WORLD WAR II AND ITS INFLUENCE ON INDONESIA (1939 - 1945)
The second world war occurred from 1939 to 1945. The warring parties in this second world war were a group of axis countries (Germany, Italy and Japan) with a group of allied countries (including England, France, the United States, the Netherlands , Denmark and Norway).
Broadly speaking, this war was divided into wars in the European region and the Asia Pacific region. In Europe this war was preceded by the German attack on Poland on September 1, 1939. This attack was triggered
various other wars in the European region. On the other hand, Japan, which is in the Asia Pacific region, suddenly bombed the United States Naval base at Pearl Harbor (Hawaii) on December 7, 1941. Japan in a relatively short time succeeded in occupying the military bases of the United States and its allies in Asia. -Pacific. Several islands in the Pacific Ocean and British, French and Dutch colonies in East Asia and Southeast Asia were occupied. Japan has long dreamed of forming a Greater East Asia Empire. This second World War had a great influence on Indonesia.
A. World War II in Mainland Europe
As already mentioned on September 1, 1939 Germany attacked Poland. This attack marked the start of World War II. The German occupation of Poland became a threat to the Soviet Union. Therefore, the Soviet Union attacked Poland from the east. The purpose of the Soviet Union's attack was to stem the threat or movement of German troops to the area to the east of Poland. Eventually, Poland was occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, Britain and France were unable to help Poland, even though the two countries had declared war on Germany on September 3,
1939. On May 10, 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.
(See Fig.). This attack continued into France in early June 1940, via the town of Sedan. France under attack from the North and South did not
able to defend against German attacks. Therefore, General de Gaulle fled to England to form an exile government in London, England. Germany continued fighting on the Western front by invading England. Germany's attempt to control England failed for several reasons, including:
British territory was separated from mainland Europe so that Germany could not attack England directly,
Britain had a better military force than mainland European countries, and
Britain received war equipment from the United States.
Based on that fact, Germany together with Italy and Japan signed a military defense pact on September 27, 1940, which contained an agreement to help each other if one of them was attacked by another country.Besides the Western front, the European War also took place on the Eastern front with the center of the war in the area separating Germany and the Soviet Union. On June 22, 1941, Germany launched an offensive towards the East with the aim of taking control of the Soviet Union. The German attack to the East was very detrimental to Germany because it brought closer ties between the Soviet Union and France and Britain, so that the opposing forces became stronger.
B. The Pacific War and Its Impact on Indonesia
1. The Pacific War
The European War then turned into World War II, after Japan bombarded Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The destruction of Pearl Harbor made it easier for Japan to realize its goal, namely to form the Greater East Asia Commonwealth. Areas in East Asia and Southeast Asia, including Indonesia were successfully occupied by the Japanese
Japan easily controlled areas in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It was as if Japan had not encountered any significant resistance from Western countries (Britain, France, the Netherlands and the United States) to dominate the Southeast Asian regions. Japan began to experience difficulties, after the United States withdrew some of its troops from Europe. In May 1942, the Japanese attack on Australia was stopped because the Japanese army suffered defeat in the battle of the Coral Sea (Coral). The Japanese attack on Hawaii was also thwarted by the United States troops in the battle at Midway in June 1942. In August 1942, United States troops landed on Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands) and in February 1943, the Japanese troops were beaten back from there with heavy casualties. very big loss.
Since 1943, Japan had to change its war strategy from offensive (attack) to defensive (defense). In short, control of the Pacific War began to be held by the United States. This means that it is the United States that determines when the attack will be carried out. Meanwhile, Japan, as a party that is starting to get pressured, can only wait and try to defend the territory it has occupied.
2. Towards the end of the Pacific War and its Influence on Indonesia
Japan slowly, but surely must acknowledge the superiority of the United States in every battlefield. In February 1944, US forces drove the Japanese out of Kwayalein in the Marshall Islands. Allied troops continue to move towards Japan as the center of power. In June 1944, US B-29 bomber forces began to disable Japanese forces in several strategic areas. In fact, the Japanese Navy was successfully crippled by Allied forces in the Philippine Sea.
In July 1944, Japan lost its naval base on Saipan (Mariana Islands). When Japanese troops were overwhelmed by the allied forces, Japan then tried to get support and assistance from the colonies for war purposes. Therefore, Japan then held political and economic mobilization of the colonial territories, including the Indonesian colonies. Political mobilization is carried out by forming military and semi-military organizations. These military and semi-military organizations include Heiho, Defenders of the Homeland (PETA), Jawa Hokokai, the Three A Movement and the Center for People's Power (Putera). All of these organizations were formed by the Japanese with the hope of supporting Japan in its war against the allied forces. In addition, to attract the sympathy of the Indonesian people to support Japan in the Greater East Asia War, Japan gave a 'promise of independence at a later date'. Indonesian too
promised to be given independence at a later date. For this reason, Japan then formed BPUPKI (Investigating Agency for Preparatory Efforts for Indonesian Independence).
In Japanese, BPUPKI is called Dokuritsu Junbi Cosakai. To continue the preparatory tasks for Indonesian independence, BPUPKI was then replaced with the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (PPKI). In Japanese, PPKI is called Dokuritsu Junbi Inkai. To further convince the Indonesian people, the Japanese Southern Army Command agreed that Indonesia would be given independence on September 7, 1945. In fact, several Indonesian leaders (including Sukarno) were invited by the Japanese government to receive this information.
Meanwhile, economic mobilization is carried out by forcing the population to surrender their wealth for the sake of war, for the sake of common prosperity. Every resident is required to surrender his wealth to the Japanese government. The people must surrender valuables (gold and diamonds), animals, foodstuffs to the Japanese government. To expedite its efforts, Japan formed the Jawa Hokokai (Javanese People's Service) and Nogyo Kumiai (Agricultural Cooperative). The political and economic mobilization carried out by Japan was quite successful, but not enough to face the attack of the Allied forces.
The Japanese troops finally acknowledged the superiority of the allied forces. Especially after the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed by the United States. The cities of Hiroshima were bombed on August 6, 1945 and Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Before it could give independence to Indonesia, Japan surrendered unconditionally to the Allies on August 14, 1945. Meanwhile the war that took place in mainland Europe had already ended with Germany's surrender to Allies on May 7, 1945.
C. The End of World War II and Its Effects on Colonial Countries
As it is known that Germany succeeded in occupying most of Continental Europe. Northern France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and the Balkan countries all the way to Kretta were successfully occupied by Germany. Germany's occupation of oil-rich Romania was opposed by the Soviet Union. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union, Mutolof, asked Germany to be responsible for its aggression to the eastern region, but did not receive a satisfactory answer. The Soviet Union became an ally of England, however, Romania and Bulgaria sided with Germany. Meanwhile, Italian troops were defeated by British troops led by Wavell in the battle in North Africa. The defeat caused riots in Italy. To prevent the entry of British troops into Italy, Germany sent troops to Italy to occupy several strategic areas. Italy is under the control of the German army. Jerma troops under the leadership of Erwin Rommel invaded Africa and managed to beat the British troops to the border of Egypt.
The victories of the German troops in various battlefields began to receive blows from the Allied forces since 1942. Signs of the defeat of the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy and Japan) began to appear from the following events:
1. Japan's defeat in the battle of the Coral Sea on May 7 1942.
2. The German army suffered defeat in the battle at El-Alamein, near Alexandria to the British troops led by Robert Montgomery and Alexander.
3. The German troops that invaded Russia were defeated by the Soviet Union troops led by Marshal Syukof in the battle at Stalingrad.
In addition, General Dwight D. Eisenhower managed to send troops to Italy via Sicily and Naples. The German army failed to defend Italy. Mussolini was killed and Italy surrendered to the Allies in May 1944. The Allied landings on the coasts of Southern Italy and France were a ruse to lure German tank forces south. In this case, the Allies will land their troops on a large scale in Normandy. Meanwhile, Soviet troops pushed back German forces in the battle for Stalingrad, and successively captured Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria. Even together with Joseph Bros Tito's partisan troops, Soviet troops succeeded in liberating Yugoslavia (1944) and Hungary (1945) from German rule.
In the West and Central battlefields, Eisenhower's troops and Montgomery's troops invaded Normandy on June 6, 1944. Generals Rommel and Rundstedt were unable to withstand the onslaught of Allied troops. In August 1944, France was wrested from German rule. Meanwhile, Belgium was successfully liberated from Nazi rule 10 days later. United States, British and French troops invaded Germany towards Berlin. Meanwhile, Syukof's troops invaded Berlin from the east. Goring was captured by US troops. Meanwhile, Hitler and Gobbels committed suicide. Meanwhile, Admiral Donitz surrendered unconditionally on May 8, 1945. Finally, Germany declared unconditional surrender at that time. Germany signed the peace treaty in Potsdam on August 2, 1945. United States troops managed to destroy the Japanese Kaigun. General Mac Arthur and Admiral Chester Nimitz succeeded in occupying the Philippines (1944), Iwojima and Okinawa (1945). In addition, the United States succeeded in dropping atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrendered unconditionally to the Allies on August 14, 1945. Japan signed the treaty aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo bay on September 2, 1945.
The two agreements above contain almost the same provisions, including:
1. Germany and Japan must pay for war costs.
2. All war criminals must be sentenced.
3. Germany and Japan must be demilitarized.
4. Germany is divided into 4 zones (areas) and each zone is under the control of the United States, Britain, France, and Russia.
5. Poland's territory was enlarged with Danzig and parts of Germany.
6. The city of Berlin is split in two.
The consequences of World War II, including:
1. The United States emerged as a new political and military power that was highly respected, especially because of its financial capabilities.
2. The Soviet Union emerged as an influential 'red bear' country and was a threat to the United States.
3. There was great competition between the two great countries because each wanted to become a world leader.
4. France, as one of the Allied members, suffered the most losses because its territory became a battlefield.
5. Western imperialism in Asia has collapsed. The Asian nations used this opportunity to proclaim their independence.
a. Indonesia, 17 August 1945,
b. Philippines, July 4, 1946 (1936 United States pledge),
c. India and Pakistan become dominions, 15 August 1947,
d. Burma, January 4, 1948,
e. Cyolon becomes dominion, 4 February 1948,
f. Independent India, 26 January 1950,
g. The Viet Minh were still fighting Vietnam (France) under
the leadership of Ho Chi Minh.
Source: Mama