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====A change at home====
For despiteDespite the near constant talksreports aboutof the massivemass casualties that werecassualities inflicted upon the enemy, nothingthere seemed to stopbe no stopping them. DutchAt soldiersthe weretime fightingof bloody it was estimated that for monthsevery withoutDutch anysoldier that was restkilled, 4 Soendanese fighters where killed. Dutch soldiers where fighting for day and night allfor ofmonths thison inend on a level of brutality that was unseen. ExhaustionExuastion, depression and an increasing amount of alcohol andalchohol, drug useconsumtion amongamongst the soldiers comingwhere backbecoming more appearent. It was a period that when soldiers where rotated out these soldiers, withoften boysjust barely 18 year old came back as being broken. whenIt cominghad homebecome leda tonorm even a strongsadistic anti-warrite sentimentof passage. AllThis of thiswas combined with the condemnationfact that the Netherlandsway gotthe onDutch fought, the internationallevel stage,of brutaltiy led to a great deal of international condemnation on the bucketinternational overflowingstage. AfterAll of this came ahead when for the first time in nearly 13 years of war,constant aheavy trulyfighting massivethe first large anti- war protestdemonstrations took place in Amsterdam.
On theThe 18th of April 1974, the Netherlandsnetherlands sawcame itsto a halt, as the largest anti- war protest to date was organised. ItThis wasprotests where not just the regulardraft protestsdodgers, the studentsanti thewar pacifistpoliticians and thestudents, likethese thatprotestors came.included Theythe weremothers joined byof the roughly 3.4boys, veterans of thisthe war, allfathers whoand were relatively youngsons, joinedbrothers bythat lost their fathersolder whobrother. oftenIt themselveshad eitherbecome foughta inwar where the eastfathers orfought were veterans fromin the greatsame war, joined byas their motherssons, wives,they girlfriends,where friendsjoined andby allthe thosegirlfriends, loved once’s of those that were fightingwives. People no longer wanted to see their husbands, boyfriends, sons, brothers and friends die in the far east. PeoplePpeople at this point simply had enough of the war, afterthey 13had yearsseen of seeing the warit on their TVstvs and it had fundamentally changed the Dutch nation. In schools children where already being trained for the service in the east, an entire generation had been molded into fighting machines.
The scale of these protests where immense, the entire nation in essence came to a halt. Public transports where jammed full, towns where turned into ghost towns all the while in the Hague, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Rotterdam the police forces where unwilling to disperse the protests. People where tired and it left the government with little options as their last option seemed to be the military.
[[File:Protest I.jpg|thumb|A large group of Dutch citizen in Den Haag protesting the war, they where just one many. As the picture shows people from all ages joined in the protests.]]
TheyPrime wereminister soGeert largeDijkman, thata primeman ministerwho Geerthad Dijkmanbeen PM for 3 years, a proponent of the war and an arch conservative, had ordered his cabinet and the military to prepare for a revolutionworst hecase soscenario, feareda revolution. It was at this moment tho that the military her general staff made it clear they would not fire uponon their own men ,. forAs thesemany of the protestors werewhere oftenreservists, wearingveterans theiror even active duty soldiers on uniformsleave. These protestsprotetors had their intended effect , eventually andit caused a silent revolution , ofthe April,so withincalled theapril samerevolution. monthIt led to a votemotion of no confidence passedbeing issued to the secondcabinet by chamberparliament and the senate. This led to a new election wasto be scheduled for the 17th of juliJuli 1974 . ▼
Despite their best efforts the party of the old prime minister “Conservative anti revolutionaire partij (CARP) stood no change in the election. They where defeated in a landslide by the Partij voor democracy (PVD). Led by veteran turned politican Koen Haverman, who had fought in operation Slachthuis. On the 25th of July 1974 he became the new prime minister of the Netherlands, his party gaining some 83 seats in the lower house resulting in an absolute majority. Their objective was simple on paper, pull out of hte conflict but as he would find out it was far harder in practice.[[File:Protest I.jpg|thumb|A large group of Dutch citizen in Den Haag protesting the war, they where just one many. As the picture shows people from all ages joined in the protests.]]
These protests were so large that for the entire day the nation was shut down, public transport was jammed, and cities had turned into ghost towns. All the while in the Hague, Amsterdam and Rotterdam the police forces were unwilling to do anything against their own friends in many cases they even joined the protestors. In other words, the government was in chaos.
[[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]]
▲They were so large that prime minister Geert Dijkman ordered his cabinet and the military to prepare for a revolution he so feared. It was at this moment tho that the military general staff made clear they would not fire upon their own men, for these protestors were often wearing their uniforms. These protests had their intended effect eventually and caused a silent revolution of April, within the same month a vote of no confidence passed the second chamber and a new election was scheduled for the 17th of juli 1974
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]]
=== '''New Minister, New Policy'''===
With the ascension of Koen Haverman, withthe hisfundamental Partijnature van Democratieof the Dutchwar policychanged onfor the eastDutch. indiesThe crisis, oroorlog as it was knownsimply inrefered theto Haguehad “Dereadically oorlog”changed oralmost theovernight, warfrom radicallynow changedon almosttheir overnight.objective Koenwould Havermanbe wonto hispull electionout partlyof bythe statingfighting theyin would findsuch a way tothe pullNetherlands outremained ofin thea conflictfuture adventagous position. Athe conflict that had taken the best of the Netherlands her youth and swallowed it whole, onlyspitting leaving behindout broken and scattered boysmen who had seen far tooto much atbrutality afor far tootheir young ageages. It had put a strain on the Netherlands her social services and culture and people, whoall have watchedof it allhad been radically transformed. People had wachted the war for nearly 16 yearsyeras on their Tvstvs, werethey where tired and sort of used to it by now. Koen Haverman, who himself had fought in theit war during the early stagesand knew the horror, ofyet it and thusknew the momentstrategic hereality was appointednot byas thesimple. monarch began to work on a way to get the Netherlands out.
Pulling the Netherlands out was never going to be easy, nobody expected it would be easy, nor would it be done within a short timeframe. The strategic situation in the east when Haverman became PM was a dire one. Soendanese forces where conducted their largest contious offensive in the war so far. The soldiers on the ground where fighting tooth and nail on all fronts to just hold the line for months upon months, as the peace protests where happening in Amsterdam, the men in Malaysia where fighting for their lives. It had reached a point where any point of civility was dropped by the Dutch and the usage of chemical agents, Napalm and other assets where used to hold the tite. Cassualty reports coming in where grim, at this rate military planners in the Hague estimated Batavia would fall within 8 months. Tvs showed the battles raging in the air and on land on Sumatra, Borneo and Celebs, it showed the true brutality of war. It was said that Haverman for the first viewed classified reports on the war he vommited. The reports contained numbers so gruesome and operations so illigal that went against any public policy the netherlands portrayed, it showed the pure barbarity a industrial state could inflict.
Thus the order went out to the general staff to come up with a way the Netherlands could pull out, without major losses. Its order was vague and by this point the General staff, consisting of hardened veterans came up with the exit strategy, something that still would inflict utter destruction. Commander of the armed Forces Generaal Cornelis van Langen stated;
“''It will be a fucked up affair…require time and we need to murder those bastards by the bushes''”.
Habverman tho was determined he wanted the Dutch our of the war, thus Van Langen despite his reservations started to work on such a strategy. They worked tirelessly and in those 4 months the fighting continued across the east, Dutch forces where using more and more brutality, to a point where the forces around Jambi annaliated the city. When the news came in it was on the same day that van Langen showed his operation. Operatie Vertrek, it would take roughly 1 year 6 months, to compelte as nothing was to be left behind and strategic positions where to be maintained, as well as vital trade links with Tauland. It would be carried out in phases and it would continously require them to keep on the fighting, on a high intense level as to not give up any strategic ground. On the day that Jambi burned to the ground and 489,012 people died the strategy was agreed upon.[[File:Troops under fire.jpg|thumb|A soldier watching air support drop its payload upon the enemy her positions, somewhere around Malakka.]]
==Operatie Vertrek I==
Early on the plan of Operatie Vertrek-II was a complicated one, while it was never openly stated, everyone understood that the puppet regime in Batavia would not survive. While this did not matter a great deal, considering that most of these people in the government were on the Dutch payroll. While this decision did not hamper the military activities that much, it did hamper the social services the puppet regime provided and the taxation strategy, many of the native bureaucrats became demotivated and descent within the KNIL was slowly forming.
Another effect of the decision of Vertrek was the decline in the morale of the NCO corps of the military, these men were career soldiers and had many friends that died in the war and saw little purpose to fight. While in general combat operations remained highly effective it was well known that in the barracks descent was common. This also was evident with the general infantry, as while it was made known the Netherlands would pull out, conscription kept on going, rotations kept happening and combat remained intense.
=== Operation "Mistig" ===
=== Loss of eastern Java ===
Pulling the Netherlands out was however the hard part, for it was easier said than done. The situation at the time of Haverman coming into office was a dire one. The EILF was conducting their largest continuous offensive in the war so far, the Netherlands was engaged on all fronts soldiers were fighting for months and months, and all pretenses of civility were dropped. Casualty reports coming in were grim, pictures coming in were grimmer and all the news coming in on video was dark and too intense to even show on TV. Battles raging on Sumatra and Borneo and Celebs were brutal and it is said that when Haverman for the first time viewed the classified reports of the war he vomited. The reports contained numbers so gruesome and tactics and fighting on that were against everything that the Netherlands claimed to uphold.
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.]]
==Fall= evacuation of Batavia (1976)===
“De laaste ronde” De Bataafse evacuatie” or the fall of Batavia as its sometimes called is the name given to the final months of fighting of the East indies crisis. the period is often said to have ended at exactly 23:48 11 November 1976, when the last Dutch ship left the port of Batavia and when the Soendanese rebels took over the city after a brutal siege.
Historians mark the start of “De laaste ronde” when prime minister Haberman accepted the Krijgmacht her so-called “vertrek” operation. The operation in detail laid out the withdrawal of Dutch & KNIL forces from the various theatres in the archipelago, it was not a complete withdrawal but rather a slow methodical withdrawal toward strategic and defensible positions. It would be from there that the final departure would be organized. During this time the Dutch would maintain full-on air and naval supremacy and keep raids at a maximum. On paper this plan was good in practice tho once implemented it became a bloody affair as the fighting withdrawals were intense. Dutch soldiers had fought in an archipelago for 16 brutal years, indoctrinated by over a decade of propaganda were unwilling to just let go without a fight. the final battles and operations were thus often considered brutal as entire stockpiles of munitions were emptied.
==== Rogue KNIL units ====
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