Semarang was handed over from the Dutch Government to the Indonesian Government

1949

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Caption Bahasa Indonesia

Dutch rule in Semarang came to an end on December 27, 1949, after a local ceremony to transfer sovereignty earlier that day. Col. Gatot Soebroto of the TNI decided to end the official farewell reception of the Dutch administration with a speech in the social club De Harmonie that evening.

Source: Semarang beeld van een Stad, page.86 [foto: P.W. van Lint]

On the evening of 27 December 1949, the Indonesian Government received control of Semarang City from the Dutch Government.

More information:

The Dutch Government decided to accept the independence of Indonesia, including the city of Semarang, which became an Indonesian territory, as a result of the Konferensi Meja Bundar (Round Table Conference), which took place in The Hague from 23 August to 2 November 1949. On 27 December 1949, an acknowledgment of independence took place in Amsterdam, Batavia, and Yogyakarta.

Prior Events:

Early January 1946 - The Netherlands launches military operations with the aim of re-occupying Indonesian territory.

4 January 1946 - The capital city of Indonesia is officially moved from Jakarta to Yogyakarta on the advice and recommendation of Sultan Hamengkubuwana IX, thus making Yogyakarta the temporary capital city of Indonesia.

12 November 1946 - A ceasefire was agreed between the Netherlands, represented by Hubertus van Mook (acting Governor General of the Dutch East Indies 1944-1948) and the Republic of Indonesia, represented by Sutan Sjarhir (Prime Minister of Indonesia 1945-1946) at Linggarjati.

The Linggarjati Agreement agreed that the Netherlands recognised the sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia as the de facto ruler of Java, Madura, and Sumatra, and both parties reached an agreement to cooperate in the establishment of a Federal State of the United States of Indonesia, of which the Republic of Indonesia would be one of the states, and the Queen of the Netherlands would be the symbolic head of the Indonesian-Dutch union of states.

20 July 1947 - The Dutch violated the Linggarjati ceasefire agreement, and began military operations, called Military Aggression I / Politionele Acties I, to take control of Indonesia. Most of West Java (except Banten); Jakarta, and Bandung, were taken over.

After West Java was successfully subdued, the movement continued towards the east of Java, which was launched from Surabaya to control Madura and the east coast of Java. A relatively small force was also deployed by the Dutch to secure the Semarang area, practically the Dutch managed to control the vital port cities in Java.

As a result, the US began to question the actions of the Netherlands and condemned the actions taken by the Netherlands, as well as suspending financial aid to the Netherlands. Re-acquisition of Indonesia was not the solution to Indonesia's development and progress, and the Netherlands should not have intervened in the establishment of Indonesia if the Indonesians did not want Dutch interference. The allied countries demanded that the UN should be the forum to monitor the Dutch moves against Indonesia.

January 1948 - A new agreement is made on the American aircraft carrier USS Renville, which is anchored in Jakarta harbour. The Renville Agreement recognised a ceasefire along the outer limits of an imaginary line called the "van Mook Line". This imaginary status quo line separated Dutch and Indonesian territory with most of Java under Dutch control; most of West Java (except Banten), most of Central Java (except Purworejo), and most of East Java (except Madiun).

The Renville Agreement arose at the initiative of the Americans, and unfortunately, the important points of the agreement were considered incompatible with the ideals of the Indonesian nation for independence, so the Republicans (Indonesian nationalists) were dissatisfied with the results of the agreement.

Late 1947 - Late 1948 - Hubertus van Mook attempted to implement the idea of a Federal State of the United States of Indonesia by announcing the formation of provincial governments in March 1948, of which van Mook himself would be president. This was followed by the formation of the Bijeenkomst voor Federale Overleg or Federal Consultative Assembly complete with leaders of the Federal states.

18 December 1948 - The Netherlands launches Military Aggression II / Politionale Acties II, which is ostensibly a cheap, easy, and highly probable military operation for the Netherlands to win, but is the beginning of a military and political disaster for them.

As a repercussion of the military operation, Yogyakarta (the temporary capital of the Republic of Indonesia) was taken over by the Dutch on 19 December 1948, and all cabinet members such as Sukarno, Hatta, Agus Salim (Minister of Foreign Affairs), and even Sjahrir were arrested.

On the other hand, the R. I. government deliberately allowed the temporary capital of Yogyakarta to be taken over in the hope that world opinion through the international forum of the United Nations would be offended by the actions of the Dutch who pursued a military campaign so that the Dutch military victory turned into a diplomatic defeat.

22 December 1948 - The US cancels all economic aid to the Netherlands that was originally intended for expenditure in Indonesia. The Dutch finally realised that the final decision to conduct military operations was a big mistake and caused serious problems for them. Such conditions were exploited by the Indonesian guerrillas who managed to weaken the Dutch defences.

Late January 1949 - The UN Security Council demands the dissolution of the Republic; the establishment of an interim government; and the full transfer of sovereignty from the Netherlands to Indonesia by 1 July 1950 at the latest. The US publicly and vocally condemns the Netherlands at the forum of the UN.

April 1949 - The Netherlands finally agreed to American and UN requests and warnings, but insisted on being able to carry out discussions with the government of the Republic of Indonesia. Finally, on 7 May 1949, both sides of the conflict (Dutch-Indonesian) reached an agreement that a Round Table Conference would be held.