The End Of Dutch Rule In The Archipelago

Japanese troops (Commons Wikimedia)

JAKARTA - "We have been in the Indies for 300 years and will remain here for another 300 years. If necessary with sticks and weapons."

That is the famous sentence that came out of the mouth of the last Governor General of the Dutch East Indies, Alidius Warmoldus Lambertus Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer who ruled from 1936 to 1942, from the first time he was in power.

Unfortunately, let alone in power for another 300 years, Dutch rule over Indonesia, starting after he took office, only had a relatively short duration of only 6 years.

This was because the Dutch East Indies colonial government on March 8, 1942, represented by himself and the KNIL Commander (Dutch royal army) Lieutenant General Hein Ter Poorten, signed a document of unconditional surrender to Japan in Kalijati, Subang, West Java.

Based on that, on March 9, 1942, Dutch power officially ended in the archipelago. It is not only the status of governor-general that has been separated from Tjarda. He also had to bear the shame of this defeat, until he himself became a prisoner of war.

This was written by M. Adnan Amal in his book entitled The Spice Islands (2016). He revealed, "Mr. Tjarda was initially detained in a house in Bandung, then transferred to the Sukamiskin prison. "

Until January 2, 1943, together with other international prisoners, he was taken to Formosa, Taiwan. After that, he was taken to Manchuria. It was only after 1945 that he was released after Japan surrendered in the Pacific war.

Unfortunately, even though it has returned, the narrative of the Indies, which it wants to control in 300 years, only sounds like gibberish, because Indonesia has become an independent country.

The reason for the collapse of the Dutch East Indies

When analyzed, the collapse of the Dutch East Indies was not only based on the fact that Japan was slowly taking over the archipelago, from Kalimantan to Java. Ruins actually smelled long before that. This is because there is a policy that invites collapse.

Quoted from the historian Ong Hok Ham, in his column writing in Tempo magazine entitled The collapse of an official country: the Dutch East Indies, December 1942 (1981). Tracing history, a state apparatus usually develops according to the interests of the people. Unfortunately, this was not the case with the colonial state.

The presence of the Dutch colonial government on the archipelago actually gripped the weaker society. Thanks to these actions, there is absolutely no political insight regarding social upheaval. Ong mentioned the Dutch East Indies as an official state (Beamtenstaat), which was rigid in dealing with the problems below.

"Naturally, this condition causes tensions between the state and the people it controls. In fact, there can be an impression of top-down oppression, because the bureaucracy is not rooted in the realities of society, "wrote Ong.

"There was no attempt at all to build a bridge between the government and the Indonesian people. All movements from below were ignored, requests were rejected," Ong added.

That problem cannot be said to be trivial. Because, if the Dutch government is willing to give a lot of things or promise the Indonesian people like a parliament with a majority of Indonesians, at least the people will be supportive.

Presumably, that's what the Dutch did not do. The effect was, when Japan began to promote a narrative of pride as an Asian, to matters of beauty. As stated by L. Ayu Saraswati entitled White: Skin Color, Race, and Beauty in Transnational Indonesia (2013), the Japanese occupation caused Europeans or Indo-Europeans who previously considered themselves to be in a special position to decline.

Therefore, Japan, which seemed to want to restore the dignity of countries in Asia, then received support from several big figures such as Soekarno and Hamka. In fact, Japan actually did not really promise independence.

In addition, the collapse of the Dutch East Indies was not only caused by bad relations between the regime and the people. However, it lies in the weak weapons of war and the ancient military infrastructure of the Netherlands, since the last hundreds of years, it has not experienced international war.

Why not, the existing military infrastructure was only suitable for smoothing the existence of dominating the archipelago against only local kings, while when dealing with Japan, the Dutch East Indies were made to collapse forever.

With this power, Hamka described the transfer of power through a poem entitled Above Roentoehan Malaka – Lama in Pandji Poestaka number 25 (1943). The following is a piece of his poetry quoted from the writing of Goenawan Muhamad's column in Tempo Magazine entitled Nippon (2003):

The foundation of me now remains soedah,

Fight until the end,

WITH NIPPON, Madjoe stepped up,

THE GREATEST ASIA IS BORN…