The siege of Surakarta was a military campaign 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 ...

. The Indonesian Republican forces ( TNI) briefly infiltrated the city of

Surakarta Surakarta ( jv, ꦯꦸꦫꦏꦂꦠ), known colloquially as Solo ( jv, ꦱꦭ; ), is a city in Central Java, Indonesia. The 44 km2 (16.2 sq mi) city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and Sukoh ...

(also known as Solo) before being repulsed by Dutch special forces (RST). Despite the defeat, the battle, together with an earlier attack on Yogyakarta, provided a morale boost for the Indonesians.

Background

From 1945 to 1948, the Dutch re-occupied various regions 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 List ...

, the territory of the Republic of Indonesia to

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

, and surrounding areas. In December 1948, the Dutch attacked and occupied the cities of Yogyakarta and Surakarta and declared that the Republic was destroyed and "no longer existed". In response the Indonesian army led by General

Soedirman General of the Army Raden Sudirman ( Old Spelling: Soedirman; 24 January 1916 – 29 January 1950) was a high-ranking Indonesian military officer during the Indonesian National Revolution. The first commander of the Indonesian National A ...

started a guerrilla war from surrounding areas and conducted large-scale raids into the cities of Yogyakarta and Surakarta, called ''Serangan Oemoem''. The Indonesian troops managed to beat the Dutch troops and occupy both cities for several hours. The leader of the raid on Yogyakarta was Lt. Col.

Soeharto Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto ...

. Soeharto fled the area in a hurry after heavy fighting.

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

observers stated that the uprising of the TNI in

had failed and the Dutch were in control again. The leader of a similar raid on Surakarta on 7 August 1949 was 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 consolidating with

Pakubuwono XII Pakubuwono XII (also transliterated Pakubuwana XII; Surakarta, April 14, 1925 – Surakarta, June 11, 2004) was the twelfth Susuhunan (ruler of Surakarta) and the longest ruling of all monarchs in Surakarta history. He reigned under Japanese o ...

Surakarta insurgency

The TNI attempted to capture

in Central

before the armistice, and succeeded in many places to infiltrate the city. 325 men of the Regiment Speciale Troepen (RST) were hastily flown in to expel the TNI from Surakarta. In a few days time the insurgency was carried out. Approximately 400 from the Indonesian side were killed, while the Dutch side lost approximately 100 killed.

Aftermath

This last battle of the RST showed again the qualitative superiority of the KST/RST over the Indonesian nationalist fighters. The leader of the raid on Surakarta on 7 August 1949 was Lt. Col. Slamet Rijadi. To commemorate this event, the main street of the city of Surakarta was renamed "Brigadier General Slamet Rijadi Street".

References

Indonesian National Revolution Battles of the Indonesian National Revolution 1948 in Indonesia 1949 in Indonesia August 1949 events in Asia {{Indonesian National Revolution