Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaimed the independence of the Republic of Indonesia on August 17, 1945. In doing so, they asked the international community for recognition and support. But long before that, Indonesian activists were active on the international stage to advocate for self-determination. Who were these early ambassadors, and where did they try to gain that support?
When we think about Indonesian resistance to colonial rule by the Netherlands, we naturally think of events in the Dutch East Indies itself. We see before us images from the decolonization war (known as the Police Actions 1945-1949, ed.) of small combat groups that fired on Dutch soldiers in the rice fields of Java. We also think of Sukarno who gave flaming speeches before large mass demonstrations, or – since the recently published sensational dissertation by Swiss historian Rémy Limpach – of torture, summary executions and other war crimes with which Dutch troops tried to regain power.
The Indonesian resistance to colonial rule did not only take place in the Dutch East Indies itself, however, and did not start until after 1945. Two decades before the Indonesian decolonization war broke out, Indonesian activists were seeking international support for the independence of their homeland far beyond the country's borders. For example, Indonesian students set up a political bureau in the Parisian district Quartier Latin, and attended major international anti-colonial conferences in Brussels. They actually did the preliminary work that the new leaders of the Indonesian Republic could build on in 1945.
Student lobby
An important organization promoting Indonesian independence in the 1920s was the Perhimpunan Indonesia (the Indonesian Association, PI). This student association was founded for the several dozen Javanese, Ambonese and Sumatran students who studied in the Netherlands. Founded in 1908 under the name Indische Vereeniging, it was initially mainly a social club, but after the First World War it started to change in character.
Under the new name 'Indonesia', the PI argued for a speedy and unconditional independence of the Netherlands. In the association magazine Indonesia Merdeka (Indonesia Vrij) the economic deprivation and underdevelopment of the Indonesian population in the Dutch East Indies was constantly attacked, and the students also opposed the censorship and political repression of Indonesian newspapers and organizations.
Their articles show that the PI students see their struggle against the Dutch regime as part of an international movement against colonialism and imperialism. Was not their striving equal to that of Gandhi in British India or Atatürk in Turkey? For this reason, the PI saw it as its task to interest its members – now about sixty in number – in the anti-colonial struggle in other parts of the world. She also wanted to bring the Indonesian issue to the attention of political organizations abroad. The fact that she was situated in the Netherlands, close to nationalists from other parts of the world who stayed in Paris, London or Berlin, was convenient.
Pacifist Congress
From 1925 the PI started sending students to Paris and Berlin, and sending delegations to congresses in Brussels and Frankfurt to publicize the existence of "Indonesia" and the independence movement there. For example, 26-year-old Arnold Mononutu rented a hotel room in the Latin Quarter in Paris, a bustling neighborhood full of colonial students and activists. He told his parents that he was going to study at the prestigious Institut d'études politiques, but he actually used his time to make contacts with Indian nationalists, Vietnamese communists and French intellectuals.
On behalf of the PI in the Netherlands, Mononutu became a board member in 1926 of the Association pour l'Étude des Civilizations Orientales, a small semi-political organization that emphasized the value of Asian cultures. This organization also included Indian, Chinese and Vietnamese nationalists. They all argued – each in their own way – for greater independence in their respective countries of origin. Mononutu also made possible the presence of the PI at a large pacifist congress in Bierville near Paris in August 1926. At this meeting of mainly French and German pacifists and liberals, the PI was part of an 'Asian bloc' that stated that world peace was impossible. was as long as the colonized peoples were not free.
League against Imperialism
The main result of their efforts to promote the Indonesian independence movement was the presence of the PI at the founding congress of the League against Imperialism in February 1927 in Brussels. This League was an initiative of the German communist Willi Münzenberg. He had used his contacts to bring together as many communist and anticolonial nationalist organizations from the West and the colonized world as possible. Among the 137 organizations and 300 in attendance was not only Hatta, but also Jawaharlal Nehru of the Indian Congress, officials of the Chinese nationalist Kuomintang party, activists of the South African African National Congress and even Albert Einstein as a staunch anti-imperialist.
The congress in Brussels was an excellent opportunity for the Indonesians to present themselves to the anti-colonial world. In 45 minutes, Hatta described the riches of his homeland, but also the long history of oppression and deprivation. In a resolution, those present expressed their sympathy for the Indonesian independence movement and called on the Dutch government to work towards immediate and full independence. After the congress, Hatta was even elected to the Executive Committee of the League, and in this way the PI was assured of lasting contacts in the anti-colonial network.
Propaganda thwarted
The PI's preeminence in European anti-colonial networks would not last. The Dutch authorities heavily pressured the students to end their political work, and even imprisoned Hatta and three other students for several months. From 1927, it became increasingly difficult for the PI to recruit members and conduct effective propaganda. International competition between communists and social democrats also largely made the existence of broad political platforms such as the League against Imperialism impossible, because support for collective politics declined. The PI's new collaboration with international organizations therefore did not continue in the 1930s, and most students returned to the Dutch East Indies.
Nevertheless, the above examples show that Indonesia's prominence as a country that did not actually exist or was known by that name was prepared long before the declaration of independence by Sukarno and Hatta. In his twenties, Mohammad Hatta already had an extensive international network in the circles of anti-colonial elites who would take power one by one in their respective countries of origin after the Second World War.
It is therefore not surprising that on August 30, 1945, less than two weeks after the declaration of independence, Hatta called on his old network. In a message to his 'old comrades, wherever they are', the new vice president reminded them of the days in Paris, Brussels and elsewhere, and called on them to recognize and support Indonesia in its fight against Dutch rule.
Collaboration within the League against Imperialism was also reflected in the Bandung conference of 1955, where a large number of Third World leaders gathered to speak out against power politics between the United States and the Soviet Union. When Sukarno opened the congress as host, he said that this conference was held in the same spirit as the League against Imperialism. “Many esteemed representatives present here today met earlier at that conference and found new strength in their struggle for independence.”