3 Dec, 2013
Australian espionage and the history of foreign intervention in Indonesia | Jakarta Post
Indonesia emerged as a modern nation in the wake of World War II, when Japanese troops ousted the Dutch, who had subjugated and exploited the country for centuries. After the Japanese surrender in August 1945, Indonesia’s founding president Sukarno declared independence.
The new republic lay within the American-dominated Southwest Pacific Area and was soon handed to the British-dominated Southeast Asian Command. Allied soldiers arrived in Jakarta in September 1945 and began to occupy major Indonesian cities with the aim of returning Indonesia to its pre-war status as a Dutch colony.
Thousands died in the bombing of Surabaya. Dutch soldiers and administrators returned, led by Hubertus Johannes van Mook, who had run the Dutch East Indies government-in-exile from Brisbane during the war. Dutch prisoners of war, released by Indonesia, were armed and sent back on rampages against Indonesian civilians and police. Australian troops participated in the occupation of the outer islands, including Bali, and were involved in massacres.
Read the rest: Australian espionage and the history of foreign intervention in Indonesia | The Jakarta Post.
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