What is often little known outside Indonesia is that resistance to foreign domination began long before the proclamation of independence in 1945. During our journey through Java and the Moluccas we made a special effort to trace this history — from the earliest colonial conquests of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) to the national revolution that followed World War II.
From Jayakarta to Batavia
In Jakarta, once known as Batavia, we visited the National Monument (Monas), built on the site of the former Koningsplein (King’s Square) in Weltevreden — the heart of the colonial capital. Beneath the monument, the museum’s dioramas provide a remarkable visual history of the Indonesian struggle: early Portuguese and Dutch incursions, local uprisings, and the slow awakening of nationalist movements. It is a powerful narrative of four centuries of resistance.
The Dutch presence began violently. In 1619, Jan Pieterszoon Coen led the VOC army in burning down the old town of Jayakarta and founding Batavia on its ruins. He also ordered the Banda massacre of 1621, killing thousands to secure the nutmeg monopoly. We visited the ruins of Kasteel Batavia, the old Dutch fort Coen built soon after the conquest — a reminder of the brutality on which colonial order was founded.
The VOC maintained its own private army and navy, enforcing control across the archipelago. Another dark chapter unfolded in 1740, when the Chinese quarter in Batavia rose up against VOC abuses. The revolt was crushed, and thousands of Chinese residents were massacred. During our walk over the filled-in canal that once was the Amsterdamgracht, we walked over the area where many of the victims’ bodies were dumped — a chilling reminder of the violence that shaped Batavia’s early history.
Nineteenth-century colonial wars and the KNIL
After the VOC’s bankruptcy in 1799, the Dutch state assumed direct control of the Indies from 1800, ushering in a new phase of military conquest and centralised administration. To maintain order and expand territory, the Netherlands established the Koninklijk Nederlandsch-Indisch Leger (KNIL) in 1830. The KNIL became the backbone of colonial authority, a professional army drawn from Dutch, Indo-European, and indigenous soldiers under Dutch command.
Over the next century it fought a series of costly campaigns — from the Padri War in Sumatra to the Java War (1825–1830) led by Prince Diponegoro, and later the 1817 uprising on the Moluccas under Kapitein Puttimura and the Aceh War (1873–1904). These conflicts consolidated Dutch control but left deep scars on the Indonesian population and economy. The colonial system that followed, particularly the Cultivation System, forced peasants to grow export crops under harsh conditions that enriched the Netherlands but deepened poverty in the colony.
The rise of nationalism
At the beginning of the 20th century, Dutch rule seemed unshakable. Yet the Ethical Policy — designed to justify continued rule through limited education and development — produced a new class of educated Indonesians, several studying in the Netherlands. Organisations such as Budi Utomo (1908), Sarekat Islam (1911) and the Indonesian National Party (1927) nurtured national consciousness.
Repression remained severe: the 1926 communist uprisings were crushed, and many activists were exiled to Tanah Merah in Dutch New Guinea, later transferred to Australia during World War II. Released under Australian pressure, they became vocal advocates for independence abroad.
The Japanese occupation and the road to revolution
The Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945 destroyed Dutch authority and transformed the political landscape. The Japanese trained Indonesian youth in local militias such as PETA (Pembela Tanah Air, Defenders of the Fatherland), providing both military discipline and nationalist purpose. At the same time, nationalist leaders like Sukarno and Hatta were used for propaganda but gained mass exposure and political experience.
While most European women and children were interned in Japanese camps under harsh conditions with severe food shortages, their husbands and older sons were separated and sent either to other prison camps in Indonesia, to forced labour on the Burma Railway, or to labour camps in Japan. Indigenous Indonesians suffered even more. Hundreds of thousands were conscripted as romusha (forced labourers), working in Indonesia and abroad under brutal conditions, and the large-scale requisitioning of rice led to widespread famine. It is estimated that more than a million Indonesians died from starvation, disease, or exhaustion during Japanese occupation.
When Japan surrendered in August 1945, Sukarno and Hatta proclaimed independence on 17 August, marking the birth of the Republic of Indonesia. However, this triggered a turbulent and violent period known as the Bersiap — “be ready” — when armed youth groups targeted remaining colonial and perceived foreign elements in an explosion of revolutionary fervour.
Yogyakarta: A royal ally of the Republic
In Yogyakarta, we visited the Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat and Fort Vredeburg. The fort, built by the Dutch in the 1760s, faced the Kraton directly — symbolising constant surveillance of the Sultan. Yet in 1945 Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX immediately declared loyalty to the Republic, offered his palace as headquarters for the new government, and financed the young state from his own treasury.
From 1946 to 1949, Yogyakarta served as the capital of the Republic. We stayed at the Phoenix Hotel, originally built as a villa for a Chinese businessman, later housing Sukarno’s office during this period. The hotel’s elegant colonial architecture still contains artefacts from the former royal palace of Solo.
Surabaya: The city of heroes
In Surabaya, we stayed at the Majapahit Hotel, formerly the Hotel Oranje, a beautifully restored Art Deco building. It was here on 19 September 1945 that Indonesian youth tore the blue stripe from the Dutch flag flying that was just raised above the hotel, leaving the red and white Sang Saka Merdeka. This flag incident became a symbol of defiance and helped ignite the Battle of Surabaya later that year — one of the fiercest engagements of the independence war.
The British troops who landed in Surabaya in late 1945 did so under Allied command, tasked with disarming Japanese forces, repatriating prisoners of war, and maintaining order until Dutch civil administration could return. They did not anticipate local hostility or the scale of the nationalist uprising. The result was the Battle of Surabaya, where Indonesian fighters resisted fiercely before the city fell — an event that earned Surabaya the title Kota Pahlawan, the City of Heroes.
The war of independence, 1945–1949
The Dutch, supported by Allied logistics, attempted to reassert colonial control over Indonesia. The resulting conflict, euphemistically termed politionele acties (“police actions”) by the Dutch government, consisted of two large-scale military campaigns: Operation Product (1947) and Operation Kraai (1948). These offensives briefly recaptured major cities such as Yogyakarta but failed to suppress Indonesia’s growing international legitimacy.
Globally, the Netherlands was increasingly condemned for its actions. The United Nations intervened diplomatically, and even the United States — whose post-war financial support the Netherlands relied on — warned that continuation of the war would jeopardise economic aid. The futile conflict brought the Netherlands close to financial collapse, while thousands of Indonesian, Dutch, British, Indian, and Australian lives were lost so soon after the devastation of World War II. Ultimately, international pressure and domestic exhaustion forced the Netherlands to transfer sovereignty to Indonesia on 27 December 1949 — an acknowledgment that colonialism had reached its end.
Legacy of resistance
From the razing of Jayakarta and the Banda massacre to the Java and Aceh wars, and finally the battles of the 1940s, Indonesian history reveals a continuous thread of resistance. What the National Monument in Jakarta captures in its dioramas — and what we saw echoed in the streets of Yogyakarta and Surabaya — is the long, painful struggle that shaped modern Indonesia.
By the time the Netherlands finally recognised Indonesian sovereignty, the young republic had endured four centuries of colonial rule, countless wars, and extraordinary human cost — but had finally reclaimed its independence.
Timeline of Major Conflicts and Uprisings (1619–1949)
| Year | Event | Location | Description |
| 1619 | Burning of Jayakarta | West Java | Jan Pieterszoon Coen destroys Jayakarta and establishes Batavia as the VOC capital. |
| 1621 | Banda Massacre | Banda Islands, Maluku | The VOC kills or expels most of the Bandanese population to secure the nutmeg monopoly. |
| 1640s–1790s | Hongi Expeditions | Maluku (especially Seram) | VOC and allied Ternatan fleets enforce clove-tree destruction and delivery quotas. |
| 1740 | Batavia Chinese Massacre | Batavia (Jakarta) | Thousands of ethnic Chinese residents killed during anti-Chinese violence under VOC rule. |
| 1817 | Pattimura Uprising | Saparua, Ambon & Lease Islands | Kapitan Pattimura (Thomas Matulessy) leads a revolt against renewed Dutch rule; suppressed and Pattimura is executed in Ambon. |
| 1825–1830 | Java War | Central & East Java | Prince Diponegoro leads a massive anti-colonial rebellion; devastating casualties and forced relocations. |
| 1873–1904 | Aceh War | Sumatra | Prolonged and brutal Dutch colonial campaign to subdue Aceh; tens of thousands killed. |
| 1926–1927 | Communist Uprisings | Java & Sumatra | Early nationalist and communist revolts crushed; many exiled to Boven-Digoel. |
| 1942–1945 | Japanese Occupation | Entire archipelago | Dutch colonial rule collapses; nationalist movement strengthens. |
| 1945 | Proclamation of Independence | Jakarta | Sukarno and Hatta declare the Republic of Indonesia on 17 August. |
| 1945–1949 | Indonesian National Revolution | Across Indonesia | Armed and diplomatic struggle between the Republic and returning Dutch, British and Allied forces. |
| 1947 & 1948 | First and Second Dutch “Police Actions” | Mainly Java & Sumatra | Dutch attempt to reassert control through military offensives; global diplomatic backlash. |
| 1949 | Transfer of Sovereignty | The Hague / Jakarta | The Netherlands formally recognises Indonesian independence. |
Postscript: Continuity and change in today’s Indonesia
While this article looks back on centuries of resistance, our travels also showed how Indonesia continues to live with — and reinterpret — its colonial past. In Bandung we saw a large police presence ahead of a student protest, against political corruption and police brutality (in recent months several students were killed during such demonstrations. In conversations with young and older Indonesians we found a striking openness about these issues. But they are proud of their nation and of having fought for independence, yet they hold no resentment toward the Dutch.
Most former colonial government and business buildings are not destroyed but repurposed, still serving similar functions within the Republic. The grand civic structures built during the Dutch era now house Indonesian ministries, banks, post offices, and schools. Likewise, the old European suburbs — once reserved for colonial officials — remain intact. Today they are home to Indonesian families, offices, and commercial enterprises.
Many Indonesians also recognise the positive Dutch legacy in the form of infrastructure — railways, ports, irrigation systems, public works, and the civic architecture that continues to define their urban environments. These practical inheritances, combined with Indonesia’s resilience and creativity, have helped transform the country from a colonial economy into one of Asia’s most dynamic nations — independent, self-confident, and still evolving.
Tracing Dutch Batavia: From the Old City to Buitenzorg
Exploring Java’s Colonial Legacy: Bandung, Cimahi, Yogyakarta and Surabaya
The Moluccas: Islands of Spice, Memory and Continuity
Kapitan Pattimura (Thomas Matulessy) and the 1817 Maluku Uprising