The Legion of Ratu Adil, also known as Angkatan Perang Ratu Adil (APRA) or the Just King Legion was a pro- Dutch militia and private army established during the

Indonesian National Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution, or the Indonesian War of Independence, was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during Aftermath of WWII, postw ...

. It was founded by the former KNIL

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Raymond Westerling following his demobilisation on 15 January 1949.Westerling (1952), p. 146 The militia's name was derived from a passage from the medieval ''Book of Prophecies of Joyo Boyo'' which prophesied the coming of a ''Ratu Adil'' or ''Just King/Queen'' who would be of

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

descent and come to save the people of Java and establish universal peace and justice. With his mixed Turkish heritage in mind, Westerling used the myth of the Just King to create a following.Westerling (1952), p. 154-56 Westerling claimed to be fighting to preserve the component states of the

federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

Republic of the United States of Indonesia against what he perceived as the Javanese-dominated

unitary Unitary may refer to: Mathematics * Unitary divisor * Unitary element * Unitary group * Unitary matrix * Unitary morphism * Unitary operator * Unitary transformation * Unitary representation * Unitarity (physics) * ''E''-unitary inverse semigroup ...

Republic of Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea. Ind ...

led by

Sukarno Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of ...

and Hatta.Westerling (1952), p. 151 APRA was recruited from several anti-Republican factions including former Republican guerillas, Darul Islam,

Ambonese The Ambonese, also known as South Moluccans, are an Indonesian ethnic group of mixed Austronesian and Melanesian origin. They are majority Christians followed by Muslims. The Ambonese are from Ambon Island in Maluku, an island group east of Sula ...

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

s, Minahasa, demobilised KNIL, Regiment Special Forces and

Royal Netherlands Army The Royal Netherlands Army ( nl, Koninklijke Landmacht) is the land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised – making the Dutc ...

personnel.Westerling (1952), p. 152 By 1950, APRA had evolved from a series of rural self-defense units into a 2,000-strong fighting force.Westerling (1952), p. 153 Unhappy with the growing influence of Sukarno's government, Westerling conspired with the federalist Sultan of Pontianak Hamid II to launch a coup in January 1950.Kahin (1952), p. 454-56 On 23 January 1950, APRA launched a coup d’état against the Republican government. While the Legion managed to temporarily occupy

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...

, they failed to occupy Jakarta. Westerling had planned to overthrow the RUSI Cabinet and assassinate several prominent Republican figures including the Defense Minister Sultan

Hamengkubuwono IX Hamengkubuwono IX or HB IX (12 April 1912 – 2 October 1988) was an Indonesian statesman and royal who was the second vice president of Indonesia, the ninth sultan of Yogyakarta, and the first governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta. Hamen ...

and Secretary-General Ali Sadikin. The coup's failure demoralized the Legion's belief in Westerling and he was forced to flee to Singapore. Without a strong leader, APRA had ceased to function by February 1950. APRA's actions led to the incarceration of Hamid II and accelerated the dissolution of the federal United States of Indonesia on 17 August 1950, turning Indonesia into a unitary state dominated by the central government in Jakarta.Kahin (1952), p. 456

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* * – translated from the French to English by Waverley Root as –

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Further reading