ordered to maintain the
status quo pending the arrival of allied forces. However there was no official confirmation from the Japanese of the surrender. Again there was disagreement between the older generation, including Sukarno and Hatta, who were uncertain how to proceed, and the
pemuda, including Sjahrir, who urged Sukarno to declare independence without the involvement of the PPKI to avoid accusations from the Allies that independence was sponsored by Japan. In the afternoon of 15 August, Sukarno, Hatta and BPUPK member and future foreign minister
Achmad Soebardjo called on Maeda to ask about the surrender rumours, and received unofficial confirmation that they were true. Hatta then asked Soebardjo to arrange a meeting of the PPKI for the following day and went home to draft a proclamation. Meanwhile, various
pemuda groups had heard the surrender rumors and held a meeting. Those present included
D. N. Aidit,
Chairul Saleh and
Wikana. They decided to send a deputation led by Wikana to meet Sukarno at his home and demand an immediate proclamation of independence in person, rather than through the PPKI, which they saw as having no credibility, and which in any case had no
pemuda members. In an angry exchange, Sukarno refused to do so as besides the need to discuss matters with the PPKI, he did not want to provoke the Japanese. Hatta subsequently arrived and took the same stance as Sukarno, and pointed out that there was still no official confirmation of the Japanese surrender. He then invited the
pemuda to go ahead with a proclamation themselves. Wikana in turn demanded a declaration the following day, 16 August, and the delegation left. Wikana felt humiliated by the challenge from Hatta as he knew that only Sukarno and Hatta had the authority to make a credible declaration of independence. Spurred on by this humiliation and the desire to demonstrate the commitment of the
pemuda, a decision was taken by a group including Chairul Saleh and Wikana to take action. In the early hours of the morning of 16 August, they took Sukarno and Hatta to the town of
Rengasdengklok (today in
Karawang Regency,
West Java), ostensibly to protect them from an uprising by Peta troops, but in fact to force them to declare independence. However, the two men still refused to make such a proclamation without assurances from the Japanese. Later that morning, Maeda learned that Sukarno and Hatta had disappeared. An Army investigation led to Wikana, who was pressured to return the two men to Jakarta. Following a guarantee of safety and cooperation from Maeda, as well as the use of his house for discussions, Subardjo went to Rengasdengklok and brought Sukarno and Hatta back to Jakarta. They obtained an assurance from the Japanese military that there would be no interference in a declaration of independence as long as it was not associated with the Japanese, as this would be a breach of the surrender terms. Sukarno and Hatta then went to Maeda's house, now the
Formulation of Proclamation Text Museum, where members of the PPKI were waiting, having been told to go there by Subardjo. == The writing of the proclamation ==