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The Invasion of Ambon was a combined Indonesian military operation which aimed to seize and annex the self proclaimed
Republic of South Maluku South Maluku, also South Moluccas, officially the Republic of South Maluku, was an unrecognised secessionist republic that claimed the islands of Ambon, Buru, and Seram, which make up the Indonesian province of Maluku. Dutch conquest exer ...
.


Background

Following the Dutch-Indonesian
Round Table Conference The three Round Table Conferences of 1930–1932 were a series of peace conferences organized by the British Government and Indian political personalities to discuss constitutional reforms in India. These started in November 1930 and ended in Dec ...
, the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
recognized the independence of the Republic of
United States of Indonesia The United States of Indonesia ( nl, Verenigde Staten van Indonesië, id, Republik Indonesia Serikat, abbreviated as RIS), was a short-lived federal state to which the Netherlands formally transferred sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies (exce ...
(RUSI). The RUSI was a federation with a People’s Representative Council consisting of 50 representatives from the Republic of Indonesia and 100 from the various states according to their populations. Distrusting the Javanese and Muslim-dominated Republic of Indonesia, the largely Protestant and pro-Dutch South Moluccans - who had long contributed forces to the
Royal Netherlands East Indies Army The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army ( nl, Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; KNIL, ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. Th ...
(KNIL) - declared the independence of the
Republic of South Maluku South Maluku, also South Moluccas, officially the Republic of South Maluku, was an unrecognised secessionist republic that claimed the islands of Ambon, Buru, and Seram, which make up the Indonesian province of Maluku. Dutch conquest exer ...
in Ambon and Seram on 25 April 1950. The declaration was led by former
East Indonesia The State of East Indonesia ( id, Negara Indonesia Timur, old spelling: ''Negara Indonesia Timoer'', nl, Oost-Indonesië) was a post–World War II state formed in the eastern half of Dutch East Indies. Established in December 1946, it became ...
justice minister Christiaan Robbert Steven Soumokil, while Johanis Manuhutu was made president of the new republic. The independence declaration said the South Moluccas no longer felt secure within State of East Indonesia and were cutting their ties with RUSI. And later, former KNIL soldiers garrisoned at Ambon joined RMS and formed Armed Forces of RMS (APRMS). These are among troops who have been awaiting demobilization or transfer to the Armed Forces of RIS (
APRIS Apri (') in Sanskrit means "conciliation, propitiation" and refers to special invocations spoken previous to the offering of oblations in an animal sacrifice. Some scholars have proposed however, that these hymns were originally meant for a family r ...
). On 17 August 1950, the Indonesian President, Sukarno, proclaimed the restoration of the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia. This RMS was not acknowledged by Sukarno and on his orders, the Indonesian military invaded the Moluccan island of
Buru Buru (formerly spelled Boeroe, Boro, or Bouru) is the third largest island within the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. It lies between the Banda Sea to the south and Seram Sea to the north, west of Ambon and Seram islands. The island belongs to ...
and a part of the island of Ceram.


Invasion of Ambon

At the time of the RMS proclamation, there were 7,345 former KNIL troops stationed in Ambon, including 2,500 Ambonese. These soldiers became the backbone of APRMS. After a naval blockade by the Indonesian navy, an invasion of Ambon took place on 28 September 1950. The APRMS fled from the town of Ambon before the invading Indonesian troops had taken up positions in old Dutch fortifications in the hills over looking the town. From here they waged
guerilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run t ...
warfare. The TNI occupied the northern half of the island, but had been halted by fierce Ambonese resistance at the one kilometre wide
isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...
, which links it with the southern half. On 5 November the city of Ambon came into the hands of the Indonesian army. The RMS government fled to Ceram in December to continue the war in the form of a guerilla warfare. "The town of Ambon had been wiped out except for four buildings," an eyewitness told an Australian newspaper. "The Indonesians had constantly shelled the town and planes had strafed it, but much of the destruction had been caused by arson." The fighting was ferocious, since TNI's opposition were well-trained former KNIL soldiers including the '' Green Caps.'' The Indonesian army suffered severe losses. Although the RMS soldiers were KNIL members which were well-trained and renowned for their fighting skills, the resistance of the APRMS soldiers was eventually put down in November 1950. However, Lt. Col.
Slamet Rijadi Brigadier General Ignatius Slamet Rijadi ( Perfected Spelling: Ignatius Slamet Riyadi; 26 July 1927 – 4 November 1950) was an Indonesian soldier. Rijadi was born in Surakarta, Central Java, to a soldier and a fruit seller. Rijadi was ...
who was the commander of the Indonesian army in the Maluku sector and an important participant during the offensive was killed during the final day of the campaign.


Dutch involvement

During the Indonesian National Revolution, the Dutch had to disband the reinstated KNIL, and the native soldiers had the choice of either being
demobilised Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milita ...
or joining the army of the Republic of Indonesia. Due to a deep distrust of the Republican leadership, which was predominantly Javanese Muslim, this was an extremely difficult choice for the Protestant Ambonese, and only a minority chose to serve with the Indonesian Army. Disbanding proved a complicated process and, in 1951, two years after the transfer of sovereignty, not all soldiers had been demobilised. The Dutch were under severe international pressure to disband the colonial army and temporarily made these men part of the regular Dutch army, while trying to demobilise them in
Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...
. Herein lay the source of the discontent among the Moluccan soldiers as, according to the KNIL policy, soldiers had the right to choose the place where they were to be discharged at the end of their contract. The political situation in the new Republic of Indonesia was initially unstable and, in particular, controversy over a federal or centralised form of the state resulted in armed conflicts in which Ambonese ex-KNIL men were involved. In 1951 an independent Republic of the South Moluccas (
Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...
: RMS, Republik Maluku Selatan) was proclaimed at Ambon. The RMS had strong support among the Ambonese KNIL soldiers. As a consequence the Moluccan soldiers located outside the South Moluccas demanded to be discharged at Ambon. But Indonesia refused to let the Dutch transport these soldiers to Ambon as long as the RMS was not repressed, fearing prolonged military struggle. When after heavy fighting the RMS was repressed at Ambon, the soldiers refused to be discharged there. They now demanded to be demobilised at Seram, where pockets of resistance against Indonesia still existed. This was again blocked by Indonesia. The Dutch government finally decided to transport the remaining men and their families to the Netherlands. They were discharged on arrival and 'temporarily' housed in camps until it was possible for them to return to the Moluccan islands. In this way around 12,500 persons were settled in the Netherlands, more or less against their will and certainly also against the original plans of the Dutch government.


Aftermath

After the defeat of the RMS on Ambon by Indonesian forces in November 1950, the self-declared government withdrew to Seram, where an armed struggle continued on until December 1963. The
government in exile A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile ...
moved to the Netherlands in 1966, following resistance leader and president
Chris Soumokil Christiaan Robbert Steven Soumokil (13 October 1905 – 12 April 1966) was a South Moluccan politician and prosecutor who served as the second president of the Republic of South Maluku from 1950 until his execution in 1966 by Indonesian fo ...
's capture and execution by Indonesian authorities. The exiled government continues to exist, with John Wattilete as its incumbent president since April 2010.


United Nations

The Proclamation of the RMS has been a subject on the agenda of the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
, but was displaced there by the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
. On October 1, the RMS government requested intervention from the UN Security Council, Australia and the Netherlands to invade Indonesian troops. The Netherlands indicated that this was a matter for the UN and referred to the RTC transfer.


Legacy

The military engagements in Maluku prompted Kawilarang to establish what would later become Indonesia's special forces
Kopassus The Kopassus ( id, Komando Pasukan Khusus, Special Forces Command) is an Indonesian Army (TNI-AD) special forces group that conducts special operations missions for the Indonesian government, such as direct action, unconventional warfare, sabot ...
.


See also

*
Makassar Uprising The Makassar Uprising, also known as Andi Aziz rebellion, was a skirmish in Makassar, Sulawesi, between former Royal Dutch East Indies Army soldiers under Captain Andi Aziz and the Republic of the United States of Indonesia government. The ...
*
Operation Trikora Operation Trikora was an Indonesian military operation which aimed to seize and annex the Dutch overseas territory of Netherlands New Guinea in 1961 and 1962. After negotiations, the Netherlands signed the New York Agreement with Indonesia on ...
* Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation *
Maluku sectarian conflict The Maluku Islands sectarian conflict was a period of ethno-political conflict along religious lines, which spanned the Indonesian islands that compose the Maluku archipelago, with particularly serious disturbances in Ambon and Halmahera islan ...


Notes


References

{{Reflist, 30em Former Dutch colonies 20th-century conflicts Military operations involving Indonesia Dutch East Indies Maluku Islands 01 Separatism in Indonesia Indonesia–Netherlands relations 1950 in Indonesia Cold War rebellions Conflicts in 1950