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

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

| caption = Two Dutch soldiers in Malaya watching the Krijgspeerd helicopters come in after a battle.

| date = 3 February 1960 – 11 November 1976

| combatant1 = {{flagdeco|NED}} [[Kingdom of the Netherlands]] <br /> {{flagdeco|TUS|1855}} [[Tussenland]] <br /> {{flagdeco|NNL}} [[New Netherland]]

| 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''' 14,895,624 - 17,895,624

}}

 

== Background ==

The conflict emerged from the “''Indische opstand van 1943''” or Indian uprising of 1943, which was fought between Dutch colonial forces mainly the KNIL (Koninklijk Nederlandsch-Indisch Leger), and rebelling sultanates their militia’s and revolutionaries across the archipelago. It in turn happened as a direct result of a change in the Dutch rule which before 1942 was indirect with the sultans retaining a large degree of autonomy in their sultanates/Kingdoms. Dutch colonial administration was concerned with turning a profit and economic exploitation and thus their presence outside of Java was often relegated to administration or a military garrison if it was a major city. Yet the system was inefficient and riddled with corruption and thus in late 1941 from the Netherlands an order was given to reform the system and centralize it. This move an unpopular one and the Sultans did protests but it was ignored and thus in 1943 the sultans lost their official government power and were relegated to ceremonial roles. This was not taken lightly and what followed where a series of uprisings across Sumatra, Malaya, and Celebs. These uprisings or revolutions were possible due to the influx of arms from the great war, yet despite the relative nature of the opposition Dutch colonial forces KNIL brutally suppressed and crushed the rebelling sultanates and factions. Through 1943 entire rebel sultanates were put to the torch, royal families that ruled for centuries were extinguished and only those that surrendered or remained loyal would retain some form of wealth and status. It was this brutal suppression that laid the groundwork for the uprising in 1960, as a new generation of revolutionary had been born from it, trained and equipped by the Russians they would slowly be built up through the 1950s and spread themselves waiting for the moment to strike. In February of 1960, it was their moment when in the north of Sumatra near the border with British Aceh several towns killed their Dutch administrators promoting the KNIL to respond and it was there that the conflict in many people their eyes started.

 

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.

 

 

==== The KNIL ====

 

== Impact on popular culture ==