Same shit for us French in Indochina. No one wanted to go and the government decided against a draft so soon after WW2. Only professional soldiers and volunteers went, and except the Navy they had very little equipment and support. We call it the Forgotten War. Disillusioned veterans from Indochina would later form the core of the Algiers putschists.
@Velsen You do forget about Ducth 1854 racial law Reglement op het beleid der Regering van Nederlandsch-Indie, and Dutch's Indische Staartsregeling do you? Thats basically Dutch version of Nazism, No wonder the indonesians have super hatred toward the Dutch after such racism for almost a century.
@Dan oz you're conflating two very different period in indonesian history with different governments and situation. The new order (the government that invaded timor leste), was a United States backed regime that started after they committed a politicide (supported by america) of the left wing faction of the old government, which was the reason they invaded timor leste in the first place, they feared a left wing government in their backyard could make problems Not saying the old government was good mind you but to conflate them, the one that fights the dutch, with the one that committed timor leste genocide, is a bad take away from reading indonesian history
@@hanscumyeah4216 I have met very little Indonesians who actually hate our guts. Neither do I hate them. Both sides have blood on their hands, you need to seek to understand history and genocide but NEVER justify it
This was a messy conflict. As a history teacher I just wrapped up a project with my pupils. If it wasn't for this they would barely learn about the topic. Therefore I'm glad also history UA-camrs discuss the topic.
@Mr Doggo I’m happy that you guys are producing accessible, quality work. I have a history degree and I’m still learning and I really love the fact that there is a community out there helping pass this information to the public. Thanks again.
hey your the dutch right? tell him that they missed the indonesian victories and also the fact about the capital moved to bukit tinggi after the fall of jogyakarta and the fact about the siliwangi division led by soeharto
Good vid, some additions: At first, the Americans supported the Dutch retake of Indonesia. But when it became clear that Indonesia was to be independent at some point (that was also clear to the Dutch), they didn't want to antagonize Sukarno into the Communist bloc. - horrific atrocities have been committed by both sides during the war, but probably most famous is the Death Squad of captain Westerik, who trialed captured indonesians and shot them on the spot. He later tried a coup against Sukarno. - the Dutch didn't want to call it a war for another important reason. Officially, war can only be declared on an sovereign state. So by calling it a war, the Dutch would indirectly acknowledge the Indonesian Republic a sovereign state.
True, the US wasn't supportive towards the Indonesian independence in the first phases, but eventually they did due to concerns of the Netherlands disturbing the regional stability and fear of Indonesia being radicalized and turning to the Eastern Bloc for help in the independence war. US support gradually increased, especially after the Indonesian Republican government managed to crush a communist rebellion in 1948. However relations began to detoriorate between the US and Indonesia in the 50s, especially after President Soekarno was getting closer to the Communist Bloc instead of being neutral as he previously claimed and also after the landslide victory of the Indonesian Communist Party in the 1955 general election (Soekarno didn't immediately outlaw the Communist Party after the 1948 rebellion due to it actually being one of his largest base of support and also the focus of the Indonesian government at the time was only at territorial consolidation and reorganization of the armed forces).
Well put. Dutch soldiers were also fed a lot of propaganda against 'radicals' and 'nationalist bandits'. Men like one of my uncles went to the East believing they would actually liberate the people from them, only to find out that they (like the german occupiers they dispised) were now the 'bad guys'. My uncle was traumatised (ptss) by what he witnessed on Java and couldn't talk about it. I still have a 'classified' booklet from 1947 that teached soldiers how to invade villages, lay traps and interrogate suspects by mrans we would now call torture. It was a war ofcourse, but indeed by calling it so, the government would automatically acknowledge Indonesia's (rightful) independance. P.S. I spoke several veterans through the years, but none of them had the feeling that they fought for the benefit of the Indonesian people. Also: none of them questioned Indonesia's independance after the war. The german occupation of the Netherlands made it understandable that the Indonesians simply wanted their freedom as well.
@@MrEnaric Indonesia is not only Java, but Java is the new occupier of a lot of different people. Even Java itself has three types of races: Sunda, Java and Madura. 66 different languages are spoken in that archipel. You cannot deny the BERSIAP period. Nowadays you are witness of the genocide against the Papua citizens sold by the Kennedy Massons to the Java government. Of course all those different people had the right to have independency. But we are now living in 2020 and you see again the war led bij the US government by asking sending troops to Mali and Irak, which are not even our historic colonies. Thereby are own people don't have any more the security of going a normal way crossing the street in certain area's in the Netherlands. Australian troopers are accused of war crimes during their first operation in Afghanistan in a period that the Dutch were in charge. By the way, Wall Street financed Hitler-Professor Anthony C.Sutton. So think about that.
I was raised in Canada and went to high school in the 1960's. One of my teachers had been with the Canadian army in Europe and participated in the liberation of The Netherlands. He showed us pictures he had taken in the Netherlands. one of which showed rows and rows and rows of Canadian tanks lined up on a beach. We asked what happened to all those tanks. He said they were sold to the Dutch who lost them in Indonesia. Other than that, I had not heard anything about the Dutch/Indonesian war until watching your excellent presentation.
My grandfather fought in Indonesia as a young boy, he told me that they used allot of US made weapons, armored vehicle and even uniforms... strange times...
I'm from Indonesia. And before the Dutch left Indonesia, the tanks were handed over to the Indonesian National Army (TNI), which was then also used to crush the rebels after Indonesian independence such as APRA led by Westerling the former Dutch army officer, DI/TII (Islamist rebels), PRRI/Permesta which assisted by the CIA etc. Strange history.
The vehicles of the First Canadian Army, all 37.000 of them, were gathered in a dump in Deelen, near Arnhem. The Dutch army got the first pick and selected the best vehicles for use in the Dutch Indies. What remained was sold to the general public so they could use it to get the economy back on its feet. Whole transport companies' fleets consisted of these vehicles and many jeeps were used as farm tractors. If you google 'Dump Deelen', you will find pictures of the rows and rows of vehicles.
Actually, it happend. In the battle of Jogjakarta, at the top of a hotel, Indonesian soldier ripped off those blue colour of dutch flag for their own red&white flag, it cost several soldier to do that...
Just for small addition here. Indonesian never receive any military support from nearby countries apart from what they had taken from both Japanese and Netherlands equipment, unlike what happens during both of Malaya Emergency and Vietnam War. Indonesian also didn't receive so much military training from outside countries. As the result, casualties are quite high from both the military and civilian of the new country.
I think its a little bit incorrect, indonesia did receive weapons mostly from illegal trade in Singapore. Most of the navy activity at that time was smuggling weapon in exchange for resources, like the famous john lie. Some Indonesian commander did receive military training from dutch KNIL and japanese PETA.
@@abcddef2112 Ah yes I overlooked the illegal trading parts, thank you. If you didn't mind a bit correction here, Indonesia at the time didn't receive military support from major powers (UK & Commonwealth, USA, and Russia) so they get by scraping anything they can take. For the training, isn't native forces that compose majority of KNIL are only works as soldiers or some of them also promoted to officers? I remember that only the Japanese taught officer level skills, because one of the Independence War hero, Gen. Sudirman, was a graduate from PETA training.
Rakai Pikatan Yep if that is the case then it is correct. It is actually a pity that the knil/peta dichotomy or rivalry of the early indonesian army isnt taught well enough. Sometimes its not either or, as some had both knil and peta education. One of the highest military leader position was Oerip Sumoharjo, he was a retired KNIL officer who actually was the first top general. In a leadership election he lost out to Sudirman who lead peta faction. Some knil educated generals were suspected of dutch sympathies, though in the end some attain high post. Gatot subroto, Didi kartasasmita, Nasution, Simatupang, kawilarang, Suharto all had KNIL education. This is a good video ua-cam.com/video/vPt4SuDsujQ/v-deo.html
I’m an Indo. My opa and oma were both born to a Dutch father and Indonesian mother. My opa and his brother were at one point captured in a “Jappenkamp”, which I can only imagine was absolutely horrifying. My grandparents and their then only child fled to Nederland. They later got 4 more children, including my father. When they were still alive I asked them questions about how life was in Indonesia or Indië. But unfortunately, they never wanted to talk about it. It was only when my opa got dementia after my oma passed away, he suddenly repeatedly told the stories of “the boys were scared and crying when they heard gunshots” and “I drove a truck up a hill/mountain”. I wish they could’ve told me more, but I get why they wouldn’t. May they rest in peace ❤️ I’m incredibly proud of my roots, both Dutch and Indonesian 🇳🇱🇲🇨
Incredible, my opa also lived in Indonesia during ww2, and also endured a "Jappenkamp". He was Dutch tough, not mixed. What struck me about your comment is the dementia part. My opa also kept quiet about his experiences during the the war until his Alzheimer disease. He would at times think he was back in Indonesia, and just sit there crying. Amazing the effect such a disease can have isnt it. Bless your family, groetjes!
@Lilo I am Dutch-Indonesian as well! 😃 A lot of your story is similar to what my Grandparents went through especially under the Japanese. I have always referred to my Grandma as “Oma” as well! However I am more Caucasian in appearance since my father married an American but I am Dutch-Indonesian and proud! Thanks for your insightful post. Dankje!
It seems like that persons with traumatic eventsvin their relive them more when dementia hits them. You here this quite often. I wonder if it's less when you dealt whit them more during your life and didnt hid those feelings and tried to move on.
I'm an Indonesian and my late grandpa fought in this war, and he told me he and his classmates would go to school with rifles at the ready in case the Dutch attacks. Nice video!
@@claudius3359 My great grandma was given the chance to get some education from the Japanese school, she graduated from that school aswell. Mind you she was just a pleb.
Actually the real indian is indonesia because the spice island(called india by the european) which the european search is in indonesia.. The modern india is called mahabarath..
@@alnash1433 just because your anti hindu doesn't means it's right for you spread false disinformation. That doesn't make you superior to indian or hanood peoples.
@@shrinilodedra3001 no anti hindu (its doesnt even have correlation to anything what i said) , just speaking facts, the western country looking for spices in the indian island.
I think there is a little stir up in the video. The event of burning the southern part of the city occurred in Bandung, not Surabaya. Battle of Surabaya stood out in the event of the Indonesian National Revolution because of its strikingly fierce battle in the eyes of British and Republican alike, but many armed struggles also erupted in many cities of Indonesia, one of which is in Bandung, where half southern part of the city of Bandung was burned down by the Republican force
The Republican forces actually won militarily once, in Ambarawa against British forces. The March 1st General Strike in Yogyakarta only lasts for 6 hours, as they later flee to avoid more casualties. But diplomatically, it successfully proved that Indonesia still exists.
The Battle of Surabaya was literally the 'Stalingrad of Indonesia'. It was a horrible urban battle where both sides fought house to house, street to street, and Indonesian forces lost almost like 200.000 people on that city alone
Imagine you lost your friend during a patrol, burn down a kampung and kill a lot of young-adult males just to tried to find him, and then finds them dead on the very next day tied up to a pole with a very gruesome torture marks from head to toe with a huge boards saying "its a payback for what you has done in our kampung" literally nailed down on his chest. My grandpa used to told us about this type of revenge happened sporadically all over the place against a captured Dutch patrol unit during the guilerra after Operation Kraai. Some people are indeed venting their anger to the captured Dutch patrol troops without any mercy which in turn make the Dutch military personnel increasingly demoralised and desperate.
Interestingly, in Indonesian schools, the Police action is referred to as "Agresi Militer Belanda" or Dutch Military Aggression (1st and 2nd). From the education here, there was definitely a lot more emphasis on from the native's perspective, how the more than 3 centuries of occupation has sucked the people and the land, and how the people just wanted independence, that said, there was a lot of the gruesome details like the massacares from the pemuda and dutch that are skipped over.
Bersiap never told to Indonesian generation, but im pretty sure that situation happen in Europe too during ww2 and post ww2, like when the german occupied Europe, the Anti Semitic and minorities happened in many countries in Europe, and when the German Retreat/defeat there's an Persecution to Volksdeustche in Europe.
@@risannd Because how did you define lose in Military context? At the time we have an emergency government in Sumatra. So technically Indonesia still exist without Soekarno and Hatta. For the military, did you know why General Soedirman famous? General Soedirman takes control of the military and keep the guerilla warfare going. Under the leadership of Soeharto, the Indonesian military take control of Yogyakarta for 6 hours. We knew this event as General Offensive of 1 March 1949. The occupation of Yogyakarta for 6 hours is to show that even without Soekarno and Hatta. Indonesia still exist.
@@banban8481 Battle of Surabaya, lost. Puputan Margarana, definitely lost. Operatie Product and Kraai, lost. Serangan Umum 1 Maret, only lasted for 6 hours, although it had achieved its goal diplomatically. The only victory in battle we ever get is Battle of Ambarawa. Yes, General Sudirman is a great person. He led the Battle of Ambarawa and the guerilla phase later.
You should put the Indonesian flag in the thumbnail, they'll come flocking to this video. This war pretty much took up 5th grade history lessons back in the day. Also, a video on the West Papua dispute would defnitely be useful because it gives background on the current independence movement in that region, something that is not widely unknown to outsiders.
My grandfather fought with the dutch indies army(KNIL). After he came back to the Netherlands, he was a different person. Almost never smiled again. He never wanted to talk about it. I heard some stories from my uncle and father, but he also didn't say much to them. When he passed away we found some foto albums with his regiment in it. Must have been a terrible conflict.
@Nikitas Nehemia Nicholas Hutapea did u fall asleep at school? We are all malay. Except melanesians at the east and chinese ethnicity. Dutch never bothered batak christians because they were christians.
Thank you for sharing this from a Dutch perspective. I've been taught that the Indonesian victory was more military than diplomatic, turns out the diplomatic involvement was also a major help. Also didn't know about the killings done by the youngsters towards those they deem to be an obstacle to independence. Respect to those who have served for both sides, they fought for a good cause. May God give them all the best heaven provides. Lest we all forget. Dank u well, Bru!
Berjuang untuk tujuan yg baik? Jadi menjajah tanah air itu baik di mata kamu? Mau berapa tahun dipanggil monyet dan dihina lagi? 100? 200? 300? Darimana KNIL berjuang untuk tujuan baik?!
The youths despite being rough, they just want a unified nation, not some BS made from complicated agreements from those who were out of touch by not being directly involved on the ground. The youths are the ones that would suffer from those "agreements" later down the line.
It's interesting to learn the history of my country from Netherlands perspective. I learned something that I wasn't told by my teacher. Thank you for the video.
I'm Indonesian, i quite enjoyed your videos, especially when you put "Wilhelmus" everytime the Dutch mentioned, like "Ah yes, the Dutch". and also your collaboration with Koifish on CK3, especially about Alfred the Great's wife. But something bother me: You mentioned that southern part of Surabaya was burnt during Battle of Surabaya, but in fact, it never happen. It was Bandung in West Java that got its southern part got burnt or rather "earth sourched" as the Indonesian higher command wanted to deny any use of any facilities to the British and later, the Dutch. It happen on 23-24 March 1946. It happen because the British authorities on 22 March 1946 demand any Indonesian fighters to evacuated from Bandung on 11 km radius from the city. The Indonesians asked for a delay (nominally to move their supplies and equipment) but was denied. So, on 23 March, Indonesian resolved to "burnt everything" and start burn city facilites, followed by common people also burn their own houses and evacuate themselves with the Indonesian figthers. It was estimated around 200.000 to 500.000 civilians and soldiers evacuate from Southern Bandung. It was known as Bandung Sea of Fire (Indonesian: Bandung Lautan Api). I surprised that you not mentioned several points during the timeline, like The Battle of Ambarawa, the General Offensive of 1st March, The Battle of Surakarta, The Social Revolution to the Malay monarchies of Eastern Sumatra, the Communist Revolution in Madiun, the Darul Islam Revolution in West Java, the Long March of Siliwangi Division, Raymond Westerling's action against Indonesians, the role of BFO, and some others (I believe this happen for simplification to avoid the video to become a 3-hours explanation video). Nevertheless, for me this is a good 15-minutes video explaining the theme. Random Facts: During the Battle of Surabaya, some of 500-600 British Indian Muslims soldiers (if i correctly remember its number) defected to Indonesian side as they did not want to fight agaist fellow Indonesian Muslims. Also Random Fact: Java is spelled as ['dʒava] like you spell Java programming language as the "J" in Indonesian Language is spelled as [dʒ] instead of German-Dutch [j] Anyway, this is a good video. Keep it on meisteer (did i spell it correctly?)
The TimeGhost History channel did a four part series on the subject and go into more detail. If you like this, I think you will also like the series. Btw, the dutch king made an official apology in march of this year to the Indonesian people for dutch behavior during the independence war. How was that received in Indonesia? (Weird question, but I'm curious as a student of history).
My Pake and his brother fought for the Dutch in Indonesia. He's never really talked about his experience at all. All I know is he drove a truck and was ambushed by the Indonesians once and rescued by fellow Dutch troops. Interestingly he holds no ill will towards the Indonesians unlike the Germans.
It was natural, any foreigner, especially Dutch, who came during this era of conflict would be considered an enemy who had returned to enslave Indonesia again
Interesting topic! I didn't know much about it until some HistoryTubers (History Hustle and TimeGhost) made a whole bunch of videos about this subject. Now Hilbert joins them with a very nice introduction to/summary of the conflict. I especially appreciate presenting the perspective of individual Dutch soldiers.
Awesome video, as you kinda mentioned, a lot of Dutch men who grew up under nazi rule wanted to fight for their country because they couldn't do that during the occupation. So they volunteered for the army to fight the Japanese, the war was of course not over when the Netherlands was freed. But when they were in training in the USA the war ended and they wanted to go home. But now they had signed a contract for the Dutch army and they had to fight in Indonesia.
Interesting.. but don't you think that they realize when they go to Netherland Indie, they don't fight for their country freedom anymore, but to occupied another country/region? Seems paradox with their original spirit.
@@restumuh87 No, because of Dutch propaganda they saw Indonesia as a intergral part of the Netherlands. They tought they would fight of the Japanese, or communist rebellions, and that the Indonesian people would support the Dutch cause, because they tought Indonesians also saw themselves as Dutch (second rang) citizens.
@@thommyneter168 That was definitely not the case, as the Dutch basically practiced segregation against non white citizens in Indonesia during the colonial rule. As a result, few Indonesians ever really adopted "Dutch" as their identity". This was something that was quite apparent in Indonesia at that time, so either it was just Dutch propaganda or they were really just that disinterested in what the Indonesians think.
@@askkedladd from my great grandmother POV segredation just for different class you know if you are peasant you always become second class citizen Dutch perspective they want develope some are but there always have intervention by Local Kingdom
Hey! Indo here! I really love your vids my Oma was born Dutch and because that I really love Indonesian, Dutch and European history. my brother is somewhat shit at history so whenever he needed my help for subjects i just sent videos that you made [including this!] and he got a somewhat "Good" grades
My grandmother was from Indonesia (she had a Dutch father and Indonesian mother) and my grandfather from Brittish India (Irish-Indian father and Portugese-Indian mother). My Grandfather was a Gurka in the Brittish army and fought the Japanese liberating Java island where he met my grandmother. They moved to India (Podanur Tamil district) and lived many years as kings with around 20 servants in their mansion. After some years in the 50’s they moved to The Netherlands but my grandfather was denied access due to his military background in the Brittish army, he lived for two years in Liverpool before his access was granted into The Netherlands. My father was 5yrs old when he came to The Netherlands and was never educated by my grandparents about the war and why they really left the Indies, also in India there was a revolution going on for independence. My mother married my father in the early 70’s, she was from Zwolle. I have seven uncles and one aunt from my fathers side of the family and we are sooo diverse! We have Irish looking ginger albinos, Punjabi’s, Indonesian, Dutch looking family that really sets us apart from many others, although our Indo friends also have family members with different skin tones. I remember as a kid we went to the Pasar Malam, an Indonesian market where all Indonesians gathered and at our grand family gatherings my sister and nieces would dance typical Indonesian style and would dress up with Hawaiian dancers looking clothes! Never have I seen a video as detailed as this one, thank you for your effort!
Thanks for a great video. This is an area of the 20th century history that I was barely aware of. I knew that Indonesia gained independence from the Netherlands, but I had no idea about the details
Indonesia did not get its independence from the Netherlands, independence was purely the struggle of the Indonesian people when Japan surrendered in WW2 1945 because at that time Japan was bombed by America who made Japan weak.. it was a good opportunity to rebel against the invaders and that's when the first President of Indonesia declared Indonesia's independence, so the conclusion was Indonesia's independence with bloodshed not because it was given away.
Minor correction in the video, The burning of Surabaya, as well as I am aware, never happened. I think Hilbert might have mixed up the burning of Surabaya with the burning of Bandung. In Bandung, it did indeed happened, and us Indonesians called it "Bandung Sea of Fire". Also, a fun fact about "Operation Crow", or "2nd Military Aggression" that us Indonesians are taught to call it at school, one of the reasons why the morale of Indonesia didn't instantaneously broke, was because General Sudirman, one of the great military leaders of the republican side manage to retake Jogja from dutch hands, atleast for 6 hours, but that incident ignited the morale of Indonesia, where they proceed to continue the fight via government in exile, lead by Syarif Prawiranegara.
And then we all retreated into the jungles with Sudirman and hope for the best until Sukarno and the rest of the emergency gang clear things up on the round table
fantastic video. Im glad to see a video about this conflict which doesnt oversimplify it massively. The Dutch-indonesian war was extremely complicated and both sides had many different reasons to fight.
I'm Dutch and I was waiting for him to end explaining the larger context and start about this conflict between NL and Vietnam that I never heard about😂
Even after all of these years, this war is still a very taboo subject in the Netherlands. Most Dutch people simply want to forget it and not talk about it, much like the Dutch Collaboration with the German Occupation from 1940 to 1944/5.
imagine the shock people would get here if they knew we send a bunch of our Waffen SS veterans to fight in Indonesia. SS troops send by the Dutch to keep a colony under their rule.
@@hendrikdependrik1891 well they weren't send because the Dutch wanted ex-German soldiers to help with the apartheid. it was as punishment. Later during the Korean war these Waffen-SS veterans could volunteer to go for a reduction of their sentence or other punishments they had been given.
Sadly both the Indonesian government and the netherlands agreed to ‘collectively forget’ war crimes commited. The irony is ICJ is centered in netherands.
What a silly comment. There is certainly not a kind of "omerta" about this. In the past years there have been several dutch publications about the crimes commited by dutch soldiers. There is only one other thing: there was and is also the memory about the Bersiap. Almost all older dutch people know what that meant for civilians on the non-indonesian side. The suggestion implicated by your remark about the dutch collaborators in WW2 must be classified as malicious: have a talk with the inhabitants of Putten (www.putten.nl/Bezoekers/Razzia).
@@ahmadmuhdi190 probably not because every time we see indonesia or indo in a title we are like WHOMST HAS AWAKENED THE ANCIENT ONE like we click on it immediately
In 2011, the Dutch government decided to compensate the widowers of the victims for the crimes committed by Captain Westerling on Sulawesi. The victim compensation is Rp 340,000,000 (€ 20,000) per person. In 2020, the Dutch court decided that also the children of the victims are entitled to compensation. The Dutch Government has therefore decided to pay out Rp 85,000,000 (€ 5,000) to the children from all over the Dutch East Indies at the time. So not just Sulawesi. These children, whose parents were summarily executed by Dutch soldiers in 1945 and 1950. Compensation cannot bring back loved ones or ease the emotional distress. It may be too late, but with the knowledge of today the Netherlands is now trying to figure out its own black history.
I wonder when the Indonesian government shall recompense the family’s of those Europeans and indo Europeans executed by the Indonesians rebels. Justice and compensation must be a two way street or it is simply a farce and the Indonesian governments hands are coated in the blood of innocents
@@tyrionlannister6459 You are acting like we were the only bad guys in this war, while the Indonesians have also commited many war crimes too many to count, and yes innocent because some people moved from the Netherlands to Indonesia and peacefully lived there but because of their ethnicity they were killed
15:30 Not sure about the Chinese flag choice, as the communists didn't even found the People's Republic of China until the end of the Indonesian War for Independence
Fun fact, in the book about the CIA archives: 'A Legacy of Ashes' they mention some archives pointing out the US thought the Indies had oil and wanted the Dutch influence booted out so they could try to steer it a bit better while also aiding the rebels a spot
Very good, I knew about some of the post WWII history of Indonesia, but not much. Thanks for giving more information. I did miss not hearing the Dutch anthem .
Very interesting documentary, thanks for posting that. My in-law was sent from Holland to Indonesia in 1946, as a soldier, he stayed there for almost three years. He doesn't talk about it very much, but he still speaks a bit of Indonesian. It seemed to have been a rather cruel war, as he, very old now, wakes up on a regular basis at night because he dreams that somebody is shooting at him...
I encourage people from Indonesia and Netherlands to view this historical event from each other perspectives. This way we can minimize biases and achieve better understanding. Not to forget, but to forgive and move on together as friends.
Fascinating stuff! I have strong connections with the Netherlands, having married a Dutch woman and lived in the country from 1979 to 1984. I still work as a translator of Dutch to English. It is refreshing to hear Dutch correctly pronounced in a video - even big organisations such as the BBC rarely manage it. Do you have Dutch roots?
Good video. Keep it up 👍. Just minor correction I think. National Awakening (Kebangkitan Nasional), actually started in 1905 when SDI (Sarekat Dagang Islam) founded in Solo, Central Java by Saman Hudi. And change the name to SI (Sarekat Islam) with 2.000.000 member in 1913. Other version, BO (Boedi Oetomo) in 1908. 28 October 1928 is The Youth Conggress that formally declared that Nederland-Hindi is one nation; Indonesia. Thankyou 🙏
Great video. as an Indonesian I always felt that what they teach in our history classes have been too patriotic, but your video really shows the pros and cons that happened during the war.
I am a Dutch-indo. My (indo) grandfather served and died in Indonesia. He is buried at the Dutch militairy graveyard called Candi in Semarang, Java. May he and all others rest in peace 🙏🏽 I visit Indonesia often. I ❤️ Indonesia.
The Dutch still owe indonesia for saving Raymond Westerling. Westerling was convicted of carrying out the massacre of 40,000 Indonesians on the southern island of Sulawesi from 1946 to 1947, known as the 'westerling massacre'. In January 1955, Westerling received a written statement from judicial officials in Amsterdam that the inquest had ended and stopped the investigation. In 1987 westerling died without being sentenced, the United Nations had no function.
The Dutch occupied by Germany for 3 years. they feel miserable and sad. After they regain their coutry they get marhsall plan aid to build their country. instead of rebuilding their country, they came back to Indonesia which had declared independence to do what Germany had done to them. embarrassing
This history in particular Hilbert is very close to home for me since I am Dutch-Indonesian and American. Before my father was born his parents were forced into prison camps in New Guinea. I have heard some of the horrid stories that were done by the Japanese and then the results of some Indonesia independence after Japan invaded. My “Oma” I believe watched as the Japanese garrison soldiers executed her father to drowning, and a little brother of hers didn’t survive the camp. My uncle who was her son when around 6,7 or 8 years old still has retained some memories of the tyranny and conditions that happened there. After the Japanese imperial army was defeated they were reunited before going back to the prison camps a second time, and had my Tanta (Aunt) and afternoon that captivity reunited and father was born later in ‘55. He grew up in Indonesia on the Island of New Guinea seven years before his parents and other family migrated to Netherlands to keep Dutch citizenship. Later he would move to America with his brother and now have interesting culture of Dutch-Indonesia-American culture. Just thought I’d share a little. This was an awesome video and really reminded me of my father and grandparents heritage! Dankje, Hilbert voor je videos! (Yeah my Dutch could be better) *EDIT* Also hope to add British-Indian to the fam as well 🇬🇧🇮🇳!
@@noahhess4955 Thanks you for reading the post! Appreciate it. Yes it’s a shame what happened indeed, but I try to think that maybe despite all the war-time atrocities things eventually started to work out.
Thank you for sharing. I too have the same part history. My whole family, 4 grandparents and their families, were born and raised in the Dutch East Indies (DEI). All were interned during WWII, some as KNIL/Dutch East Indies Army personnel, shipped to island before mainland japan. All women and children interned in DEI. They never talked about the atrocities they endured, but Im sure I lost at least 1 great uncle while he was working slave labor in the mines. Indeed, after WWII ended, all returned home, only to find the Indonesians in there. They had to go into another internment camp. This time guarded by the Japanese... (again, but this time they were keeping them safe). SInce most male relatives were KNIL soldiers, they re-enlisted and fought against the Indonesians. Grandparents mother side left for Holland in '49, Grandparents father's side (incl my father who was born there in '49) left for Holland in '53. I now made the circle towards NA, by emigrating to Canada, more than 60 years after my grandparents emigrated/repat to Holland.
United States be like: “Your breaking a treaty, no more empires!” Meanwhile also the USA: “er I’m just securing oil fields…don’t look at those airfields.”
Tbh allying with former colonial empires America really lost a lot of ground in the Cold War to Soviet Union, and even more so to socialism/communism itself in Asia and Africa specifically, and even impacted American standing in Latin America also. At the end of WW2 many communist leaders like Communist China or Communist Vietnam really LOVED the USA. It's now quite funny as some of the most (in)famous mouthpiece of modern day CPC (which recently have written so many anti-American propaganda) like People's Daily, New China Media, etc. (and their predecessors) wrote so many PRO American propaganda in the 1940s. Like a special editorial on 7/4/1944, 'Hail to Democracy, Hail to American Independence day, Hail to the GREAT people & the country of the U.S. of A. (Written in FULL name instead of just America in Chinese)'. Or a poem praising America to be the 'arsenal of democracy' and 'challenging the dark old world' from her birth to more 'recently' WW2 against fascism. Also Ho Chi Min invited Americans to watch him giving the speech declaring an independent Vietnam, which actually sounded just like the American declaration of independence. And Viet Cong & America maintained a great relationship, until France wanted to take back Vietnam and America supported them... And I'm just looking at the A-P theater of the WW2, and it's not hard to understand why. Americans fought a lot harder & braver and seems to care a lot more about the locals (especially their colonial subjects in Philippians, even though they already were implementing a plan for the Philippians to gain full independence b4 the war). While the Dutch, British, French, etc. basically lost all their legitimacy as colonial masters after their disastrous campaigns against the Japanese. And like someone said, 'they weren't pitied or missed at all' in those places. Not to mention American colonial rule was a lot shorter, and confined to the Philippians while most other European powers were long despised because their colonial rules were longer and more damaging, and affected much more population. Hence at least in Asia or even in the 3rd world in general people saw America and Western Europe as 2 completely different species. And American allying with the West while Soviet declared them enemies... I think it was clear who had the upper hand in those situations.
My grandpa fought in the war against the Dutch. His name and rank was Colonel Di Sumardi. I don't know a lot about him, just that he fought in areas across Java during the war and saw it through during the whole war.
@@xXWesterlingXx Surrendering becuase rotherdam was bombed. Thats why city states are soo weak its people have nowhere to run in the event of war. In Iraq before the americans invaded thecapitol lost 70% of its population its the people fled to the countryside, you cant do that if your entire country is a city.
@@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714 the netherlands isnt a city state its just below average nation size its bigger then switzerland and israel and theres lots of countryside in the netherlands its the 2nd biggest agricultural exporter in the world after all
@@xXWesterlingXx A city state is a state where all politics are dominated by the city. Nederlands fits that criteria. But it not even close to largest producer.
My grandfather worked at a military hospital. When the Dutch military aggression landed in Padang, many of his friends were killed. They are not soldiers, they are doctors, nurses, civilians, and killed. My grandfather fled to the forest, in the forest doing guerrillas. Thank God my grandfather survived the Dutch aggression, then was awarded a veteran and ended up as a poor farmer.
The Indonesian militias consists of mostly volunteers. Without pay. Sometimes they were given some money, if available. No weapon. My grandpa was given 2 japanese grenades and joined the militias back in 1944. He was only 18 years old. Few years later he got promoted to 1st lieutenant, the militias was absorbed into TKR and then joined Gen. Soedirman during his guerilla war. He lost his 1st daughter (my auntie) as stillborn due to malnutrition when travelling with the troops. His wife (my Grandmother, was part Dutch/Indo although she never want to talk about her Dutch heritage but she spoke Dutch fluently. I still remember her singing Als de Orchideen Bloeien...) He got involved in the Battle of Ambarawa but didn't join the 1 March battle in his hometown, Yogyakarta. Because he was still with Soedirman at that time. He finally start to have his formal pay as a soldier when Soedirman return to Yogyakarta after Round Table Conference. His favourite weapon was a sten gun. In 1950's, he was sheltering ex Student Militias who were not able to join the TNI when one of them rob a store with his pistol. He was accused of treason and was almost got death sentence. But his former comrades defended him, included one that later become a minister in Soeharto era. Instead he got 2 years in military jail. Some Dutch military still around when he got released from jail and he was hit by one of Dutch military truck when on a motorcycle. Another 2 years in a Dutch military hospital recovering from broken foot bone. He got a platinum bar in the bone. He then retired from TNI eventhough offered a position as a military leader in Sulawesi that he refused, and become a civilian working at Departemen Dalam Negeri (Internal Affairs) until his retirement age. He passed away in 2003 after my Grandmother a few months before.
Thanks very much for this video, my grandfather served in Indonesia too. There was a book about the campaign, my mother has a copy....wish I could read Dutch.
Yeah he only mentioned the massacre that happened to Dutch because Indonesian want to be independent, but not mentioning the massacre that Dutch did to Indonesian to colonize Indonesia. So many bias here.
My grandfather served in the Dutch Indies. I believe that his last mission was to drive with and defend a train loaded of munitions trough risky territory and enemy "kampongs". My grandmother (still alive) was very stressed about this.
Indonesian here, God damn, imagine how scary that must be. If somebody managed to get onto the munition carts with something flammable the whole thing would explode. I respect your grandfather's work. Also, Kampong translates to town/village.
@@TheGuyThatsNotFunny i can Imagine yes. Yes, I know about the kampongs. It was a strange time back in the days. Thank you for the respect. Where do you live nowadays?
My grandfather fought in the Indies. He never spoke a single word to anyone of it. Until a weird event where my father (when he was like 12 in the 60's) hit sombodies car with his bike, and they came to my grandfathers house later in the day to talk about the damage to the car. Then this conversation came: "Jaap?" said my grandfather to the owner of the car. "Marcel?" Said the owner of the car to my grandfather. Turns out they both were on the same fregat to indonesia. Talked about it for hours in the kitchen, and demanded anyone to leave the kitchen if enterd. My dad told me after the conversation my grandfather was almost dead silent for 3 days and drank heavily. Then he told of 1 single event that happend in Indonesia were he was talking to some random infantryman ashore who had this epic looking gun and talked to him about it. The guy with the gun was very happy to show my grandfather how it worked, and he proceded to shoot it down a field filled with Indonesians. Only story he ever told. And in the end my dad had no repercussions from riding his bike into a car.
Really great video Hilbert all your videos are great sadly have gotten behind because life and all. I hope to watch that podcast of the Norse and Suomi soon, as that seems like interesting topic! Blijf veilig en gezond! 🇳🇱🇮🇩🇺🇸
All those agreements during 1945-1949 means nothing because the Dutch Government kept breaking them... it was because those agreements did not stop Indonesia to unite and establish one republic based on one main government. So, they had to break it, support separatism and find exuse to send military agression to invade Indonesia. Notice that within a year Indonesia could easily dismiss indonesian federation after The 1949 conference in Netherland, quickly become one republic again in 1950 only by the order of a single Man, "Presiden Sukarno"(Tap MPRS 1950 mensahkan lagi UUD 1945 hasil sidang BUPKI & PPKI). Until today the Netherland official has not yet recognize Indonesia in De Jure.
Feel like you should've mentioned why they viewed Japan as a liberator because I feel like the Dutch system of brutal repression and implementation of a racist ultraviolet rule over the islands.
Another Great video, I would love to see more about this conflict in the future. Most I can find are Dutch or Indonesian which sadly I can not understand.
My greatgrandad from my mother side fought under KNIL, the Dutch. But his wife, my greatgrandmother, was a medic for the Republic. Just before the war was over, he went missing, presumably killed in the eastern front. After the war, my greatgrandmother was a staunch supporter of Soekarno and the Republic. She hated the Dutch but also spoke dutch with her childrens and grankids. She despised what the Dutch left us with, but also lived from army pension money from the Netherlands (also from RedCross). To make things more tangled, my greatgrandad and my grandad from my father side fought for the republic. Luckily, these two greatgrandads of mine never met, stationed in different islands. This tells me from a very young age that history is complicated. And if there is some truth to any historical account, it must be somewhere in the middle. Not from Indonesian history books, but also not from this video which looks at the Indonesian as merely 'rebel'.
@@rigele8127 well, our teacher didnt cover some of the topics in this video. Such as the casualties of the war, indonesia had to repay billions of dollars worth of property damage to netherland in order to get independence, pressure from UN & USA, and so on
In Vietnam, which returned to French colonial rule, 700 to 800 Japanese soldiers remained and weapons such as aircraft and tanks were left behind. Kwangai Army Junior High School was established in 1946 during the Vietnam Independence War. At some military schools, military education was conducted by former Japanese Army officers and non-commissioned officers. Some of the former Japanese soldiers who died in the Vietnam Independence War have been honored at the Martyr's Cemetery. Some Japanese soldiers who returned to Japan were later awarded a medal by Vietnam. In addition, we will continue to maintain friendly relations between the two countries by establishing organizations such as the Japan-Vietnam Trade Association and the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Association.
@General arollite Excuse but wasnt memeing about your country being colonized more how you could attack the Dutch and the UN and Muricans dosent care but when the Dutch smacks back then they are the agressors.
Yea i understand we had just been liberated from the germans by the canadians and after ww2 everyone agreed every country should be free but still right after our liberation our leaders sent young men who had lived trough those 5 years like my grandfather to fight for some islands they probably wouldn’t even be able to point on a map and an enemy that has never had the intention to hurt them and just wanted to be free while our royal family fleed to the UK when the first german paratrooper landed in our country so i understand it and i think we could have saved many lives if we just ended it there instead of fighting for 2 years
Question ive always had being dutch myself would the netherlands after modernizing indonesia which thye were working on actually have granted indepence as they claim we'll never know
@@timmiekat6072 How many centuries would modernization take? Wasn't 200 enough? Now, being serious, they probably would give independence to Indonesia if they were forced to, which they were. If they felt like they could get away with it, they'd keep it forever. Indonesia has a source of revenue to the Dutch, not à place to do benevolent nation building
Fact that almost nobody knows; Prins Bernhard (royal prince Bernhard) wanted to be king in indonesia. He even already made stamps with his portret. I hope that the Indonesian people can forgive all nations what has happend there. Peace be with you all. And uhm....it is not Marhsall, but Marshall plan. ;-) Great video, well done
As an Indonesian, don't worry mate, it's been happened long time ago, i also visited Netherlands once at 2018, very² beautiful place but very tall people's lol 🇮🇩🇳🇱
merdeka atau mati means, freedom or death.. I'm american with some Indonesian ancestry (a quarter).. it's so cool knowing all my ancestors fought for their freedom, during the American Revolution and Indonesian War of Independence
imagine just winning the world war, then immediately being sent to indonesia for more fighting
Lol
Same shit for us French in Indochina. No one wanted to go and the government decided against a draft so soon after WW2. Only professional soldiers and volunteers went, and except the Navy they had very little equipment and support. We call it the Forgotten War.
Disillusioned veterans from Indochina would later form the core of the Algiers putschists.
@Velsen You do forget about Ducth 1854 racial law Reglement op het beleid der Regering van Nederlandsch-Indie, and Dutch's Indische Staartsregeling do you? Thats basically Dutch version of Nazism, No wonder the indonesians have super hatred toward the Dutch after such racism for almost a century.
@Dan oz you're conflating two very different period in indonesian history with different governments and situation. The new order (the government that invaded timor leste), was a United States backed regime that started after they committed a politicide (supported by america) of the left wing faction of the old government, which was the reason they invaded timor leste in the first place, they feared a left wing government in their backyard could make problems
Not saying the old government was good mind you but to conflate them, the one that fights the dutch, with the one that committed timor leste genocide, is a bad take away from reading indonesian history
@@hanscumyeah4216 I have met very little Indonesians who actually hate our guts. Neither do I hate them. Both sides have blood on their hands, you need to seek to understand history and genocide but NEVER justify it
This is a story about a fight between the tallest group of people in the world and the shortest group of people in the world.
I thought the tallest people were a group in the congo
@@rustyshackelford3590 yup, that's true
Southeast Asians definitely aren't the shortest
@Dan oz emphasis on your "not counting"
Exactly
This was a messy conflict. As a history teacher I just wrapped up a project with my pupils. If it wasn't for this they would barely learn about the topic. Therefore I'm glad also history UA-camrs discuss the topic.
@Mr Doggo I’m happy that you guys are producing accessible, quality work. I have a history degree and I’m still learning and I really love the fact that there is a community out there helping pass this information to the public. Thanks again.
Thank you for giving the history though with heavy dutch bias. But discussion is definitely the start for creating a more bias free history.
Hi steffan!
Love your channel.
hey your the dutch right? tell him that they missed the indonesian victories and also the fact about the capital moved to bukit tinggi after the fall of jogyakarta and the fact about the siliwangi division led by soeharto
Dutch: *tells a joke*
The tree next to him: awokawokowka
Aowkaoakak
Wekawekaweka
Awkwkwkkw
Cukkkkk :v
awokawoka is the new one
When you're in a jungle war but instead of playing Fortunate Son you play Wilhelmus
🤣🤣🤣🤣
*Well yes, we must ASSERT OUR DOMINANCE*
GEKOLONISEERD
Or frank sintara in the pacific war
@@GanjaMasterBlaster *BERSIAP*
Good vid, some additions:
At first, the Americans supported the Dutch retake of Indonesia. But when it became clear that Indonesia was to be independent at some point (that was also clear to the Dutch), they didn't want to antagonize Sukarno into the Communist bloc.
- horrific atrocities have been committed by both sides during the war, but probably most famous is the Death Squad of captain Westerik, who trialed captured indonesians and shot them on the spot. He later tried a coup against Sukarno.
- the Dutch didn't want to call it a war for another important reason. Officially, war can only be declared on an sovereign state. So by calling it a war, the Dutch would indirectly acknowledge the Indonesian Republic a sovereign state.
True, the US wasn't supportive towards the Indonesian independence in the first phases, but eventually they did due to concerns of the Netherlands disturbing the regional stability and fear of Indonesia being radicalized and turning to the Eastern Bloc for help in the independence war. US support gradually increased, especially after the Indonesian Republican government managed to crush a communist rebellion in 1948. However relations began to detoriorate between the US and Indonesia in the 50s, especially after President Soekarno was getting closer to the Communist Bloc instead of being neutral as he previously claimed and also after the landslide victory of the Indonesian Communist Party in the 1955 general election (Soekarno didn't immediately outlaw the Communist Party after the 1948 rebellion due to it actually being one of his largest base of support and also the focus of the Indonesian government at the time was only at territorial consolidation and reorganization of the armed forces).
Kapitein Westerling
@@nomeduguerre822 Literatuur:
WESTERLING-DE EENLING.
Well put. Dutch soldiers were also fed a lot of propaganda against 'radicals' and 'nationalist bandits'. Men like one of my uncles went to the East believing they would actually liberate the people from them, only to find out that they (like the german occupiers they dispised) were now the 'bad guys'. My uncle was traumatised (ptss) by what he witnessed on Java and couldn't talk about it. I still have a 'classified' booklet from 1947 that teached soldiers how to invade villages, lay traps and interrogate suspects by mrans we would now call torture. It was a war ofcourse, but indeed by calling it so, the government would automatically acknowledge Indonesia's (rightful) independance. P.S. I spoke several veterans through the years, but none of them had the feeling that they fought for the benefit of the Indonesian people. Also: none of them questioned Indonesia's independance after the war. The german occupation of the Netherlands made it understandable that the Indonesians simply wanted their freedom as well.
@@MrEnaric Indonesia is not only Java, but Java is the new occupier of a lot of different people.
Even Java itself has three types of races: Sunda, Java and Madura.
66 different languages are spoken in that archipel.
You cannot deny the BERSIAP period.
Nowadays you are witness of the genocide against the Papua citizens sold by the Kennedy Massons to the Java government.
Of course all those different people had the right to have independency.
But we are now living in 2020 and you see again the war led bij the US government by asking sending troops to Mali and Irak, which are not even our historic colonies.
Thereby are own people don't have any more the security of going a normal way crossing the street in certain area's in the Netherlands.
Australian troopers are accused of war crimes during their first operation in Afghanistan in a period that the Dutch were in charge.
By the way, Wall Street financed Hitler-Professor Anthony C.Sutton.
So think about that.
I was raised in Canada and went to high school in the 1960's. One of my teachers had been with the Canadian army in Europe and participated in the liberation of The Netherlands. He showed us pictures he had taken in the Netherlands. one of which showed rows and rows and rows of Canadian tanks lined up on a beach. We asked what happened to all those tanks. He said they were sold to the Dutch who lost them in Indonesia. Other than that, I had not heard anything about the Dutch/Indonesian war until watching your excellent presentation.
I am so gratefull your teacher liberated us. Thank you!
Hey i m from holland
My grandfather fought in Indonesia as a young boy, he told me that they used allot of US made weapons, armored vehicle and even uniforms... strange times...
I'm from Indonesia. And before the Dutch left Indonesia, the tanks were handed over to the Indonesian National Army (TNI), which was then also used to crush the rebels after Indonesian independence such as APRA led by Westerling the former Dutch army officer, DI/TII (Islamist rebels), PRRI/Permesta which assisted by the CIA etc. Strange history.
The vehicles of the First Canadian Army, all 37.000 of them, were gathered in a dump in Deelen, near Arnhem. The Dutch army got the first pick and selected the best vehicles for use in the Dutch Indies.
What remained was sold to the general public so they could use it to get the economy back on its feet.
Whole transport companies' fleets consisted of these vehicles and many jeeps were used as farm tractors.
If you google 'Dump Deelen', you will find pictures of the rows and rows of vehicles.
Indonesia : What our flags gonna look like?
Indonesians : We hate blue, soo....
Well, the Majapahit Empire color is the same tho. Red & white but stripes.
@Jon Pilchard Monaco flag 😁
Indonesia 🇮🇩 And We Had Netherlands
Actually, it happend. In the battle of Jogjakarta, at the top of a hotel, Indonesian soldier ripped off those blue colour of dutch flag for their own red&white flag, it cost several soldier to do that...
@@cassiopeia3573 I know I’m Indonesian it was a joke, btw it was Hotel Yamato
I’m so excited when I stumble upon new topics that I haven’t heard of before; excellent video!
Just for small addition here. Indonesian never receive any military support from nearby countries apart from what they had taken from both Japanese and Netherlands equipment, unlike what happens during both of Malaya Emergency and Vietnam War. Indonesian also didn't receive so much military training from outside countries. As the result, casualties are quite high from both the military and civilian of the new country.
I think its a little bit incorrect, indonesia did receive weapons mostly from illegal trade in Singapore. Most of the navy activity at that time was smuggling weapon in exchange for resources, like the famous john lie. Some Indonesian commander did receive military training from dutch KNIL and japanese PETA.
@@abcddef2112 Ah yes I overlooked the illegal trading parts, thank you. If you didn't mind a bit correction here, Indonesia at the time didn't receive military support from major powers (UK & Commonwealth, USA, and Russia) so they get by scraping anything they can take. For the training, isn't native forces that compose majority of KNIL are only works as soldiers or some of them also promoted to officers? I remember that only the Japanese taught officer level skills, because one of the Independence War hero, Gen. Sudirman, was a graduate from PETA training.
Rakai Pikatan Yep if that is the case then it is correct. It is actually a pity that the knil/peta dichotomy or rivalry of the early indonesian army isnt taught well enough. Sometimes its not either or, as some had both knil and peta education. One of the highest military leader position was Oerip Sumoharjo, he was a retired KNIL officer who actually was the first top general. In a leadership election he lost out to Sudirman who lead peta faction. Some knil educated generals were suspected of dutch sympathies, though in the end some attain high post. Gatot subroto, Didi kartasasmita, Nasution, Simatupang, kawilarang, Suharto all had KNIL education. This is a good video ua-cam.com/video/vPt4SuDsujQ/v-deo.html
@@abcddef2112 oh damn Suharto had KNIL training? I didn't know that
@@fiendish9474 he does, with Nasution and Oerip Sumoharjo
I’m an Indo. My opa and oma were both born to a Dutch father and Indonesian mother. My opa and his brother were at one point captured in a “Jappenkamp”, which I can only imagine was absolutely horrifying. My grandparents and their then only child fled to Nederland. They later got 4 more children, including my father. When they were still alive I asked them questions about how life was in Indonesia or Indië. But unfortunately, they never wanted to talk about it. It was only when my opa got dementia after my oma passed away, he suddenly repeatedly told the stories of “the boys were scared and crying when they heard gunshots” and “I drove a truck up a hill/mountain”. I wish they could’ve told me more, but I get why they wouldn’t. May they rest in peace ❤️ I’m incredibly proud of my roots, both Dutch and Indonesian 🇳🇱🇲🇨
Incredible, my opa also lived in Indonesia during ww2, and also endured a "Jappenkamp". He was Dutch tough, not mixed. What struck me about your comment is the dementia part. My opa also kept quiet about his experiences during the the war until his Alzheimer disease. He would at times think he was back in Indonesia, and just sit there crying. Amazing the effect such a disease can have isnt it. Bless your family, groetjes!
I'm an Indo too!
@Lilo I am Dutch-Indonesian as well! 😃 A lot of your story is similar to what my Grandparents went through especially under the Japanese. I have always referred to my Grandma as “Oma” as well! However I am more Caucasian in appearance since my father married an American but I am Dutch-Indonesian and proud! Thanks for your insightful post. Dankje!
It seems like that persons with traumatic eventsvin their relive them more when dementia hits them. You here this quite often. I wonder if it's less when you dealt whit them more during your life and didnt hid those feelings and tried to move on.
Love you
I'm an Indonesian and my late grandpa fought in this war, and he told me he and his classmates would go to school with rifles at the ready in case the Dutch attacks. Nice video!
Hey fellow indonesian (hai sesama indonesian)
@@FIVEBASKET Halo sesama Indonesian juga
That badass
Sounds like American kid nowadays
@@naseh446 American kids bringing guns to school because they got depressed. While Indonesians were pew-pew-ing the colonists. They're not the same.
Indonesia: "finally were free"
Japan:"ehhhh less free and more like under new management"
Indonesia: T_T
Japan: But hey, here's some weapons, school, dams, bridges, bunkers, and many more!
@@Bakotcha and Romusha, monopolisation of natural resources, forcefull drafting into the military/militia. keep your bridges
@@mynamejeb8743 Japan: Everything gotta come at a price
@@claudius3359 My great grandma was given the chance to get some education from the Japanese school, she graduated from that school aswell. Mind you she was just a pleb.
@@Bakotcha Ah sorry for my attitude,I'm just a student who has just started learning this topic.I apologize,I must study harder.
if you can't conquer india just make another one
-netherlands
Actually the real indian is indonesia because the spice island(called india by the european) which the european search is in indonesia.. The modern india is called mahabarath..
@@alnash1433 r/woooosh
@@alnash1433 india comes from hindus / indus
@@alnash1433 just because your anti hindu doesn't means it's right for you spread false disinformation. That doesn't make you superior to indian or hanood peoples.
@@shrinilodedra3001 no anti hindu (its doesnt even have correlation to anything what i said) , just speaking facts, the western country looking for spices in the indian island.
I think there is a little stir up in the video. The event of burning the southern part of the city occurred in Bandung, not Surabaya. Battle of Surabaya stood out in the event of the Indonesian National Revolution because of its strikingly fierce battle in the eyes of British and Republican alike, but many armed struggles also erupted in many cities of Indonesia, one of which is in Bandung, where half southern part of the city of Bandung was burned down by the Republican force
They made a song about it too
@@notanerd5220 Bandung sea of fire
The Republican forces actually won militarily once, in Ambarawa against British forces.
The March 1st General Strike in Yogyakarta only lasts for 6 hours, as they later flee to avoid more casualties. But diplomatically, it successfully proved that Indonesia still exists.
The Battle of Surabaya was literally the 'Stalingrad of Indonesia'. It was a horrible urban battle where both sides fought house to house, street to street, and Indonesian forces lost almost like 200.000 people on that city alone
@florentio hostiadi Scorched Earth, the oldest tactics in military.
Sending much love to Indonesia from your brothers in the Philippines. We are one people. We are nusantarans!
Awesome...
The Dutch is vibin' until the trees says
*"MERDEKAAAA"*
So real
@Ron Cabalonga yas
GEKOLONISEERD
@Ron Cabalonga yes it does, but in this context, it is similar to shouting "Freedom!"
@@pashauzan uh oh
My Grandma's brother was in this conflict. For the rest of his life he could never talk about it without crying. It must've been horrible
Very very very horibble
War is always horrible. Whoever says he’s not affected by it is simply lying.
yap imagine that u saw ur friends dead stabbed slowly with a bamboo
Both sides were very cruel
Imagine you lost your friend during a patrol, burn down a kampung and kill a lot of young-adult males just to tried to find him, and then finds them dead on the very next day tied up to a pole with a very gruesome torture marks from head to toe with a huge boards saying "its a payback for what you has done in our kampung" literally nailed down on his chest. My grandpa used to told us about this type of revenge happened sporadically all over the place against a captured Dutch patrol unit during the guilerra after Operation Kraai. Some people are indeed venting their anger to the captured Dutch patrol troops without any mercy which in turn make the Dutch military personnel increasingly demoralised and desperate.
Interestingly, in Indonesian schools, the Police action is referred to as "Agresi Militer Belanda" or Dutch Military Aggression (1st and 2nd).
From the education here, there was definitely a lot more emphasis on from the native's perspective, how the more than 3 centuries of occupation has sucked the people and the land, and how the people just wanted independence, that said, there was a lot of the gruesome details like the massacares from the pemuda and dutch that are skipped over.
History can be used from a biased narrative. Nothing, sadly, is fully accepted as truth.
Bersiap never told to Indonesian generation, but im pretty sure that situation happen in Europe too during ww2 and post ww2, like when the german occupied Europe, the Anti Semitic and minorities happened in many countries in Europe, and when the German Retreat/defeat there's an Persecution to Volksdeustche in Europe.
As an Indonesian, we (almost) won't even told that we lost militarily.
@@risannd Because how did you define lose in Military context? At the time we have an emergency government in Sumatra. So technically Indonesia still exist without Soekarno and Hatta. For the military, did you know why General Soedirman famous? General Soedirman takes control of the military and keep the guerilla warfare going. Under the leadership of Soeharto, the Indonesian military take control of Yogyakarta for 6 hours. We knew this event as General Offensive of 1 March 1949.
The occupation of Yogyakarta for 6 hours is to show that even without Soekarno and Hatta. Indonesia still exist.
@@banban8481 Battle of Surabaya, lost. Puputan Margarana, definitely lost. Operatie Product and Kraai, lost. Serangan Umum 1 Maret, only lasted for 6 hours, although it had achieved its goal diplomatically. The only victory in battle we ever get is Battle of Ambarawa.
Yes, General Sudirman is a great person. He led the Battle of Ambarawa and the guerilla phase later.
The trees, they speak Bahasa Indonesia
Your mountains will be soon speaking Korean 👌
Pack it in Kim
Great Leader!
Your water Will speaking Korea and Japanese Will freaking dead
when you're on patrol and the ricefields say anjay
My grandpa fought in this “war”. He Said the worst part of it were the wildlife. He also almost became a commando
"Soldiers make sacrifices for the war made by politicians"
@350 Z skyline bro, chill.
@350 Z skyline omg shut up ok
OP comment had nothing to do with you ballsey warriors
A war clearly happened here but it got deleted sadly wkwkwk
@@Reiwah yeah i would have liked to see what this 350 z guy was saying
Everybody gangsta till the rice fields starts shouting *MERDEKA*
wkwkwk
Good pake acc sekolah buat comment wkwkwk
You should put the Indonesian flag in the thumbnail, they'll come flocking to this video. This war pretty much took up 5th grade history lessons back in the day. Also, a video on the West Papua dispute would defnitely be useful because it gives background on the current independence movement in that region, something that is not widely unknown to outsiders.
He should not do that. I don't want Hilbert got bashed by those U L T R A N A S I O N A L I S
Between two wars had made a video aswell on this topic.
@@abangkumusa5724 yeah, it's pretty sensitive and complicated topic
He will discuss West Papua
@@abangkumusa5724 nah, overproud ones
Moral of the story: Don't fuck with SEA natives. It wouldn't really go the way you'd expect.
So true
We won the war military
didn’t they lose the war and only gain independence because of the United States?
My grandfather fought with the dutch indies army(KNIL). After he came back to the Netherlands, he was a different person. Almost never smiled again. He never wanted to talk about it. I heard some stories from my uncle and father, but he also didn't say much to them. When he passed away we found some foto albums with his regiment in it. Must have been a terrible conflict.
Ah descendents of traitors
@@SuperSanic.. whoa slow down there bud
Maybe ur grandfather had experience fight against the guerilla fighters that led by General Soedirman
@Nikitas Nehemia Nicholas Hutapea ah a batak christian
@Nikitas Nehemia Nicholas Hutapea did u fall asleep at school? We are all malay. Except melanesians at the east and chinese ethnicity. Dutch never bothered batak christians because they were christians.
Thank you for sharing this from a Dutch perspective. I've been taught that the Indonesian victory was more military than diplomatic, turns out the diplomatic involvement was also a major help. Also didn't know about the killings done by the youngsters towards those they deem to be an obstacle to independence.
Respect to those who have served for both sides, they fought for a good cause. May God give them all the best heaven provides. Lest we all forget.
Dank u well, Bru!
Berjuang untuk tujuan yg baik? Jadi menjajah tanah air itu baik di mata kamu? Mau berapa tahun dipanggil monyet dan dihina lagi? 100? 200? 300? Darimana KNIL berjuang untuk tujuan baik?!
The youths despite being rough, they just want a unified nation, not some BS made from complicated agreements from those who were out of touch by not being directly involved on the ground. The youths are the ones that would suffer from those "agreements" later down the line.
It's interesting to learn the history of my country from Netherlands perspective. I learned something that I wasn't told by my teacher. Thank you for the video.
I'm Indonesian, i quite enjoyed your videos, especially when you put "Wilhelmus" everytime the Dutch mentioned, like "Ah yes, the Dutch". and also your collaboration with Koifish on CK3, especially about Alfred the Great's wife. But something bother me:
You mentioned that southern part of Surabaya was burnt during Battle of Surabaya, but in fact, it never happen. It was Bandung in West Java that got its southern part got burnt or rather "earth sourched" as the Indonesian higher command wanted to deny any use of any facilities to the British and later, the Dutch. It happen on 23-24 March 1946. It happen because the British authorities on 22 March 1946 demand any Indonesian fighters to evacuated from Bandung on 11 km radius from the city. The Indonesians asked for a delay (nominally to move their supplies and equipment) but was denied. So, on 23 March, Indonesian resolved to "burnt everything" and start burn city facilites, followed by common people also burn their own houses and evacuate themselves with the Indonesian figthers. It was estimated around 200.000 to 500.000 civilians and soldiers evacuate from Southern Bandung. It was known as Bandung Sea of Fire (Indonesian: Bandung Lautan Api). I surprised that you not mentioned several points during the timeline, like The Battle of Ambarawa, the General Offensive of 1st March, The Battle of Surakarta, The Social Revolution to the Malay monarchies of Eastern Sumatra, the Communist Revolution in Madiun, the Darul Islam Revolution in West Java, the Long March of Siliwangi Division, Raymond Westerling's action against Indonesians, the role of BFO, and some others (I believe this happen for simplification to avoid the video to become a 3-hours explanation video). Nevertheless, for me this is a good 15-minutes video explaining the theme.
Random Facts: During the Battle of Surabaya, some of 500-600 British Indian Muslims soldiers (if i correctly remember its number) defected to Indonesian side as they did not want to fight agaist fellow Indonesian Muslims.
Also Random Fact: Java is spelled as ['dʒava] like you spell Java programming language as the "J" in Indonesian Language is spelled as [dʒ] instead of German-Dutch [j]
Anyway, this is a good video. Keep it on meisteer (did i spell it correctly?)
It's rumored playing the Wilhelmus even once will improve a youtube video by significant amounts
I am also an indonesian and found hilbert through the CK3 video with Koifish. Seems like we both have something in common.
The TimeGhost History channel did a four part series on the subject and go into more detail. If you like this, I think you will also like the series.
Btw, the dutch king made an official apology in march of this year to the Indonesian people for dutch behavior during the independence war. How was that received in Indonesia? (Weird question, but I'm curious as a student of history).
@@baerververgaert1308 it's mostly well received and appreciated upon, a contrasting response in comparison with the neglect from Japanese elites
@@eyeballpapercut4400 "I will never forgive the Japanese!"
- Joseph Joestar
My Pake and his brother fought for the Dutch in Indonesia. He's never really talked about his experience at all. All I know is he drove a truck and was ambushed by the Indonesians once and rescued by fellow Dutch troops. Interestingly he holds no ill will towards the Indonesians unlike the Germans.
Krijer my grandfather told little stories, that they fighting was hard. He also neer spoke bad about the Indonesian people. Same about the germans
I can imagine we were basically the germans in indonesia.
It was natural, any foreigner, especially Dutch, who came during this era of conflict would be considered an enemy who had returned to enslave Indonesia again
A wrong analogy. The Dutchies to the eyes of Indonesians were basically the Germans to the eyes of the Polish.
Interesting topic! I didn't know much about it until some HistoryTubers (History Hustle and TimeGhost) made a whole bunch of videos about this subject. Now Hilbert joins them with a very nice introduction to/summary of the conflict. I especially appreciate presenting the perspective of individual Dutch soldiers.
Awesome video, as you kinda mentioned, a lot of Dutch men who grew up under nazi rule wanted to fight for their country because they couldn't do that during the occupation. So they volunteered for the army to fight the Japanese, the war was of course not over when the Netherlands was freed. But when they were in training in the USA the war ended and they wanted to go home. But now they had signed a contract for the Dutch army and they had to fight in Indonesia.
Interesting.. but don't you think that they realize when they go to Netherland Indie, they don't fight for their country freedom anymore, but to occupied another country/region?
Seems paradox with their original spirit.
@@restumuh87 No, because of Dutch propaganda they saw Indonesia as a intergral part of the Netherlands. They tought they would fight of the Japanese, or communist rebellions, and that the Indonesian people would support the Dutch cause, because they tought Indonesians also saw themselves as Dutch (second rang) citizens.
@@thommyneter168 That was definitely not the case, as the Dutch basically practiced segregation against non white citizens in Indonesia during the colonial rule. As a result, few Indonesians ever really adopted "Dutch" as their identity". This was something that was quite apparent in Indonesia at that time, so either it was just Dutch propaganda or they were really just that disinterested in what the Indonesians think.
@@askkedladd from my great grandmother POV segredation just for different class you know if you are peasant you always become second class citizen
Dutch perspective they want develope some are but there always have intervention by Local Kingdom
Hey! Indo here! I really love your vids my Oma was born Dutch and because that I really love Indonesian, Dutch and European history. my brother is somewhat shit at history so whenever he needed my help for subjects i just sent videos that you made [including this!] and he got a somewhat "Good" grades
"rubber"
*proceeds to show bamboo*
Sugar cane 👍
@@lenardfoghill5320 sugar can is darker
@@eyeballpapercut4400 there are black/dark, red, green
@@eyeballpapercut4400 especially in south east asia
@@lenardfoghill5320 mostly very dark reddish black or dark green, and sometimes yellow. and I am from the country being talked about in the vid.
My grandmother was from Indonesia (she had a Dutch father and Indonesian mother) and my grandfather from Brittish India (Irish-Indian father and Portugese-Indian mother). My Grandfather was a Gurka in the Brittish army and fought the Japanese liberating Java island where he met my grandmother. They moved to India (Podanur Tamil district) and lived many years as kings with around 20 servants in their mansion. After some years in the 50’s they moved to The Netherlands but my grandfather was denied access due to his military background in the Brittish army, he lived for two years in Liverpool before his access was granted into The Netherlands. My father was 5yrs old when he came to The Netherlands and was never educated by my grandparents about the war and why they really left the Indies, also in India there was a revolution going on for independence. My mother married my father in the early 70’s, she was from Zwolle. I have seven uncles and one aunt from my fathers side of the family and we are sooo diverse! We have Irish looking ginger albinos, Punjabi’s, Indonesian, Dutch looking family that really sets us apart from many others, although our Indo friends also have family members with different skin tones. I remember as a kid we went to the Pasar Malam, an Indonesian market where all Indonesians gathered and at our grand family gatherings my sister and nieces would dance typical Indonesian style and would dress up with Hawaiian dancers looking clothes! Never have I seen a video as detailed as this one, thank you for your effort!
the spirit to defends YOUR motherland is always greater than the spirit to invades someone else's motherland
based af
@@Reiwah wdym?
@@madikhaparshasusilo4923 nvm
Lies. Look at the us borders
We won the war military
Thanks for a great video. This is an area of the 20th century history that I was barely aware of. I knew that Indonesia gained independence from the Netherlands, but I had no idea about the details
Indonesia did not get its independence from the Netherlands, independence was purely the struggle of the Indonesian people when Japan surrendered in WW2 1945 because at that time Japan was bombed by America who made Japan weak.. it was a good opportunity to rebel against the invaders and that's when the first President of Indonesia declared Indonesia's independence, so the conclusion was Indonesia's independence with bloodshed not because it was given away.
Minor correction in the video, The burning of Surabaya, as well as I am aware, never happened. I think Hilbert might have mixed up the burning of Surabaya with the burning of Bandung. In Bandung, it did indeed happened, and us Indonesians called it "Bandung Sea of Fire".
Also, a fun fact about "Operation Crow", or "2nd Military Aggression" that us Indonesians are taught to call it at school, one of the reasons why the morale of Indonesia didn't instantaneously broke, was because General Sudirman, one of the great military leaders of the republican side manage to retake Jogja from dutch hands, atleast for 6 hours, but that incident ignited the morale of Indonesia, where they proceed to continue the fight via government in exile, lead by Syarif Prawiranegara.
And then we all retreated into the jungles with Sudirman and hope for the best until Sukarno and the rest of the emergency gang clear things up on the round table
fantastic video. Im glad to see a video about this conflict which doesnt oversimplify it massively. The Dutch-indonesian war was extremely complicated and both sides had many different reasons to fight.
I'm Dutch and I was waiting for him to end explaining the larger context and start about this conflict between NL and Vietnam that I never heard about😂
Meanwhile a Vietnamse was also waiting for the same thing.
"Vietnam" in this case is used as a word associated with a long painful guerilla war. Pretty badass if you ask me
I was also waiting for the Vietnam thing, didn't realise it was not a literal Vietnam haha
Even after all of these years, this war is still a very taboo subject in the Netherlands. Most Dutch people simply want to forget it and not talk about it, much like the Dutch Collaboration with the German Occupation from 1940 to 1944/5.
imagine the shock people would get here if they knew we send a bunch of our Waffen SS veterans to fight in Indonesia. SS troops send by the Dutch to keep a colony under their rule.
@@frankpolly O really? Makes sense. Before WWII the Dutch there all voted NSB and were trying to set up an apartheid system.
@@hendrikdependrik1891 well they weren't send because the Dutch wanted ex-German soldiers to help with the apartheid. it was as punishment. Later during the Korean war these Waffen-SS veterans could volunteer to go for a reduction of their sentence or other punishments they had been given.
Sadly both the Indonesian government and the netherlands agreed to ‘collectively forget’ war crimes commited. The irony is ICJ is centered in netherands.
What a silly comment. There is certainly not a kind of "omerta" about this. In the past years there have been several dutch publications about the crimes commited by dutch soldiers. There is only one other thing: there was and is also the memory about the Bersiap. Almost all older dutch people know what that meant for civilians on the non-indonesian side.
The suggestion implicated by your remark about the dutch collaborators in WW2 must be classified as malicious: have a talk with the inhabitants of Putten (www.putten.nl/Bezoekers/Razzia).
My Opa was served in KNIL sniper regiment and after the independent he decided to stay and became an Indonesian
Hilbert: *pronounce Java as Yava*
Me, an Indonesian: I felt my heart cracked
Is it pronounced djava?
@@LMvdB02 Yes with a thick and clear J instead of something like Y
Similar to pronouncing "Japan", but remove the "n" and replace the "p" with "v"
It's like "Java" (the programer's thing), or "Japan" (remove the "n"), but change the "v" (or "p") to "w" like "Washington".
-> Jawa
Knowing that Hilbert is Dutch:
"Oh okay, understandable"
someone on youtube: includes the word indonesia
indonesians: its free real estate!
Not really. They might as well put India in the title and harvesting a lot more viewers. Like a lot.
@@ahmadmuhdi190 Oh God no.
@@ahmadmuhdi190 probably not because every time we see indonesia or indo in a title we are like WHOMST HAS AWAKENED THE ANCIENT ONE like we click on it immediately
So true
In 2011, the Dutch government decided to compensate the widowers of the victims for the crimes committed by Captain Westerling on Sulawesi. The victim compensation is Rp 340,000,000 (€ 20,000) per person.
In 2020, the Dutch court decided that also the children of the victims are entitled to compensation. The Dutch Government has therefore decided to pay out Rp 85,000,000 (€ 5,000) to the children from all over the Dutch East Indies at the time. So not just Sulawesi. These children, whose parents were summarily executed by Dutch soldiers in 1945 and 1950.
Compensation cannot bring back loved ones or ease the emotional distress. It may be too late, but with the knowledge of today the Netherlands is now trying to figure out its own black history.
I wonder when the Indonesian government shall recompense the family’s of those Europeans and indo Europeans executed by the Indonesians rebels. Justice and compensation must be a two way street or it is simply a farce and the Indonesian governments hands are coated in the blood of innocents
@@Murphy-mw6be look up the word innocent, I don’t think you know what it means
@@tyrionlannister6459 it's because the victims in this scenario are White right? In your mind we've never been victims right?
@@tyrionlannister6459 You are acting like we were the only bad guys in this war, while the Indonesians have also commited many war crimes too many to count, and yes innocent because some people moved from the Netherlands to Indonesia and peacefully lived there but because of their ethnicity they were killed
@@_DutchRaptorX_ looks like the same situation for the Germans that were living in the US when WW2 happened.
15:30
Not sure about the Chinese flag choice, as the communists didn't even found the People's Republic of China until the end of the Indonesian War for Independence
RoC flag should be used instead
Nah the Qing Empire flag should be used instead.
Yeah was really weird to see the communist flag, should've been the nationalist flag that was used considering the time.
Had they chose the RoC flag, i imagine wumao trolls would invade the comment section and might trash the channel too
Fun fact, in the book about the CIA archives: 'A Legacy of Ashes' they mention some archives pointing out the US thought the Indies had oil and wanted the Dutch influence booted out so they could try to steer it a bit better while also aiding the rebels a spot
They got Grasberg tho
Very good, I knew about some of the post WWII history of Indonesia, but not much. Thanks for giving more information. I did miss not hearing the Dutch anthem .
Playing the anthem on such a dark page of Dutch/Indonesian history would've been weird though.
Very interesting documentary, thanks for posting that. My in-law was sent from Holland to Indonesia in 1946, as a soldier, he stayed there for almost three years. He doesn't talk about it very much, but he still speaks a bit of Indonesian. It seemed to have been a rather cruel war, as he, very old now, wakes up on a regular basis at night because he dreams that somebody is shooting at him...
I encourage people from Indonesia and Netherlands to view this historical event from each other perspectives. This way we can minimize biases and achieve better understanding. Not to forget, but to forgive and move on together as friends.
My father served in the Dutch Army there from 1946 to 1950. A fairly accurate telling of the story. Thank you
Fascinating stuff! I have strong connections with the Netherlands, having married a Dutch woman and lived in the country from 1979 to 1984. I still work as a translator of Dutch to English. It is refreshing to hear Dutch correctly pronounced in a video - even big organisations such as the BBC rarely manage it. Do you have Dutch roots?
Yeah he said his grandfather fought in Indonesia for the Dutch.
Good video. Keep it up 👍.
Just minor correction I think.
National Awakening (Kebangkitan Nasional), actually started in 1905 when SDI (Sarekat Dagang Islam) founded in Solo, Central Java by Saman Hudi.
And change the name to SI (Sarekat Islam) with 2.000.000 member in 1913.
Other version, BO (Boedi Oetomo) in 1908.
28 October 1928 is The Youth Conggress that formally declared that Nederland-Hindi is one nation; Indonesia.
Thankyou 🙏
Great video. as an Indonesian I always felt that what they teach in our history classes have been too patriotic, but your video really shows the pros and cons that happened during the war.
nice shining a light on an aspect of the WW2 really brings home that the conflict was worldwide
Thankyou.This is the first time other country upload history of Indonesia
Thankyou
I love how even when bombed and destitute, the second a European country gets liberated it sends its sons to go occupy a whole nation.
I am a Dutch-indo. My (indo) grandfather served and died in Indonesia. He is buried at the Dutch militairy graveyard called Candi in Semarang, Java.
May he and all others rest in peace 🙏🏽
I visit Indonesia often. I ❤️ Indonesia.
My condolences for your opa. Hopefully he rests in peace.
@@theguyunderyourbed7285 Thank you 🙏🏽
how did you even research this? even as an indonesian student i cant piece this period together. so great work!
Alot of Dutch records on this period
This was so very informative. Thanks so much Hilbert!
Great video, I've been trying to find some resource on this topic for a while. Yours is the best.
The Dutch still owe indonesia for saving Raymond Westerling. Westerling was convicted of carrying out the massacre of 40,000 Indonesians on the southern island of Sulawesi from 1946 to 1947, known as the 'westerling massacre'. In January 1955, Westerling received a written statement from judicial officials in Amsterdam that the inquest had ended and stopped the investigation. In 1987 westerling died without being sentenced, the United Nations had no function.
The Dutch occupied by Germany for 3 years. they feel miserable and sad. After they regain their coutry they get marhsall plan aid to build their country. instead of rebuilding their country, they came back to Indonesia which had declared independence to do what Germany had done to them. embarrassing
The Whole World War 2 narrative was a farce.
Good morning from Japan. Well-done review. I believe the Netherlands was reluctant to give up petroleum and other natural resources.
Thats the point of colonization
Even after we got independence we need to pay a debt
Well, Dutch East Indies was the jewel of the Dutch.
I must admit, I never knew about this. Thanks!
Respect for you covering this topic
It’s crazy how many wars there has been that no one talks about
This history in particular Hilbert is very close to home for me since I am Dutch-Indonesian and American. Before my father was born his parents were forced into prison camps in New Guinea. I have heard some of the horrid stories that were done by the Japanese and then the results of some Indonesia independence after Japan invaded. My “Oma” I believe watched as the Japanese garrison soldiers executed her father to drowning, and a little brother of hers didn’t survive the camp. My uncle who was her son when around 6,7 or 8 years old still has retained some memories of the tyranny and conditions that happened there. After the Japanese imperial army was defeated they were reunited before going back to the prison camps a second time, and had my Tanta (Aunt) and afternoon that captivity reunited and father was born later in ‘55. He grew up in Indonesia on the Island of New Guinea seven years before his parents and other family migrated to Netherlands to keep Dutch citizenship. Later he would move to America with his brother and now have interesting culture of Dutch-Indonesia-American culture. Just thought I’d share a little. This was an awesome video and really reminded me of my father and grandparents heritage! Dankje, Hilbert voor je videos! (Yeah my Dutch could be better)
*EDIT*
Also hope to add British-Indian to the fam as well 🇬🇧🇮🇳!
That’s really interesting. Thanks for sharing; it’s truly a shame what happened to your family.
@@noahhess4955 Thanks you for reading the post! Appreciate it. Yes it’s a shame what happened indeed, but I try to think that maybe despite all the war-time atrocities things eventually started to work out.
Thank you for sharing. I too have the same part history. My whole family, 4 grandparents and their families, were born and raised in the Dutch East Indies (DEI). All were interned during WWII, some as KNIL/Dutch East Indies Army personnel, shipped to island before mainland japan. All women and children interned in DEI. They never talked about the atrocities they endured, but Im sure I lost at least 1 great uncle while he was working slave labor in the mines.
Indeed, after WWII ended, all returned home, only to find the Indonesians in there. They had to go into another internment camp. This time guarded by the Japanese... (again, but this time they were keeping them safe). SInce most male relatives were KNIL soldiers, they re-enlisted and fought against the Indonesians.
Grandparents mother side left for Holland in '49, Grandparents father's side (incl my father who was born there in '49) left for Holland in '53.
I now made the circle towards NA, by emigrating to Canada, more than 60 years after my grandparents emigrated/repat to Holland.
United States be like: “Your breaking a treaty, no more empires!”
Meanwhile also the USA: “er I’m just securing oil fields…don’t look at those airfields.”
Also the USA: “aha I don’t know what you mean I didn’t send agents to over throw democracy and instal dictatorships.”
Tbh allying with former colonial empires America really lost a lot of ground in the Cold War to Soviet Union, and even more so to socialism/communism itself in Asia and Africa specifically, and even impacted American standing in Latin America also. At the end of WW2 many communist leaders like Communist China or Communist Vietnam really LOVED the USA. It's now quite funny as some of the most (in)famous mouthpiece of modern day CPC (which recently have written so many anti-American propaganda) like People's Daily, New China Media, etc. (and their predecessors) wrote so many PRO American propaganda in the 1940s. Like a special editorial on 7/4/1944, 'Hail to Democracy, Hail to American Independence day, Hail to the GREAT people & the country of the U.S. of A. (Written in FULL name instead of just America in Chinese)'. Or a poem praising America to be the 'arsenal of democracy' and 'challenging the dark old world' from her birth to more 'recently' WW2 against fascism. Also Ho Chi Min invited Americans to watch him giving the speech declaring an independent Vietnam, which actually sounded just like the American declaration of independence. And Viet Cong & America maintained a great relationship, until France wanted to take back Vietnam and America supported them...
And I'm just looking at the A-P theater of the WW2, and it's not hard to understand why. Americans fought a lot harder & braver and seems to care a lot more about the locals (especially their colonial subjects in Philippians, even though they already were implementing a plan for the Philippians to gain full independence b4 the war). While the Dutch, British, French, etc. basically lost all their legitimacy as colonial masters after their disastrous campaigns against the Japanese. And like someone said, 'they weren't pitied or missed at all' in those places. Not to mention American colonial rule was a lot shorter, and confined to the Philippians while most other European powers were long despised because their colonial rules were longer and more damaging, and affected much more population. Hence at least in Asia or even in the 3rd world in general people saw America and Western Europe as 2 completely different species. And American allying with the West while Soviet declared them enemies... I think it was clear who had the upper hand in those situations.
so true
The epic background score is incredible.
Very interesting, really makes me want to look into it more.
My grandpa fought in the war against the Dutch. His name and rank was Colonel Di Sumardi. I don't know a lot about him, just that he fought in areas across Java during the war and saw it through during the whole war.
Respect
Thank you for your grandpa service
Every Dutch people was gangsta, until the Bamboo start speaking Indonesian.
@Jaco Rozycki we fought 4 days thats 3 days longer then the third reich expected and we only surrendered because rotterdam was bombed
@@xXWesterlingXx Surrendering becuase rotherdam was bombed. Thats why city states are soo weak its people have nowhere to run in the event of war. In Iraq before the americans invaded thecapitol lost 70% of its population its the people fled to the countryside, you cant do that if your entire country is a city.
@@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714 the netherlands isnt a city state its just below average nation size its bigger then switzerland and israel and theres lots of countryside in the netherlands its the 2nd biggest agricultural exporter in the world after all
@@xXWesterlingXx A city state is a state where all politics are dominated by the city. Nederlands fits that criteria.
But it not even close to largest producer.
@@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714 2nd largest exporter not producer
My grandfather worked at a military hospital. When the Dutch military aggression landed in Padang, many of his friends were killed. They are not soldiers, they are doctors, nurses, civilians, and killed. My grandfather fled to the forest, in the forest doing guerrillas. Thank God my grandfather survived the Dutch aggression, then was awarded a veteran and ended up as a poor farmer.
The Indonesian militias consists of mostly volunteers. Without pay. Sometimes they were given some money, if available. No weapon.
My grandpa was given 2 japanese grenades and joined the militias back in 1944. He was only 18 years old. Few years later he got promoted to 1st lieutenant, the militias was absorbed into TKR and then joined Gen. Soedirman during his guerilla war. He lost his 1st daughter (my auntie) as stillborn due to malnutrition when travelling with the troops. His wife (my Grandmother, was part Dutch/Indo although she never want to talk about her Dutch heritage but she spoke Dutch fluently. I still remember her singing Als de Orchideen Bloeien...) He got involved in the Battle of Ambarawa but didn't join the 1 March battle in his hometown, Yogyakarta. Because he was still with Soedirman at that time. He finally start to have his formal pay as a soldier when Soedirman return to Yogyakarta after Round Table Conference. His favourite weapon was a sten gun.
In 1950's, he was sheltering ex Student Militias who were not able to join the TNI when one of them rob a store with his pistol. He was accused of treason and was almost got death sentence. But his former comrades defended him, included one that later become a minister in Soeharto era. Instead he got 2 years in military jail. Some Dutch military still around when he got released from jail and he was hit by one of Dutch military truck when on a motorcycle. Another 2 years in a Dutch military hospital recovering from broken foot bone. He got a platinum bar in the bone. He then retired from TNI eventhough offered a position as a military leader in Sulawesi that he refused, and become a civilian working at Departemen Dalam Negeri (Internal Affairs) until his retirement age. He passed away in 2003 after my Grandmother a few months before.
Thanks very much for this video, my grandfather served in Indonesia too. There was a book about the campaign, my mother has a copy....wish I could read Dutch.
BTW he was sent to the US to train as a Dutch Marine right after WW2 ended.
glad to see Indonesian movement from other point of view, and about massacre you mentioned in video you forgot Raimond (the turks) Westerling massacre
Yeah he only mentioned the massacre that happened to Dutch because Indonesian want to be independent, but not mentioning the massacre that Dutch did to Indonesian to colonize Indonesia. So many bias here.
My grandfather served in the Dutch Indies. I believe that his last mission was to drive with and defend a train loaded of munitions trough risky territory and enemy "kampongs". My grandmother (still alive) was very stressed about this.
Indonesian here, God damn, imagine how scary that must be. If somebody managed to get onto the munition carts with something flammable the whole thing would explode. I respect your grandfather's work.
Also, Kampong translates to town/village.
@@TheGuyThatsNotFunny i can Imagine yes. Yes, I know about the kampongs. It was a strange time back in the days. Thank you for the respect. Where do you live nowadays?
@@Samiozio In Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia.
@@TheGuyThatsNotFunny oké, big city. What is your view about the past?
@@Samiozio can i give my opinion?
My grandfather fought in the Indies. He never spoke a single word to anyone of it. Until a weird event where my father (when he was like 12 in the 60's) hit sombodies car with his bike, and they came to my grandfathers house later in the day to talk about the damage to the car. Then this conversation came: "Jaap?" said my grandfather to the owner of the car. "Marcel?" Said the owner of the car to my grandfather. Turns out they both were on the same fregat to indonesia. Talked about it for hours in the kitchen, and demanded anyone to leave the kitchen if enterd. My dad told me after the conversation my grandfather was almost dead silent for 3 days and drank heavily. Then he told of 1 single event that happend in Indonesia were he was talking to some random infantryman ashore who had this epic looking gun and talked to him about it. The guy with the gun was very happy to show my grandfather how it worked, and he proceded to shoot it down a field filled with Indonesians.
Only story he ever told.
And in the end my dad had no repercussions from riding his bike into a car.
This is one of the few times the un actualy did something.
Really great video Hilbert all your videos are great sadly have gotten behind because life and all. I hope to watch that podcast of the Norse and Suomi soon, as that seems like interesting topic! Blijf veilig en gezond! 🇳🇱🇮🇩🇺🇸
This is very interesting! Please make more.
This video is pretty one sided in my opinion, OP justifies what the Dutch does while painting the Indonesians with a bad look.
All those agreements during 1945-1949 means nothing because the Dutch Government kept breaking them... it was because those agreements did not stop Indonesia to unite and establish one republic based on one main government.
So, they had to break it, support separatism and find exuse to send military agression to invade Indonesia.
Notice that within a year Indonesia could easily dismiss indonesian federation after The 1949 conference in Netherland, quickly become one republic again in 1950 only by the order of a single Man, "Presiden Sukarno"(Tap MPRS 1950 mensahkan lagi UUD 1945 hasil sidang BUPKI & PPKI).
Until today the Netherland official has not yet recognize Indonesia in De Jure.
Feel like you should've mentioned why they viewed Japan as a liberator because I feel like the Dutch system of brutal repression and implementation of a racist ultraviolet rule over the islands.
Another Great video, I would love to see more about this conflict in the future. Most I can find are Dutch or Indonesian which sadly I can not understand.
4:23 the part about setting the southern part of the city is not the battle of Surabaya but Bandung lautan api
Can you please do a video on how Afrikaans was created? I’m from South Africa and my history books don’t go to deep on how it was made.
My greatgrandad from my mother side fought under KNIL, the Dutch. But his wife, my greatgrandmother, was a medic for the Republic. Just before the war was over, he went missing, presumably killed in the eastern front.
After the war, my greatgrandmother was a staunch supporter of Soekarno and the Republic. She hated the Dutch but also spoke dutch with her childrens and grankids. She despised what the Dutch left us with, but also lived from army pension money from the Netherlands (also from RedCross).
To make things more tangled, my greatgrandad and my grandad from my father side fought for the republic. Luckily, these two greatgrandads of mine never met, stationed in different islands.
This tells me from a very young age that history is complicated. And if there is some truth to any historical account, it must be somewhere in the middle. Not from Indonesian history books, but also not from this video which looks at the Indonesian as merely 'rebel'.
Woah..im an indonesian myself and our teacher didnt even teach this!, awesome video bro!
No way that real
@@rigele8127 well, our teacher didnt cover some of the topics in this video. Such as the casualties of the war, indonesia had to repay billions of dollars worth of property damage to netherland in order to get independence, pressure from UN & USA, and so on
@@adityayusuf5671 Oh you didnt tell spesific enough
Very Interesting. Never knew about this war
I read about this conflict when I was a kid, from the perspective of a Dutch soldier, and I'm neither Dutch nor Indonesian.
What was the book's title?
This is very interesting!
In Vietnam, which returned to French colonial rule, 700 to 800 Japanese soldiers remained and weapons such as aircraft and tanks were left behind. Kwangai Army Junior High School was established in 1946 during the Vietnam Independence War. At some military schools, military education was conducted by former Japanese Army officers and non-commissioned officers. Some of the former Japanese soldiers who died in the Vietnam Independence War have been honored at the Martyr's Cemetery. Some Japanese soldiers who returned to Japan were later awarded a medal by Vietnam. In addition, we will continue to maintain friendly relations between the two countries by establishing organizations such as the Japan-Vietnam Trade Association and the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Association.
3:05
You make me think those (innocent) colonizers and invaders did nothing wrong
Im glad this video was in my recommendation
This must have been such a weird time because you just got done fighting the biggest war ever and then here you are fighting a smaller war
Indonisians *Attacks the Dutch*
UN and Murica: Ill pretend i dint see that
Dutch *Slaps back*
UN and Murica: YOU WATCH YOUR *soldiers*
@General arollite Excuse but wasnt memeing about your country being colonized more how you could attack the Dutch and the UN and Muricans dosent care but when the Dutch smacks back then they are the agressors.
Yea i understand we had just been liberated from the germans by the canadians and after ww2 everyone agreed every country should be free but still right after our liberation our leaders sent young men who had lived trough those 5 years like my grandfather to fight for some islands they probably wouldn’t even be able to point on a map and an enemy that has never had the intention to hurt them and just wanted to be free while our royal family fleed to the UK when the first german paratrooper landed in our country so i understand it and i think we could have saved many lives if we just ended it there instead of fighting for 2 years
@General arollite You must be so fun at parties aren't ya.
Americans didn't want Indonesia to get closer with Chinese or Soviets.
@General arollite wtf dude, Dutch people including trains en hospitals to your country!!!
Japan was liberating them from western imperialism and placing them under the yolk of their own imperialism.
Question ive always had being dutch myself would the netherlands after modernizing indonesia which thye were working on actually have granted indepence as they claim we'll never know
@@timmiekat6072 How many centuries would modernization take? Wasn't 200 enough? Now, being serious, they probably would give independence to Indonesia if they were forced to, which they were. If they felt like they could get away with it, they'd keep it forever. Indonesia has a source of revenue to the Dutch, not à place to do benevolent nation building
Kinda satisfying tho, the asian beat those european 😜🤪
@@timmiekat6072 Probably, our government was going to change the relationship with the Indonesians but then the war started
Fact that almost nobody knows; Prins Bernhard (royal prince Bernhard) wanted to be king in indonesia. He even already made stamps with his portret. I hope that the Indonesian people can forgive all nations what has happend there. Peace be with you all. And uhm....it is not Marhsall, but Marshall plan. ;-) Great video, well done
Where did you get this information from, that he wanted to be King of Indonesia?
@@laurentbastings6790 Ik heb de postzegels zelf in mijn hand gehad, een paar jaar terug. Ze waren v een Indonesische collega.
As an Indonesian, don't worry mate, it's been happened long time ago, i also visited Netherlands once at 2018, very² beautiful place but very tall people's lol 🇮🇩🇳🇱
Fascinating - please do more on this topic.
merdeka atau mati means, freedom or death.. I'm american with some Indonesian ancestry (a quarter).. it's so cool knowing all my ancestors fought for their freedom, during the American Revolution and Indonesian War of Independence