Merdeka: The Struggle for Indonesian Independence and the Republic’s Precarious Rise, 1945–1950
Oct 2025 · Taylor & Francis
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About this ebook
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.
About the author
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 is emeritus professor of Indonesian history at the University of Leiden and an honorary fellow at the KITLV in Leiden.
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