Indonesian Independence Events

Indonesian independence is one of the history of the Indonesian nation. This history has a very big meaning because it sacrificed many Indonesia heroes to fight for independence.

The number of the heroes who became victims should be the light of motivation to increase youth sense of nationalism. However, in the current era, youths prone to have forgotten the struggle of the heroes who sacrificed themselves for the independence of the Indonesian nation.

As an education and a refreshments, here we list some events in the past that correlated to Indonesian Independence. 

• The Surrender of Japan to the Allied Forces.
  The surrender of Japan to the Allies occurred on August 14, 1945. This surrender was carried out after the atomic bombing of two industrial cities in Japan on August 6 and 9 1945, namely Hiroshima and Nagasaki, by the United States.

In addition to the bombing incident, on August 9, 1945, the Soviet Union made a sudden invasion of Japan in Manchuria which reneged on the Japanese-Soviet Neutrality Agreement. Emperor Hirohito intervened after the bombing of the two cities. It then instructed the Military Advisory Council to accept the terms put forward by the allies in the Potsdam Declaration.

After the discussions and discussions for some time and the failed coup plan, Hirohito made an announcement over the radio in front of the entire people on August 15, 1945. In that speech, Hirohito conveyed the agreement to hand over power, as well as Japan’s surrender to the Allies.

In addition, from the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, information about the independence of the Indonesian people was spread, which the Japanese government would submit as soon as possible.

• Rengasdengklok Exile

The news about Japan admitting its defeat to the allies resulted in several young groups such as Chaerul Saleh, Sutan Sjahrir, Wikanan and Darwis urging the older groups to speed up the proclamation of Indonesian independence.

However, old class figures such as Soekarno and Hatta have not agreed to the request. They argued that the sudden proclamation of Indonesia’s independence resulted in bloodshed between the Japanese government which had not been completely occupied by Indonesia.

It was this refusal of the Elders that triggered the Rengasdengklok incident. This caused a debate between the young and old, an agreement was finally issued. In this incident, some of the younger groups sent Soekarno and Hatta to the Rengasdengklok area. Their goal was to secure Soekarno and Hatta from the influence of the Japanese government.

• The creation of Independence Proclamation Text

The formulation of the text of the proclamation became the most important part of its history. By holding a meeting to formulate a draft proclamation at the house of Admiral Maeda on August 16, 1945. This meeting was attended by groups of young people who really wanted the independence of the Indonesian nation.

With the position of Head of the Japanese Naval Liaison Office, Admiral Maeda’s residence was deemed the right location in compiling the text of the proclamation of Indonesia.

This is because Admiral Maeda is a good friend of Ahmad Soebardjo who is one of the members of the old group who formulated the text of the proclamation of Indonesia. The Rengasdengklok incident made Soekarno and Moh. Hatta was moved to proclaim independence as soon as possible.

• Independence Proclamation Text Ratification

After the preparation of the text of the proclamation held by Soekarno, Hatta, Soebardjo and Ahmad, a text of the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence was created which was directly written by Soekarno. After obtaining approval from the meeting participants, and several revisions were made, then Soekarno ratified the text of the proclamation in front of all parties.

• Declaration of Independence

The declaration of the text of the proclamation of Indonesian independence was read by Ir Soekarno on August 17, 1945. The declaration ceremony of the proclamation proved Indonesia’s true independence.