Indonesian Revolution free essay sample

A revolution is a forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system. To know that a revolution has taken place, there would be a change in the government or the way the country is ruled. Revolutions have occurred throughout history and vary in terms of methods, motivation and the duration of the revolution. The results of a revolution usually include major changes in the economy, culture, and political institutions. For a revolution to occur, there needs to be a change in the country to being different from the past. The reason revolutions occur generally is usually because injustices by the corrupt leader or government, when the gap between rich and poor is too big, but also colonization. The Indonesian Revolution is considered a tipping point in the Indonesian history because of the changes in the political system, the economical system and the social systems today. We will write a custom essay sample on Indonesian Revolution or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page A main revolution that started due to colonialism is the southeast Asian industrial revolution. From 1942 to 1945, Indonesia was occupied by Japan. During the Japanese occupation, Japan controlled the trade and the government that the Japanese removed the Dutch control during the war. However, after the Second World War, the Dutch regained their control over Indonesia. In 1945, there was an armed conflict and a diplomatic struggle between Indonesia and the Dutch empire due the Dutch wanting the Indonesia’s territory to include not only the Netherlands Indies but also Portuguese Timor and British North Borneo and the Malay Peninsula. In short terms, the Dutch wanted to return to Indonesia’s colony. After trying to persuade the Indonesian’s, the Dutch forces were not able to, but were strong enough to resist by being expelled. Step by step the English and the Australian forces were removed and Dutch troops were being sent to Indonesia to try and recolonize the country. There has been cases where the Dutch started to abuse the Marshall Plan (The European Recovery Program, ERP, was an American program to help Europe where America gave financial support to help reconstruct European economies after the end of World War II in order to stop the increase of Soviet Communism) to create a new army in Indonesia. The Dutch forces started to control the towns and cities in Java and Sumatra, but couldn’t control villages and the countryside. In September and October of 1945, Europeans and pro Dutch Eurasians were attacked and killed by Indonesian mobs. The Dutch, realizing their weak position during the year, were initially disposed to negotiate with the republic of Japan for some form of commonwealth relationship between the archipelago and the Netherlands. This resulted in the British-brokered Linggajati Agreement, created on November 12, 1946. The agreement provided for Dutch recognition of republican rule on Java and Sumatra, and the Netherlands-Indonesian Union under the Dutch crown. A month later, in December of 1946, the Special Forces Depot (DST) was accused of using arbitrary terror techniques on the Southern Sulawesi region. This caused around 3,000 republicans to be killed after a few weeks. On July 21, 1947, the Dutch started to claim violations of the Linggajati Agreement and sprung what was inoffensively called â€Å"police action† against the republic. Dutch troops drove the republicans out of Sumatra and East and West Java, keeping them to the region of Central Java. The international reaction to the police action, however, was negative. The â€Å"police action† caused an anti-war march in Amsterdam with 20,000 people and a few days after, young students blew up a bridge to prevent Dutch forces from taking Purwokerto. After a year more of battles and struggles, the Dutch created a state of Jawa Timur [East Java] in occupied areas of East Java. This is believed to have caused a second â€Å"police action† by the Dutch, which took place in Yogya without any warning. Yogya then came to the Dutch as well. Indonesia slowly started giving up and started to be in need of help from other countries so the civil government of republic allowed itself to be captured by the Dutch hoping that the world would find out about it and do something to help Indonesia. This caused many American newspapers to publish editorials against the Dutch. The United Nations becomes outraged about what the Dutch have done which caused the Dutch to attack the UN. A few days later, on December 22nd, 1948, the USA started to send Plan Martial Money to Indonesia. On the 1st of January 1949, both Indonesia and the Dutch agreed to the formation of the â€Å"United States of Indonesia. † This was still ruled by the Dutch Monarchy. In February, the United States Senate was officially trying to stop all of the Marshall Plan aid that was going to the Netherlands. The Netherlands is only told about this 1 month later. The United States Senate then decided to only stop the Marshall aid plan if the UN Security Council approves to go against the Netherlands. After a few months, on June 24th, 1949, Dutch troops started to leave Yogya and Indonesian troops started entering Yogya 5 days later. On the 17th of August in 1950, a new constitution was made. The new Republic of Indonesia was now made up of Sumatra Timur, East Indonesia/Negara Indonesia Timur (now Indonesia is more expanded) Jakarta is the capital of the Republic. The Netherlands and Indones ia remain in a theoretical constitutional union, but Indonesia is now fully independent. After the revolution had happened in Indonesia, there have been political changes. The first founders of Indonesia decided to make it a unitary state government in order to join the people of many ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds spread across thousands of islands. During the Indonesian revolution, Indonesia had a federal government system, but when the Dutch tried to take over Indonesia, it became ruled by the Dutch Monarchy. During the revolution, communism and nationalism progressed in Indonesia too. Sukarno (the Indonesian president) was trying to have Indonesia ruled by the Dutch Monarchy as well. He has studied in the Netherlands after secondary school, which caused him to see government views in Dutch systems. Indonesia was under the power of the â€Å"United Republic of Indonesia. † After the revolution, Indonesia returned to being a unitary state of republic again. Suharto having the high post gave him the opportunity to make long-term policies. The most important of these was the consolidation of the military the right to participate in government and in political campaigns. The military was required not only care about the safety of the country, but also social and political activities. The officers, mostly from the army units, have taken place at all levels and in all areas of the state apparatus. Suharto appointed the soldiers the ministers, the judges of the Supreme Court, the provincial governors, heads of districts and even the village chiefs. During the periods 1945-1949, there was some economic growth such as being hesitant to start a democracy due to the power struggle of the army, the president, the communist party and some other political groups. Some economic changes that have happened after the revolution were when the Dutch engineers built and improved a road network with 12,000 km of tarmacked surface, 41000 km of metalled road area and 16000 km of stony surfaces. After this, the Dutch built, 7500 kilometers of railways and bridges for the community. After the revolution a number of inner factors made the economic situation of Indonesia, more difficult than in other Asian countries. Suharto family members and friends have various benefits, including obtaining low-interest loans from state banks and monopoly rights to use natural resources. In addition, almost all foreigners who wish to invest heavily in the Indonesian economy, convinced of the need to involve as business partners of any of the children or old friends Suharto. Although the crisis has highlighted a lot of shadow effects, the majority of economists and businessmen believe that in the long term, Indonesia is waiting for a favorable economic future based on the rich natural resources. Today, Indonesia does not have major changes to its economy apart from the uprising in the amount of construction. It is said that Indonesia’s economical changes will be greatly improved in the next 10-20 years. The revolution has improved the economical changes in Indonesia due to there being more factories and natural resources now that citizens can get jobs for and not be unemployed like before. Revolutionaries argue that the present social system in Indonesia is unable of real improvement. They are saying that a complete â€Å"renovation† is needed if change is to be made to the fundamental wrongs in this society. But revolution is not an everyday occurrence. After the revolution, there has been relaxation of racial and social categorizations of colonial Indonesia. New styles in writing and art and increased demand for education and modernisation. Before the revolution, there were racial remarks towards people and many remarks towards people from different classes (upper class, lower class, etc. ) The social changes that have occurred in Indonesia during the revolution were that the higher class went down to middle class due to the Dutch invading Indonesia and many important leaders in Indonesia losing a lot of their power. One of the main leaders in Indonesia during the revolution was Sukarno. Indonesians have had the right to occupy the lowest positions in the colonial administrative apparatus. Since 1918 the Dutch began a very interesting policy for young people of Indonesia to have an opportunity to study in the Netherlands and later to come back to Indonesia and to occupy the highest ranks. All this was done in order to â€Å"grow† out of Indonesians an Indonesian government which will be submissive to the Dutch. One of these students was Sukarno who returned back to Indonesia and took the leading job position) However only a few Indonesians were able to gain a larger role in commerce After the revolution, the social changes were that everything went back to the way it was, the higher class went back to being higher class and the lower class went back to still being in the same position. The Dutch will always have power over Indonesia after signing an agreement together, but the Dutch do not have 100% power. This agreement was signed while the revolution was ending and is still being ruled by till this day. Some problems that indonesia is facing today due to the revolution is that Indonesia still is not 100% independent from the Dutch due to Indonesia signing a contract with the Dutch after the revolution. This could cause another revolution in the future or future conflicts due to Indonesia and the Dutch not having a truce together till this day. Also after the revolution, Islam grew and now Indonesia is highly populated by muslims which causes racial issues and terrorist attacks. Like other developing countries, Indonesia is facing human right violations and faces corruptions. Another problem is that the colonial administration of the Dutch East Indies was destroyed due to the revolution,however, this did not improve the economic, social or political fortune of the Indonesian population. Indonesia has tried to improve its economy throughout past years and that many of the current problems have their roots from the period of Dutch colonization. Today, the Indonesian economy still grieves from severe economic development problems resulting the financial crisis of 1997 and the subsequent political improvements after Soeharto stepped down in 1998. Secessionist movements and the low level of security in the provincial regions, as well as relatively unstable political policies, form some of its current problems. Additional problems contain the lack of dependable legal recourse in contract disputes, corruption, weaknesses in the banking system, and strained relations with the International Monetary Fund. The assurance of investors remains low, and in order to achieve future growth, internal reform will be fundamental to build up confidence of international donors and investors. The benefits from the Indonesian revolution were that Indonesia got help from other countries, such as America and Australia when the Dutch were attacking. Australia and newly independent India were active in supporting the Republicans as well as the Soviet Union and the United States. Another benefit is that Indonesia went back to being a federal government, which is how Indonesia was ruled before the revolution. This is a positive factor due to Indonesia going back to the way it was before the revolution. Even though Indonesia has suffered from many disadvantages from the revolution, Indonesia has still become liberated. Indonesia has gotten the freedom to express its rich culture, which offers many various religions and customs under more reasonable republic. The revolution has made the biggest change in Indonesia with the political system due to the Dutch trying to make Indonesia a Dutch Monarchy. The Dutch succeeded at doing this but only during the revolution. When the revolution was over, Indonesia went back to being a federal government. The benefits and complications of the revolution still affect Indonesia today and will affect Indonesia in the future.