It is 10:00 a.m. on August 17, 1945, in Jakarta. An excited child runs through the bustling crowd, climbs a pole, and begins cheering loudly. Meanwhile, Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta step forward, unfold a proclamation, and declare that Indonesia will no longer bow to foreign rule. That moment, full of hope and courage, sparked an unprecedented struggle.
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The proclamation followed shortly after the Japanese surrender in World War II. Indonesia seized the opportunity to declare independence, but the Netherlands insisted the archipelago was still theirs. They labeled the revolution “illegal” and launched so-called “police actions,” which were, in fact, nothing less than a military campaign.
The Indonesian fighters were outnumbered but relentless. Instead of charging enemy lines head-on, they disappeared into the jungles near Yogyakarta and the rice paddies of Java. They sabotaged supply lines and then went underground. Villages provided the guerrillas with rice and medicine, and in return, the fighters protected the farmers from reprisals.
Meanwhile, the Dutch recaptured Jakarta, torched villages, and arrested thousands. Photos of emaciated Indonesian prisoners and destroyed homes appeared in European newspapers. The British had nothing good to say about it. “What is Britain Doing While a Former Colonial Army Suppresses Its Own People?” The Times asked. The Observer wondered, “Has Western civilization No Conscience?” The New Statesman even accused their government of “Financing Brutality with Our Taxes.” American newspapers such as Harper’s Magazine and The Nation published articles with similar headlines.
In early 1947, both parties agreed to an armistice, signed aboard the anchored ship USS Renville. It seemed like a breakthrough, but it immediately became clear that the Netherlands was only willing to accept part of it. They also attempted to undermine the armistice with twelve counterproposals of their own. Finally, they failed to honor the agreements to withdraw their military forces to certain areas. No wonder the fighting soon flared up again.
Ultimately, the United Nations intervened. The United States believed that if Korea and Vietnam were left to the communists, other Asian countries would follow like falling dominoes. Washington therefore pressured the Dutch government: accept peace negotiations or lose American aid.
In December 1949, under intense diplomatic pressure, the Netherlands formally transferred sovereignty to the United States of Indonesia. Ironically, that transfer was dated on December 27, 1949, so that the original 1945 proclamation didn’t need to be recognized. Freedom was celebrated, but only according to the same old Dutch colonial standards.
For decades, Dutch schoolbooks described the Indonesian war of independence in terms of “police actions” rather than a colonial campaign. But the true history couldn’t be hidden forever.
In 2005, Foreign Minister Ben Bot acknowledged that August 17, 1945, was, morally speaking, Indonesia’s true birthday. In 2022, a Dutch government-funded report revealed that “structural extreme violence” occurred during the war: summary executions, torture, and scorched-earth tactics. In 2023, Prime Minister Mark Rutte called the 1945 Indonesian proclamation of independence a “historical fact,” but he stopped short of legal recognition or reparations.
Every Independence Day, Indonesians shout “Merdeka!” (“freedom”). They raise flags in schools, race to devour hanging buns, and watch wayang kulit puppets depict stories about the struggle for independence and universal themes like justice and resistance. But behind all these festivities hides a harsh truth: freedom wasn’t handed out like candy. It had to be won through bitter struggle and costly sacrifice.
Merdeka means “freedom,” but it has a deeper meaning. Derived from Sanskrit maharddhika (“prosperity”), the term in Indonesia primarily came to mean liberation from slavery. The Mardijkers (a Dutch corruption of the term merdeka) were the first enslaved people brought to Indonesia by Portugal and the Netherlands. Originally from India, Africa, the Philippines, and other parts of Southeast Asia, and sometimes even Europe, they were Catholics.
However, the Netherlands promised to grant them freedom if they converted to the Dutch Reformed Church. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) recognized the Mardijkers as a distinct, “ethnic” group but also kept them strictly separated from the indigenous Javanese. The same divide-and-rule tactics kept Indonesia’s various ethnic groups apart for centuries, but the desire for freedom and independence continued to grow. Eventually, the anti-colonial movements in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Straits Settlements adopted the term “merdeka” as a rallying cry in their resistance against Dutch and British colonizers.
Historian Benedict Anderson wrote that Indonesia was “imagined against colonialism.” This imagination sparked children’s laughter on greased poles—panjat pinang—and filled the nights with guerrilla radio broadcasts. It allowed villages to pass unnoticed during patrols and ushered diplomats into tense conference rooms. And today, it fuels a national pride that says: we weren’t just born free, we fought for it.
So, if you hear “Merdeka!” on August 17th, know that it is more than a cry. It is a tribute to every spirit that refused to bow down to colonialism, to every truth that survived a centuries-old empire, and to every promise that freedom must always be reclaimed.
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