Proclamation of Indonesian Independence
- Date
- 1945
- Category
- Politics & governance
- Region
- Southeast Asia (Indonesia)
- Era
- Modern
- Significance
Indonesia declared independence on 17 August 1945, when Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta read a terse two-sentence proclamation at Sukarno's Jakarta residence, days after Japan's surrender left a power vacuum in the archipelago.
Radical pemuda (youth) groups had pressured the two nationalist leaders to act before returning colonial authority could reassert itself; the red-and-white flag was raised and the anthem "Indonesia Raya" sung before a small crowd. The Netherlands refused to recognise the new republic and returned militarily, triggering four years of the Indonesian National Revolution—armed struggle interwoven with diplomacy—until the Dutch formally transferred sovereignty in December 1949. The proclamation created the world's largest Muslim-majority nation and the fourth most populous country, and it became a template for anti-colonial movements across Asia and Africa. Its date is celebrated annually as Indonesia's national day. The event marked one of the first successful assertions of independence in the post-war wave of decolonisation, demonstrating that European empires weakened by the war could be challenged directly by organised nationalist movements exploiting the fluid moment between Japanese collapse and colonial reoccupation.
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Empires active in 1945
- Soviet Union1922 CE – 1991 CE
- Empire of Japan1868 CE – 1947 CE
- French Colonial Empire (Second)1830 CE – 1962 CE
- British Empire1583 CE – 1997 CE
- Spanish Empire1492 CE – 1976 CE
- Portuguese Empire1415 CE – 1999 CE
Related politics & governance events
- Founding of the United Nations26 June 1945 (in force 24 October 1945)
- The Munich Agreement Cedes the Sudetenland1938
- Stalin's Great Purge (Great Terror)1936–1938
- Hitler's appointment and Nazi consolidation of power30 January 1933 – August 1934
- Treaty of Versailles and the founding of the League of Nations28 June 1919 (in force 10 January 1920)
- Russian Revolutions of 1917March & November 1917 (February & October Revolutions, O.S.)
Further reading
The wider story
A History of Southeast Asia: Critical Crossroads
Authoritative yet readable history of the whole region, mainland and maritime.
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