Book contents
- Fontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Note on Archival Sources
- Note on Orthography
- Abbreviations and Acronyms
- Glossary
- Introduction
- Part OneOppression
- Part TwoThe World in Motion
- Party ThreeThe Japanese Occuption
- Part FourDefence of Independence
- Part FiveStuggle/Diplomacy
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Index
- About the Author
Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 February 2026
Book contents
- Fontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Note on Archival Sources
- Note on Orthography
- Abbreviations and Acronyms
- Glossary
- Introduction
- Part OneOppression
- Part TwoThe World in Motion
- Party ThreeThe Japanese Occuption
- Part FourDefence of Independence
- Part FiveStuggle/Diplomacy
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Index
- About the Author
Summary
Less than two years after the end of the Japanese occupation of the former Netherlands East Indies (NEI), the founding president and co-founder with Mohammad Hatta of the Republic of Indonesia, Soekarno, offered a short address that was pregnant with meaning. The venue was a congress of student radicals, and the date was 24 April 1947—just two months before a full-scale Dutch military assault upon the beleaguered Republic. As Soekarno stated,
When justice is chained, there arises a movement which shall gradually become greater. In 1926 the communist revolution broke out. Possibly there are members of your family who, during these days, were exiled to Digul by the Dutch or even worse were hanged.
This was a reference to a series of uprisings in West Java and West Sumatra in late 1926 to early 1927 that were crushed within days by the Dutch colonial forces, following which captives were dispatched to Boven Digul, a prison camp in remote West New Guinea.
During those times the Partai National Indonesia knew nothing of retreat. In 1929 again a revolution broke out. Thousands of our leaders were exiled to Digul. But still, our people knew nothing of retreat.
In mentioning the Partai National Indonesia (PNI)—the political party he founded after the failure of the 1926–27 rebellions—Soekarno is referring here to his own arrest, imprisonment and trial that led to the dissolution of the party.
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- Towards the Indonesian RepublicMarxist Lineages in the National Revolution, pp. 1 - 18Publisher: ISEAS–Yusof Ishak InstitutePrint publication year: 2025
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