(Old page) East Indies Crisis - do not edit: Difference between revisions

| conflict = East Indies Crisis

| image = [[File:East_Indies_Crisis.png|300 px]]

| combatant2 = [[Soendanese Liberation Front]] <br /> [[Russia]] <br /> [[Pinang]] <br /> [[Thai]]

| commander1 = Cornelis van Langen </br> Willem Middendorp

| strength1 = {{flagdeco|NED}} '''Netherlands''' <br> 3,581,929 Total number deployed in the East Indies

| strength2 = 1960-1967: 2,400,000 (estimated) <br>

| casualties2 = '''Civilian dead:''' 8,000,000-11,000,000 (official)<br> ~5,205,000 wounded (Estimated) <br>'''Military dead:''' 1,690,624 <br> '''Total Casualties''' 9,391,694 - 11,895,624

}}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[[File:KNIL soldiers of the 9th Batavian regiment fighting.jpg|thumb|233x233px|Soldiers of the 9th Regiment in Johor, firing from their positions.]]

[[File:Walking past it all.jpg|thumb|KNIL soldiers with a Stier Panzerkannon, routing out the last of the resistance in the city. ]]

 

 

What started out as a relatively small and contained uprising to northern Sumatra in February 1960 had by January 1st, 1962 turned into an open revolt. the KNIL had been pushed out of the northern & central interior and was relegated to the coast with the southern parts of Sumatra still under their full control. While initially, this would not warrant further expansion, by this time small uprisings in Malaya, Borneo, and Celebs had been crushed stretching the KNIL her limited manpower. On the 1st of February 1962, the Staten-Generaal of the Netherlands approved 120.000 European Dutch soldiers to be sent to the indies to aid the KNIL in squashing the revolt and to bring back Dutch control to the archipelago. through the year it seemed to go well with Dutch forces crushing any revolts on the islands and regaining control over central Sumatra. This was done through a relative standard colonial campaign, they first secured the major population centers and worked from there. Yet unbeknownst to the Dutch forces, the Liberation was only growing in their numbers by recruiting from the countryside, which still was not fully under Dutch control, yet it was seen at that time as a winnable campaign. All changed when on new Year eve 1963 a major conventional assault by the Liberation Front was launched against major areas of Dutch control in central and northern Sumatra, most notably Padang in northwest Sumatra and Pekanbaru in central Sumatra. This conventional assault caught the Dutch forces off guard as the liberation front used older Russian tanks, heavy weapons such as artillery and mortar's. Due to the surprise and the fact that it was New Year’s eve the Dutch ability to respond was limited and it suffered for it as it lost control over Padang and Pekanbaru, it created thus a frontline across Jambi and the interior of southern Sumatra.

 

[[File:A soldier in Sumatra during the new years offensive.jpg|thumb|A Dutch soldier near Palembang during the fighting around the city in late February.]]

The '''New Year Offensive''' as it was called changed the nature of the war from a “colonial conflict” where the rebels were relegated to asymmetric warfare and the Dutch approach was one of limited action. This new phase due to the Liberation front her firm control over northern and central Sumatra. This base of operations how small as it was let the rebels to built up their potential forces and at the same time the attacked showed that the Dutch were not undefeatable, the revolution began to more properly spread across the archipelago. When the front by mid-February had stabilized the Dutch began to change their strategy and began to approach it more seriously. The first mass use of strategic bombers soon followed and shore bombardments became more and more common, the use of Search & Destroy tactics now became the norm. This phase of the war however was still primarily a guerilla conflict as the Dutch in sheer firepower outgunned any conventional force the rebels could bring to bear. This period is often seen as one of the more intense periods as across the islands from Celebs to Borneo and in the Malaya peninsula guerilla strikes became more and more common and Sumatra quickly became just one of the fronts of what was by now a full-blown uprising. From 1963 all the way up to 1967 the Dutch fought a brutal campaign against ever-increasing numbers, entire villages were burned the ground, the mass use of chemical agents such as tear gas employed, firebombing in the form of napalm was used on mass turning once green jungles into burned up husks.

(To be worked on)

 

[[File:Cornelis van Langen 1.jpg|thumb|Colonel (later General) Cornelis van Langen in 1964, he is often cited as one of the founders of the modern Netherlands military doctrine, that to this day is roughly based on his original doctrine. ]]

The period from 1963 up to 1967 commonly called “Phase of Fire” marked the rapid departure from it being a standard colonial conflict and instead of being something bigger. KNIL and now regular Dutch forces were not fighting colonial uprisings anymore but a well-organized foe. While in individual battles Dutch/KNIL units always came out on top it was the attrition rate that came with patrolling the central parts of Sumatra that were simply too high. Long-range patrols by the KNIL often resulted in 3 out of 10 men being killed, 4 more being wounded. This rate of attrition was simply far too high for the Netherlands to sustain what really woke the Dutch command structure up was the New Years’ offensive. The use of conventional military forces by the rebels combined with asymmetric warfare was a deadly one. While eventually the front was stabilized by mid-February 1963 the situation had not. Uprisings across the islands, from Malaya to Celebes and even Borneo were becoming more intense and organized. Dutch & KNIL forces were more and more spread thin with quelling the insurgencies. This started limiting and weakening their power projection capabilities in the region. It was around this time (April 1963) that Lieutenant-General <u>''Cornelis van Langen''</u> of the Army came with a new doctrine, a doctrine that would become known as the <u>Lange-Doctrine</u> and would change the face and nature of the war.

 

The '''<u>Lange Doctrine</u>''' as it was called was as simple as it was effective. As it was implemented the Netherlands shifted its fighting style and objectives in such a way that the war become more favorable to them.

 

Cornelis van Langen proposed his idea, before the general staff on the 22nd of march 1963. It was accepted on the 23rd of march 1963 and Cornelis was given the task to implement it. On the same day, orders were sent out to all units across the East Indies, to withdrawal from the interior and focus on maintaining coastal areas, urban areas, and areas of either strategic or economic importance. The EILF noted something was happening when at once Dutch forces began to pull out of the interior. Their confusion resulted in the withdrawal being relatively peaceful without much opposition. When Dutch forces arrived in their new positions they were informed of what was to take place, this was new troops being moved in their old gear discarded and new gear being given, and a change in tactics. This resulted in the remainder of 1963 and early 1964 being relatively quiet, no major operations took place and fighting was limited to skirmishes. In this period new troops with their new equipment and tactics were rotated in and soldiers were retrained and redeployed. This massive build-up of men and material was clear for all to see yet the EILF and Russian intelligence apparatuses were not sure what it exactly was. All they knew was that the Dutch were preparing for something big.

 

That something big was the complete and unprecedented reorganisation of the Dutch military her fighting forces, training infrastructure, command structure, logistical infrastructure, and doctrine. At the end of March a order had been placed at the '''Koolhoven Aviation Factory''' to increase the production of their reliable "Krijg-peerd" helicopter. This combined with other orders for armored vehicles, tanks aircraft and guns resulted in the rapid development of remarkably successful military equipment. However the mass increase in production of military equipment meant a rapid expansion of existing capabilities to not intervene with normal economic production, thus a certain limit was created and other production centers where sought abroad in Taulandt and Nieuw Nederlandt pumping a considerable amount of money into their respective industries. The most notable change was the reorganization and reformation of the Dutch national service or ''Dienstplicht''. It was increased in its length and it now was to last 24 months of which 6 months would be spent on training and 18 months deployment, followed by reserve duties up until the age of 50. Before the new doctrine and the reforms the ''Dienstplicht'' period was 18 months total, the lengthening was done to train the soldier up to make him qualitatively better than any other in the world. It was realized that this new mobile style of warfare which included air mobility relied upon highly trained soldiers thus a longer national service period was added. Something that was not popular with the public but passed parliament. This period thus not only resulted in the increase of military spending, National service time, and the change in doctrine but also the start of an anti-war movement. All these reforms were put to the test in December of 1963 during operation Jambi when the first battle-ready units would be deployed in combat. These 12,000 men proved effective and further solidified the so-called “Hervorming van Langen”.

 

 

The next 5 years (1967-1972) were marked by the rebels and the Dutch recuperating their losses, stabilising frontlines, and modernising their fighting forces at a rapid pace. With Dutch control of Sumatra and the Malayan peninsula by 1969 was relegated to the coastal areas and urban centers. To deal with the new strategic reality of the situation, the KNIL was operationally integrated into the armed forces. At the same time, the usage of large-scale bombing raids, that devastated entire sections of the jungle became the norm. All of this was possible as the early investments were bearing the fruits of their labour, more advanced weapon systems, aerospace systems and ships were becoming available in massive numbers, combined with the increase in available manpower made allowed the Netherlands to become a larger and more high-quality force.

The rebels did not sit idle, controlling the interior of Sumatra and the Malaya peninsula they were able to properly build up their forces. Moving away from just an unconditional force and towards a mixed force. While never able to beat the Dutch in an open battle their new strategic concept would be that of weakened battle, bleed the dutch with a thousand cuts rather than one punch. It was a period where fighting still was taking place and by all measures was quite intense. Yet for the east indies crisis, it was silent, for everyone knew that both sides were preparing for the slugfest that would become the final pa

 

1972 the 9th of march could be marked as the start of the final phase of the war, a phase that at the same time is considered to be the most destructive period in the war.

 

In the previous 5 years, there was a relative calm in the region. While fighting was still quite common and intensive in the guerilla war sense. There were however no major EILF offensive operations, this was in hindsight due to a large reorganization of the EILF military forces, in combination with a large effort to infiltrate Java the bastion of Dutch colonial control. All that had really taken place over the past 5 years were strikes throughout Java, terrorist attacks and small-scale uprisings, all of these were however crushed. All of these due to their scale lulled the Dutch forces on the island into a false sense of security.

[[File:Grunt somewhere in the Jungle of eastern sumatra.png|thumb|"Troopies" standing somewhere in the jungles of Malaya circa December 1972]]

 

 

this period known as the Java moorden, ended on the 9th of march when the local army forces where able to coordinate a large scale counter offensive and supression campaign. Yet when a large scale offensive was started across the peninsula on the 11th of march the supression campaign was deemed over and the major urban centers where once again under Dutch control. This did result in countless deaths across Java and would start the insurgency campaign in Java.

At the end of what was called the Java uprising which officially according to Dutch history ended on the 28th of March 1972, some 11,000 Dutch civilians had died, 5400 soldiers were KIA, 617 were MIA, and 19,182 were wounded. While on the EILF side the numbers sometimes disputed were far higher. According to captured documents of the EILF a total of 43,019 men died in the first 3 days, while in the last 15 days a total of 111,179 casualties  (71,192 killed and 39,987 wounded).  It is said to be some of the most brutal fighting and highest casualty rates of the war and it would set the tone for the remainder of the conflict. In regards to civilian casualties caused by the Dutch counteroffensive to this day, it is disputed, however, all agree that the numbers reach into the

 

With the introduction of the new combat doctrine, it turned into the most brutal and deadliest phase in the conflict. It started with a general offensive initiated on the various islands by the EILF. This was countered by the Dutch by numerous counter-offensives and large-scale air operations. Eventually, this resulted in near constant fighting between the EILF and the Dutch fighting that was rapid, unforgiving, bloody and ruthless with neither side backing down. It was only after 5 weeks of nearly constant fighting that the Dutch were able to push the EILF back, recapture the ground lost and stabilise the frontlines.

 

The scale of fighting did create a strain on the Dutch manpower supply, with ships coming each month packed with replacements. It had become a norm at this point that most soldiers fighting were doing their second or third tour. It had thus become a total war for the Dutch, it had resulted in Dutch society having dehumanised the Soenda rebels and all pretence of civility was dropped.

 

For despite the constant talks about the massive casualties that were inflicted upon the enemy, nothing seemed to stop them. Dutch soldiers were fighting for months without any rest, fighting day and night all of this in brutality that was unseen. Exhaustion, depression and an increasing amount of alcohol and drug use among the soldiers coming back, with boys being broken when coming home led to a strong anti-war sentiment. All of this combined with the condemnation the Netherlands got on the international stage, led to the bucket overflowing. After 13 years of war, a truly massive anti-war protest took place in Amsterdam

 

Despite their best efforts the party of the old prime minister de “Conservatieve anti revolutionare partij or CARP, stood no change. They were soundly defeated by the Partij voor Democracy “PVD” led by former veteran turned politician Koen Haverman who on the 25th of July 1974 become the new prime minister of the Netherlands. Out of the 150 seats in the second chamber, the PVD won a total of 83 ensuring that no coalition was needed and allowing them to push their agenda forward. Their agenda was simple on paper, pull out of the archipelago, in reality, tho this would be a hard one to achieve.[[File:Koen Haverman 3.jpg|alt=Barend Biesheuvel is used as a stand in for the PM|thumb|Koen Haverman the new prime minister of the Netherlands meeting with the monarch]]

 

With the ascension of Koen Haverman with his Partij van Democratie the Dutch policy on the east indies crisis, or as it was known in the Hague “De oorlog” or the war radically changed almost overnight. Koen Haverman won his election partly by stating they would find a way to pull out of the conflict. A conflict that had taken the best of the Netherlands her youth and swallowed it whole, only leaving behind broken and scattered boys who had seen far too much at a far too young age. It had put a strain on the Netherlands her social services and culture and people, who have watched it all for nearly 16 years on their Tvs were tired of it. Koen Haverman, who himself fought in the war during the early stages knew the horror of it and thus the moment he was appointed by the monarch began to work on a way to get the Netherlands out.

 

He thus ordered the commanders of the military to come up with a plan to pull the Dutch forces out in such a manner that they would not be attacked from the rear. The immediate answer by that time Commander of the Armed Forces <u>Generaal Cornelis van Langen</u>, was that it would be hard bloody, and require a lot of time. Yet Haverman was determined he wanted the Dutch their forces out of the war. Thus van Langen despite his own involvement in the creation of Dutch strategy started with his team to work on a plan to pull the Netherlands out of the war. He worked tirelessly and by November 1974 some 4 months after the initial order was given they had a plan. In those 4 months, however, the fighting continued across the East Indies and the Dutch forces seemed to show less and less mercy. van Langen dubbed the plan '''Operatie Vertrek-I''' (Leaving One), it was a detailed set of objectives that would see the pullout in phases of Dutch forces while also taking into account civilians. It would take roughly 1.6 years to complete as nothing was to be left behind, it would be done in phases and it would continuously require the Dutch forces to keep on fighting with a higher degree of intensity as to not give off any idea to the enemy. He proposed the plan to the cabinet of Haverman and on the 1st of December 1974, it was accepted and made official military policy.[[File:Troops under fire.jpg|thumb|A soldier watching air support drop its payload upon the enemy her positions, somewhere around Malakka.]]

 

The march towards Batavia or the fall of Batavia as it’s sometimes called is the name given to the final months of the east indies crisis and the war its final period. The period came to an end on exactly 23:48 11 November 1976, when the last Dutch ship left the port of Batavia when the EILF finally took all of the city after a brutal siege.

 

This period of the war is considered one of the more brutal periods of the war in regards to the sheer amount of death and destruction that was carried out by both sides.

 

 

In the Netherlands, a series of cultural shifts started to take place after the end of the war; with an entire generation of veterans (numbering around 4.7 million people) who saw the horrors of war up close. This had shocked the nation and in the years following the war many major events created tension within Dutch society including: a refugees crisis from it's former colonies, the reformation and restructuring of power within the Dutch economy, numerous social movements advocating for social, sexual and economic liberation, and a broken generation that tried to move on from the brutal conflict that had shaped the nation. There was a shift in the geopolitical landscape of the Netherlands, which following the end of the war in 1976, became a neutral nation and had to contend with the challenges of having a massive arms industry due to the war and needing to reform its economy towards civilian focused industry where possible. Its aerospace industry became focused on civilian products while still retaining experienced engineers and a well-established industrial compacity from the war. The Netherlands changed the balance of power in Europe by becoming neutral and taking it's close ally the German Confederation, with whom it shares a border, into neutrality. During and after the war, the music scene in the Netherlands radically changed with the adoption of NNL and Virginian rock & roll influences (made popular by the anti-war anthem [[Ik heb geen geluk]]) and the creation of an anti-war counter culture.

 

During the war, the scale of fighting was enormous and the Dutch military had grown from a medium-sized force of around 210.000 active troops around the world in 1960 to a military that was by 1973 unrivaled in its quality of fighting troops and had gained a reputation of brutality and effectiveness. In total, by 1973 440.000 Dutch combat troops were deployed in combat, and the army had manpower reserves of 2.7 million troops. In total, some 3.8 million Dutchmen would see active combat in the east indies. The Nationalist rebels in 1973 were able to field 1.2 million regular troops and between 5 & 7 million guerilla fighters.

 

The economic damage of the war was simply catastrophic as the Dutch left no infrastructure or anything of value intact. Through the islands, the major urban areas were simply destroyed and turned into ruins. Many cities, including the former Batavia (now known as Jayakarta) had to be completed rebuild from the ground up, and only recently have the economy of the East Indies Federation been able to recover. While it is still debated many historians do say that this has been one of the most destructive conflicts of the 20th century.

 

In addition to the causalities of war 4.7 million civilians fled the East Indies during the war (mostly loyalist Chinese & Javanese but also almost all of the Dutch and Indo population of the East Indies). After the wars end another 250,000 to 500,000 Chinese and 250,000 Pribumi fled the East Indies between 1976 and 1985 to avoid the ethnic and political violence that the plagued the early now independent East Indies. The most popular designations for the exodus were the Netherlands mainland (in which new polders were constructed to give room to the ballooning immigrant population), New Batavia (in which vast swatches of land were set aside by the Dutch government as a "homeland" to the Indo or Eurasian population of the former East Indies whom the Dutch feared would be targeted in ethnic violence in an independent East Indies) and the Kaap Republic (which allowed many skilled immigrants from the East Indies to come to the country). Other less popular designations for the exodus were the Westerzee province of Tussenland, Taulandt, the Spanish East Indies, New Netherland, Nueva Guinea and Georgia.

 

This exodus would create a series of events that would see nations like the Netherlands undergo a cultural revolution in some cases and the nation would never be the same because of it.

 

Due to its length and the importance of Southeast Asia, multiple parties intervened in the conflict. Rather it was a conflict in which the two great powers backed both parties, as well as a conflict where the Netherlands her allies, former colonies & Dominions where involved in. It saw the deployment of volunteers from New Netherland, Tussenland, Tauland, the Kaap, and Boschland.

 

Facing them was the East Indies Liberation Front that was backed by numerous local supporters but mainly by Russia.  Although the war is considered a proxy war, due to Britain and Russia using their proxies to fight one another, this view is disputed by many historians both from the East Indies Federation and the Netherlands, and The Batavosphere as a whole. In the Netherlands and in general, within the Batavosphere the conflict is seen as a separate conflict from the cold war, while heavily influenced by cold war events it stands on its own legs. This is due to a variety of reasons but mainly according to some historians the need for the Netherlands and Dutch society as a whole to rationalise their actions, to rationalise 16 years of brutal warfare and tens of thousands of Dutchmen that never came home and the hundreds of thousands that were permanently scarred by the war. 

 

 

{{Timeline and Lore}}