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

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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 divided with quelling them limiting and weakening their power projection. It was around this time 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 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 divided with quelling them limiting and weakening their power projection. It was around this time 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.


Het '''Lange-Doctrine''' as it was called was simple and brutally effective when implemented and embraced. With the implementation of the doctrine, the nature of the objectives and the fighting shifted drastically in favor of the Netherlands. Before its implementation and around the new Year offensive (Nieuwejaars offensief), the KNIL and the Landmacht were fighting a war of reconquering lost lands. It had the aim to retake the territory lost to the East Indies Liberation Front. This meant that progress was slow and casualties were high, higher than could be sustained. These high casualties were due to the EILF her home-field advantage, it knew the terrain and the locals and got warned whenever a Dutch patrol was nearby and then attacked. It at the same time tied down large numbers of valuable troops in the middle of Sumatra and parts of Malaya, waisting their combat effectiveness and making them targets for the EILF.
Het '''Lange-Doctrine''' as it was called was simple and brutally effective when implemented and embraced. With the implementation of the doctrine, the nature of the objectives and the fighting shifted drastically in favor of the Netherlands. Before its implementation and around the new Year offensive (Nieuwejaars offensief), the KNIL and the Landmacht were fighting a war of reconquering lost lands. It had the aim to retake the territory lost to the East Indies Liberation Front. This meant that progress was slow and casualties were high, higher than could be sustained. These high casualties were due to the EILF her home-field advantage, it knew the terrain and the locals and got warned whenever a Dutch patrol was nearby and then attacked. It at the same time tied down large numbers of valuable troops in the middle of Sumatra and parts of Malaya, wasting their combat effectiveness and making them targets for the EILF.


Het Lange-Doctrine changed the entire long-term strategic objective for the Netherlands in the war. It would not focus on reconquering the territories lost from the EILF, altho that was the eventual goal, it would instead focus upon destroying the EILF her ability to wage war and reduce her numbers through attrition. It would see the initiative move from the EILF to the Netherlands, this would be achieved by transforming the military into a highly mobile force that could react quickly to threats. This would be achieved by moving from a garrison force towards a force centered around air mobility, rapid movement of firepower, and action. Its main goal was thus to allow quick reaction and a quick and rapid shift from defensive towards offensive tactics and to prevent the tiedown of troops in hostile territory. It did require that all Urban centers on the coastline would be held as launching points for military operations.
Het Lange-Doctrine changed the entire long-term strategic objective for the Netherlands in the war. It would not focus on reconquering the territories lost from the EILF, altho that was the eventual goal, it would instead focus upon destroying the EILF her ability to wage war and reduce her numbers through attrition. It would see the initiative move from the EILF to the Netherlands, this would be achieved by transforming the military into a highly mobile force that could react quickly to threats. This would be achieved by moving from a garrison force towards a force centered around air mobility, rapid movement of firepower, and action. Its main goal was thus to allow quick reaction and a quick and rapid shift from defensive towards offensive tactics and to prevent the tiedown of troops in hostile territory. It did require that all Urban centers on the coastline would be held as launching points for military operations.
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=== Causalities ===
=== Causalities ===
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 effectiviness. In total, by 1973 440.000 Dutch combat troops were deployed in combat, and the army had manpower reserves of 2.7 million troops. The Nationalist rebels in 1973 were able to field 1.2 million regular troops and between 5 & 7 million guerilla fighters. The war exacted an enormous human cost: it’s estimated that a total of 7-10 million civilians (mostly native Indonesians) died in the conflict along with a total of 144,918 Dutch soldiers (and with an additional 50,000 KNIL soldiers), with 49,000 missing in action. Nationalist losses are not well known but are estimated to be in the millions. Extensive use of chemical weapons, napalm and famines that occurred during and after the war are likely to inflate the numbers of causalities of the conflict. The war's environmental cost was massive with many jungle ecosystems being near-beyond repair (only in modern day are some of the jungles returning to pre-war levels of growth) and entire species went extinct as their biomes were damaged or destroyed. The economic damage of the war was extensive as the Dutch left nearly no infrastructure of the many islands intact and many cities were in literal 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.
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 war exacted an enormous human cost: it’s estimated that a total of 7-10 million civilians (mostly native Indonesians) died directly in the conflict, along with a total of 144,918 Dutch soldiers (and with an additional 50,000 KNIL soldiers), with 49,000 missing in action. East Indies losses are not well known but are estimated to be in the millions. Extensive use of chemical weapons, napalm, and famines that occurred during and after the war are likely to inflate the numbers of causalities of the conflict. The war's environmental cost was massive with many jungle ecosystems being near-beyond repair. only in the modern-day are some of the jungles returning to pre-war levels of growth. Entire species went extinct as their biomes were damaged or destroyed.

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.


=== The East Indies Immigration Crisis ===
=== The East Indies Immigration Crisis ===
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