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==Background ==
The Dutch East Indies found itself under a period of intensified turmoil following the aftermath of the [[Great War|Great War (1935-1939)]]. The [[Netherlands]], having experienced economic and industrial exhaustion as a result, relied heavily on its East Indies colony for the extraction of raw natural resources. This dependency caused an increasing strain on the region, leading to a series of sweeping reforms and elevated colonial pressures to exploit the colony.
=== Social changes & the Djohor Uprising === ▼In the aftermath of the great war, the Netherlands suffered greatly in a short time. The lowlands campaign, combined with the eventual grinding down of the French advance along the Rhine had exhausted the Netherland's industrial capacity. Its factories in the south were either destroyed or badly damaged, its production centers in the north working overtime to provide the goods needed to rebuild the south. All of this required raw natural resources, thus that more pressure was put upon the Dutch East Indies, the crown jewel in the Dutch empire to deliver the resources to rebuild the Netherlands.
==== The Herschikking reform ====
This pressure led to a series of reforms that would change how the east indies were governed. The first of the reforms started in 1941, would see a large-scale centralization of governance in the east indies. Many former client states and protectorates in the region were stripped of their remaining powers and confined to increasingly just a ceremonial role.
In 1941, in an attempt to maximize resource extraction efficiency, the Netherlands initiated a centralization reform called the ''Herschikking (''"reordering") in the Dutch East Indies. This included the large-scale mechanization of the agricultural sector, causing unprecedented social changes. Mass internal migration, rapid urbanization, and the emergence of informal housing in urban areas became the norm. Meanwhile, the political authority of several local sultanates and kingdoms, Djohor included, was significantly curtailed, fueling a sense of dissatisfaction and unrest among the local populace.
▲=== Social changes & the= Djohor Uprising ====
All of these reforms had a simple goal, to make the extraction of resources from the east indies more effective and increase productivity. It would see the mass mechanisation of the agricultural sector, which led to mass internal migration and urbanisation as many traditional rural communities were uprooted. Swelling the urban population immensely to a point that many cities simply did not have the resources to deal with the migrants leading to the growth of shantytowns and other informal housing. This, in turn, led to a rise in crime, poverty and resentment towards the Dutch colonial authorities who did not provide adequate public services or attempt to remedy the growing social ills.
==== '''The {{Main|Djohor Uprising ''' ====}}▼The dissatisfaction led to the Djohor Uprising in 1952, where the Sultanate of Djohor and other anti-colonial forces rebelled against colonial troops. The brutal response of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) to the rebellion led to a wave of atrocities and international condemnation, further intensifying anti-colonial sentiments among the Soendanese people. The collective memory of the uprising, alongside the execution of the Djohor Sultan and his family, incited outrage and served as a potent symbol of Dutch colonial oppression.
The radicalization of the Soendanese intelligentsia and the Muslim middle and lower classes can be traced back to these events. Their political mobilization and subsequent involvement were instrumental in the eruption of the East Indies Crisis. Simultaneously, the Dutch East Indies government's isolation and repeated failure to manage internal tensions only served to compound these issues.
==== Unrest in Djohor ====
As the 40's progressed there was little sign that the social ills of the East Indies would be changing and the political neutering of the traditional local sultanates and kingdoms led to constant internal political struggle. The Sultanate of Djohor felt many of these problems intensely with both heavy elite dissatisfaction with their now powerless position and high levels of social unrest in the rapidly urbanizing cities of the region. In the late 40s the Sultan started to gather allies among different anti-colonial political parties as well as staff the royal guard and provincial police with supporters. In particular the Sultan started to gain followers and allies in the conservative ''Santri'' Islamic anti-colonial ''Partai Rakyat Islam Johor (PRIJ).'' Using their privileged position close the Sultan, the party (along with other political actors unhappy with heavy handed Dutch reforms started to sway the sultan towards revolt. They argued that the Netherlands was weak due to internal political upheaval, the lingering economic effects of the great war and a geopolitical refocusing of key military assets towards Europe. The Sultan was eventually convinced and after a year of preparations in secret, gathering arms and consolidating their position they decided to strike.
In the wake of the Djohor Uprising, the Dutch East Indies government sought to regain control through a series of harsh reforms and security measures. However, these actions only heightened tensions, leading to sporadic rebellions and further unrest. As the socio-political situation deteriorated, it eventually culminated into the East Indies Crisis.
On the '''4th of May 1952''' in the early hours of the morning, local Dutch administrators across Djohor were killed in their beds and Dutch loyalist police forces were arrested and executed. This was the start of what would become known as the Djohor uprising, or as it's known in Soenda “The Butchering of Djohor”.
▲==== '''The Djohor Uprising''' ====
With the successful neutralization of KNIL & DEI government forces in the sultanate, the Sultan's forces believed that they could consolidate their position and withstand any Dutch or colonial counter offensive. It was also the belief that the Netherlands would not be able to deploy the forces needed to deal with the uprising. Outrage and fear struck colonial authorities once news reached Batavia that Djohor had rebelled and neutralized the local DEI forces. Batavia in this period was under a great deal of pressure from the Netherlands to facilitate the exploitation of cheap natural resources from the East Indies. The Hague could not tolerate any form of rebellion, they could not allow the loss of what was in essence their temporary economic lifeline, in rebuilding the Netherlands.
[[File:Dutch soldiers landing in Malaya during the 1950 emergency.jpg|thumb|The 9th Batavian regiment disembarking near Djohor prior to the start of the Djohor counteroffensive. ]]
The Dutch East Indies Governor-General ''Martien van der Goot'' believed that the Djohor rebellion had to be stopped in order to avoid a "domino effect" of rebellions across the East Indies. Additionally the governor- general took personal slight with the ease that the Djohor sultanate was able to dispatch the Dutch authorities in the region, which later informed DEI colonial policy in the lead up to the East Indies Crisis in the 1960s & 70s. As shown from recently released documents Governor-General Martiem van der Goot thus ordered, the commander of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) Lieutenant-Generaal J.A. Vetter, the following: “Make an example out of these rebels kill them all.”
Commander Vetter, a veteran of countless wars (such as the Corean expedition, the Rhine front, the east Asian expeditions in the GW) would follow this command to the letter. It must be understood that the KNIL in 1952 was an organization that was different from itself in 1935. Experience modern wars created a battle-hardened organization that was brutally efficient in the way it carried out its operations, which was out of the norm in the regular Dutch military, with the exception of the Royal Dutch Marines and the Korps ''Speciale Stoot Troepen''.
[[File:KNIL soldiers of the 9th Batavian regiment fighting.jpg|thumb|233x233px|Soldiers of the 9th Regiment in Johor, firing from their positions.]]
On May the 7th KNIL forces landed of the 9th Batavian regiment landed on the island of Singapura in front of Djohor after facing limited naval opposition. They fought with the sultan's forces stationed on the island for 6 days- and in a slow but steady push they eventually took the island for use as a forwards operations base. Over the subsequent weeks KNIL forces surrounded the city of Djohor proper winning several battles with the under equipped and poorly organized forces of the Sultan. A the end of the month, the city had been breached and the rebellion had quickly turned to urban warfare, fighting block by block, house per house, street by street leading to the partial destruction of the city.
The last week of May 1952 has later been referred to as "'''''The Butchering of Djohor'''''" due to the widespread atrocities committed by KNIL soldiers. Reports of mass killings of civilians, rape & torture are attested to by first hand and third party investigation of the event. Additionally the KNIL were known to utilize 'death squads' in rounding up opposition or suspected rebel forces.
[[File:Walking past it all.jpg|thumb|KNIL soldiers with a Stier Panzerkannon, routing out the last of the resistance in the city. ]]
[[File:Walking past the ruins.jpg|thumb|A soldier of the 9th Regiment walking in Djohor, 12th of may 1952.]]
KNIL soldiers showed little mercy and did not care and saw all locals as rebels resulting in wide-scale destruction & depopulation. On the 30th of May, the Djohor palace was taken by KNIL and after an alleged period of torture the sultan of Djohor and his family were executed extrajudicially.
The "''Butchering of Djoho''r" saw widespread condemnation internationally especially from IRC aligned nations, the Muslim world and the newly formed ANAN. Additionally, the event had many 'knock on' effects within the DEI, radicalizing the Soendanese intelligentsia & many within the Muslim middle and lower classes across the colony. The event also saw the growth and expansion of ''National Republicanism'' within the East Indies as anti colonial political movements sought out a political ideology that could hopefully unify the anti imperial struggle in the East Indies with foreign supporters abroad. Several political scientists have also posited the theory that the destruction of the ''Partai Rakyat Islam Johor'' was a a massive boost to later national republican parties as the early PRIJ was the primary competitor of early national republican parties like the ''Partai Pembebasan Hindia Timur.''
==Start of the revolt==
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