Decolonisation of East Asia Explained

How East Asia was Decolonised. This video talks about Indonesian Independence, Burmese independence, Vietnamese Independence, Timor Leste's independence, Papua New Guinea, China, Hong Kong, Macau, the Philippines, and both Korea's.

Credits
- Research: Mrs Scope
- Audio: Seb. Soto

Social Media

Sources:
- Ripples of Decolonisation in the Asia-Pacific, International Studies, Vol. 16, No. 1/2 2019, Charles Hawksley and Rowena Ward
- Gardner & Roy - The Economic History of Colonialism (2020) Bristol University Press
- (book) Beyond Empire and Nation (chapter) Decolonization and violence in Southeast Asia Crises of identity and authority. Hack, K.
- Postcolonialism – A Very Short Introduction (2003) R. J. C. Young. Oxford University Press
- K. Hack, G. Wade - The origins of the Southeast Asian Cold War - Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 40(3), pp 441-448 October 2009.
- E. Colbert - The Road Not Taken: Decolonization and Independence in Indonesia and Indochina. Foreign Affairs, Vol. 51, No. 3 (Apr., 1973), pp. 608-628

Additional credits:
Image of Valentin Hagdaev - head shaman of Olkhon. Lake Baikal. Buryatia. Siberia.
Author Аркадий Зарубин
Татар националь костюмы - Официальный портал Республики Башкортостан
Image of Tuvan on a Horse - 自游自在
Dacan Iwołgiński - W0zny
Newlyweds Meet the Sun. Painting of Chukchi - Nikolai Getman

[historypedia_id]

I understand the need to simplify the decolonisation of Indonesia for a 39 minute video, but there are points that, while not discussed even in Indonesian historiography, may be better told:

1. After the Japanese surrender, they didn't necessarily gave up power in Indonesia; the British actually ordered them to keep law and order until British-Indian troops can arrive. Unfortunately, the Japanese weren't exactly sure what to do, and they decided on a policy of first dissolving the Japanese-trained Indonesian paramilitary (PETA), before interning most of their own forces. They reversed the latter policy after the British pressured them, but this was half of the reason why the Indonesians could even take over administration and power in the first place.

2. The "functional" Indonesian administration generally only extended to Java, and lesser still to Sumatra. You should have mentioned that Australian troops have arrived in Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan), Celebes (Sulawesi), Lesser Sunda Islands (Nusa Tenggara), and the Moluccas (Maluku) by September of 1945, nipping the independence movement in these outer islands in the bud. Also, telling the fact that the British used (British-)Indian troops in Indonesia would be better, as it explained the British reluctance to involve themselves in Indonesian-Dutch affairs, as they were using colonial troops to subdue a colony in revolt.

3. As mentioned in point 1, the Japanese was tasked to maintain law and order, so it would be best to highlight the situation at the time in the four large cities of Java: Batavia/Jakarta in the north-west coast of Java, Bandung in inland west Java, Semarang in the north coast of central Java, and Surabaya in the north-east coast of Java. This is necessary since the Japanese actions there have large implications to how the independence went:
3A. In Batavia, the Japanese and the Indonesian can be said to have "shared" power, but the Japanese were generally in control — for example, the Japanese restricted a particular large mass rally in mid-September. Afterwards, when the British-Indians arrived there by the end of September, they have little difficulty taking over the city since the Indonesians weren't fully in power.
3B. Then, in Bandung, the Indonesians did take control of the city as agreed with the Japanese commander there, but after the Indonesians supposedly violated the agreement, the Japanese took over the city back without a fight on October 10th, allowing the British-Indians in soon after.
3C. Semarang was the bloodiest one of the bunch, before the Battle of Surabaya, that is. Basically, the Indonesians took over Semarang's administration, but they forcibly asked for weapons from the Japanese in Semarang (led by Major Kido Shinichiro). While the Japanese commander of Central Java sympathised with the Indonesians, Major Kido disagreed, so they asked the Japanese HQ in Batavia to weigh in. The HQ allowed the use of force to retain their weapons, so on October 15th, Major Kido and his troops assaulted Semarang, taking control of the city and defending it from Indonesian counterattacks until the British-Indians arrived on October 19th.
3D. Surabaya was a unique case. The three cities I mentioned previously had the Japanese prevail, but Surabaya was the odd one out. To simplify, the Indonesians took over administration of the city, but not its military presence. Then, a Dutch naval captain went to Surabaya to accept the Japanese garrison's surrender. The surrender was supposed to be just for show, but the Japanese mistakenly thought of it as an actual surrender (that their duties to keep law and order was complete). As such, the Japanese surrendered and didn't bother opposing the Indonesians when the latter took over their weapons stores. Unfortunately, the Japanese garrison in Surabaya was in charge of eastern Java, which meant other garrisons in smaller eastern Java cities gave up to the Indonesians with little opposition, allowing 24 thousand rifles and pistols and MGs, even artillery guns and tanks, to fall to Indonesian hands.

4. Battle of Surabaya, simplified. Referring to point 3D, the weapons the Indonesians took allowed their militia there to fight. The British-Indians arrived initially on Oct. 26th, and reached an agreement with the Indonesians soon after. Unfortunately, a leaflet drop from Batavia contained terms violating this agreement, so tens if not hundreds of thousands of Indonesians (20-30 thousand armed militia, the rest were civilians who fought) in Surabaya attacked the British-Indian brigade there, resulting in thousands of Indonesian casualties, 1200 British-Indian ones, and 200 or so of Dutch and Allied civilian casualties. A ceasefire was agreed on a few days later, but while enforcing this ceasefire, the British brigadier-general was killed in confusing circumstances. Because the British needed Surabaya (the largest port in Indonesia), and the fact that about 3-6 thousand Allied civilians were still in Indonesian hands, the British brought a division to Surabaya to clear the city, starting on Nov. 10. The British moved methodically, using tanks and planes and support from artillery and warships to reduce their casualties. AFAIK, about 100 to 300 British-Indians became casualties in this stage, with thousands to tens of thousands of casualties on the Indonesian side. Surabaya was cleared by the end of Nov. 1945.

5. I was a little surprised you didn't mention the Bersiap as a Dutch, because here in Indonesia, it wasn't mentioned in our historiography. To be fair, it is contentious, but such atrocities did happen and were perpetrated by Indonesian youths, and not just to the Dutch, but also to other Europeans, the Indos, the Ambonese and Timorese (despite them being native Indonesian as well), and Indonesian Chinese.


Anyway, to conclude and provide a TL;DR, I suppose you could have mentioned about:
1. That the Japanese were supposed to maintain law and order, only doing so in the three large cities of Java: Batavia/Jakarta, Bandung, and Semarang, because an incident involving a Dutch naval captain in the large port city of Surabaya caused the Japanese to surrender prematurely, allowing the Indonesians to take tens of thousands of weapons easily.
2. That the British had to use Indian troops in Indonesia, which was problematic considering the independence movement situation in the British Raj/India.
3. That the Australians had occupied the rest of Indonesia save for Java and Sumatra, which meant the Dutch were able to easily take over administration there.
4. That the Battle of Surabaya began with the British-Indians arriving there on Oct. 26, followed up by a string of incidents between them and the Indonesians. This erupted in a small battle a few days later, which was resolved temporarily by a ceasefire, but not before the British brigadier there was killed under confusing conditions. The importance of this port city, combined with strong Indonesian oppostion and that thousands of Allied civilians were still imprisoned in the city, meant the British decided to clear the city, supported by tanks, planes, and warships, from Nov. 10 to the end of the months.
5. The Bersiap (I'm sure you have better sources for this).


For references, I personally recommend these three journals by Han Bing Siong, since they are excellent in terms of analysing a variety of Dutch and Indonesian and even Japanese sources critically:
• Siong, H.B. (2003). "Captain Huyer and the massive Japanese arms transfer in East Java in October 1945". Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde, 159(2-3).
• Siong, H.B. (2000). "Sukarno-Hatta versus the Pemuda in the first months after the surrender of Japan (August-November 1945)". Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde, 156(2).
• Siong, H.B. (1996). "The secret of major Kido; The battle of Semarang, 15-19 October 1945". Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde, 152(3).

As for other sources:
• There are no English-language book from a truly Indonesian perspective, but Benedict Anderson's "Java in a Time of Revolution" comes close.
• The Australian official history of the Second World War is good if you want to know about how the Australians came to occupy eastern Indonesia, but they only go so far. Available on the Australian War Museum, online, for free.
• The British official history of the Pacific War — "The War Against Japan" specifically it's fifth volume — is not... great, but it's decent enough for a general overview of their occupation of Indonesia. Available on Google Books, for free.
• The book "The British Occupation of Indonesia: 1945-1946" by Richard McMillan is less biased and more condensed than the British official history.
• This journal by Parrott is, even after close to 50 years, a great dissection of the death of that British brigadier in Surabaya that I mentioned:
Parrott, J.G.A. (1975). "Who Killed Brigadier Mallaby?" Indonesia, 20, 87-111.


Regardless of these criticisms, in general your overview is already largely accurate, so I'd like to convey a sincere thank you for the coverage of the Indonesian independence. There isn't a lot of coverage which isn't biased, and the fact that you disclosed your Dutch background shows you strive to be unbiased. Again, much thanks for the great video!

[HistoryScope]

Thank you for the 5 people who liked my video within 10 seconds of me uploading. I don't know who you are, but I love you!

[jadeon]

You tell stories that aren't often heard, unbiased to what will get the most views. Please don't stop! Your videos are always a treat regardless of the topic.

[TheOKAY]

Very interesting and informative. Decolonization is an important topic that too few historians cover, probably because it is too controversial and contemporary. I appreciate you stating your potential bias during the Dutch part.

[huyduong]

As a Vietnamese, I must say the Indochina/Vietnam lack an important point. Vietnam was working with the USA during WW2 to distract the Japan and to disrupt their colonialism in Indochina, with the expectation that it would be granted independence after WW2. However the USA decided to side with France

[draphotube]

As a fellow Dutchman I am very happy with this detailed information on what went on in Indonesia. I was taught nothing about any of this in history classes. Je hebt ook meer dan gelijk over onze Koning, echt hoor, totaal geen charisma en kan niet eens een goede speech geven, echt beschamend haha.

[davidschaftenaar]

Will you discuss Thailand and how it successfully managed to Matrix-dodge every single attempt made to colonize it, in the future? I think someone more competent than myself really should at some point, it's a staggering achievement considering what happened to so many other nations.

[lawlandlong]

I just spent over a month in SE Asia (Malaysia Indonesia and Singapore, and had some idea about this topic yet looked around most bigger cities and very limited information was offered, or it told the story in Singapore of the British during WWII, indeed a short yet insightful piece, wanting more. I'm from American and we have so limited knowledge of this part of the world...yet its valued and needed. Keep on offering these pieces,

[philipvlnst]

Your Dutch, so I don't totally fault you for an oversight. But in the Philippines there was a war against the colonization of the United States from 1899-1905 more or less. Present historians called it "America's first Vietnam". The war wasn't very mild, mind you, there were a lot of atrocities made by the Americans. However, after 1905 if I remember my history correctly things simmered down and the USA allowed the Philippines a certain amount of self-rule leading to independence. Eventually the Philippine elite went onboard with the USA and that's the time they sent delegates to the USA for independence. The move could have been smooth had the Japanese not invaded. For many Filipinos, the Japanese threw a monkey wrench into the planned Philippine Nation. Anyway, I just want to point out that there was a "War of Independence" against the United States and it wasn't all that peaceful.

[Pretermit_Sound]

11:05 as an American, I very much admire (and envy) your honesty, and humility when discussing these kinds of historical topics. I wish more of my fellow countrymen were capable of analyzing history in this manner. Too many people prefer mythology over history, and what’s worse is they are often incapable of knowing the difference between the two. Cheers 🍻 ✌🏻🇺🇸

[horcruxhunter]

I know very little about any of these topics so I can't speak for the accuracy of this video but I personally enjoyed it! I like overviews like this as it gives me the ability to look into the subjects mentioned later on since I prior did not know about the subjects. Well done!

[FPSGamer]

YES! So happy to see these lesser taught (at least in the West) parts of history!

[bangscutter]

The awkward situation the Japanese occupation forces in Southeast Asia faced when their country surrendered cannot be underestimated. They were defeated in the war, but still had to maintain their garrisons to maintain order in the populace until Allied forces could arrive to take over the occupation. In Indonesia, the local militias had become such a threat that the Japanese and Allied forces actually cooperated a couple of times to fight against the militia, mobs and looters during the chaotic transition times.

[AlexS-ojqf]

About European journey to Indonesia:

1. The Portuguese arrived from their base in India, initially setting shop up in Malacca, but then explore a bit more to the east and build fortifications around the Spice Islands, and then establishing shops and missions in East Nusa Tenggara region, converting Kingdom of Larantuka into Catholicism. They only later settles around East Timor after being pushed out from Flores by the Dutch.

2. The Dutch followed the Portuguese, and during the Eighty Years war (and Spanish-Portugal union), take over a lot of Portuguese colony in India and East Indies, also taking over Malacca and setting shop first in Banten, then expand east to the Spice Islands, then Java and the rest of the Islands.

3. The British followed the Dutch and take over most of their possession in India and Malaya, they initially settled Bancoolen in Sumatra but traded the colony for Singapore and Malacca, and guaranteed Dutch supremacy over the Islands. They later take over the whole colony during the Napoleonic War but returned it after the defeat of Napoleon and restoration if Dutch Monarchy.

[bushybrowser]

with regard to the Philippines, there is this small yet major detail that happened between the change of colonizers from Spain to USA. on the last decade of the Spanish era, Spain was losing control of the archipelago with endless uprising, and when the Spanish-American war happened, they just sold the Philippines instead to the USA and staged a mock battle rather than losing to the locals. after which, the Philippine-American war happened exactly after the Spain left. I hope that adds a little detail there. thank you. Love your video by the way, learned a lot of the Ideas and situation on East Asian countries on how they develope there national identity and gained independence.

[David-qpbq]

Love these videos, no one produces them better than this guy

[davidmizak]

You deliver excellent content to your audience. It's very interesting material. All of your effort put into creating this video is much appreciated. I'm truly grateful for your help!

[ジェジェガロン]

When I learned about Indonesian occupation of East Timor it pains me... like how the hell that we didn't see the hypocrisy in that??? we pretty much became the same as the Dutch before us. And situations in Papua (or Irian Jaya) aren't much better, I've seen some of the most racist shit in the way we look and treat them, although it does getting better now.

I really hope that this country wouldn't be such an oppressive power in the future

[asukaainun]

As ethnic Javanese Indonesian, Im obviously can't represent the opinion of West Papuan people. But to my knowledge they indirectly colonized by the dictatorship regime held by the longest serving and least talked about dictator in Asia, Suharto. The were left behind economically for a very long time compared to the the nearest islands near Java vicinity. There were squeezed dry of their natural resources by the Suharto regime with Western Companies. They face severe racial issue and often regarded as the odd one out even among thousands of ethnicity in Indonesia.
But its getting better now after the National Reformation and economic boom around the country, even if the infrastructure growth was painful slow the start of Reformation. But right now its definitely among long term plans for Central government in Java to raise Papuan living standard by taking them along with the Economic growth.
It still not perfect and I would like it to be more faster and even among the region. But it has to happen eventually, I always consider them a part of my country even though they were neglected and rather oppressed up until decades ago. I want to live in the world where Papuan people is a common sight in Jakarta (Indonesia capital city). I can only hope our future politicians would concentrate their efforts more often there in Papua.
Regarding East Timor, I didn't knew that the oppression was so bad. I was not born yet when it was happen and almost no history books mentioned it, perhaps unsurprisingly. Will check it later in Wikipedia.

[catanana]

Very good video, as an Indian I've learned very little about South-east and East asian independence and decolonisation and this video gave me much insight on where to start. I hope to see a video on South Asia soon :) much love ❤️