Merdeka
Title
Merdeka
Subtitle
The Struggle for Indonesian Independence and the Republic’s Precarious Rise, 1945–1950
Translator
Gioia Marini
ISBN
9789048560844
Format
eBook PDF
Number of pages
456
Language
English
Publication date
Dimensions
15.6 x 23.4 cm
Also available as
Hardback - € 69,00
Table of Contents
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Foreword
1 The colonial state: violence and modernity, resistance and repression, 1900–1941
2 The Japanese occupation: hope, exploitation and mobilisation, 1942–1945
3 The proclamation, May–September 1945
4 Local revolutions: bersiap and daulat, October 1945 to mid-1946
5 The Dutch reoccupation and decolonisation, 1945–1946
6 The Persatuan Perdjuangan, October 1945 to May 1946
7 The army, June–July 1946
8 Diplomacy and warfare, August 1946 to January 1948
9 Federalism, 1947–1948
10 Civil war, February–November 1948
11 The second attack on the Republic, October 1948 to January 1949
12 Violence, diplomacy and independence, 1949
13 Unity, 1950
Epilogue
Biographical sketches of some of the main characters
List of illustration
Bibliography
Index

Reviews and Features

Merdeka differs from other studies because it dismantles established myths and concentrates on the internal dynamics of the Indonesian Revolution.’
– Bambang Purwanto, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta

'Merdeka helps us to understand why problems that emerged during the Revolution are still with us today.’ – Bonnie Triyana,Historia.id

Harry Poeze, Henk Schulte Nordholt

Merdeka

The Struggle for Indonesian Independence and the Republic’s Precarious Rise, 1945–1950

Under the slogan ‘Merdeka!’ the Republic of Indonesia rushed into a battle for independence – a struggle of which no one could predict the outcome. Harry Poeze and Henk Schulte Nordholt provide a new narrative about the revolution, one that focuses not only on the fight against the Dutch but also on the precarious rise of the Republic.

After the horrors of the Japanese occupation, the Republican leaders needed to somehow build a new state. From the Dutch side, they had to deal with short-sighted politicians and warmongering soldiers. On its own side, the Republic was confronted with wayward and combative youths, autonomous military leaders, conservative federalists, revolutionary communists, and radical Muslims. Coup d’états, a civil war and two Dutch military attacks threatened the survival of the Republic. That is why the victory finally achieved by the Indonesian leaders is the revolution’s greatest miracle.
Authors

Harry Poeze

Harry Poeze is a former publisher, an honorary fellow at the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (Koninklijk Instituut van Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde, KITLV) in Leiden, and one of the leading researchers of the Indonesian Revolution.

Henk Schulte Nordholt

Henk Schulte Nordholt is emeritus professor of Indonesian history at the University of Leiden and an honorary fellow at the KITLV in Leiden.