The British became worried about the increasing boldness and apparent strength of the nationalists, who attacked demoralised Japanese garrisons across the archipelago with rudimentary weapons such as bamboo spears in order to seize their arms. The Indonesians were to hand them to the allies, but neglected to do so.īritish forces brought in a small Dutch military contingent which it termed the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA).
Yaichiro ordered his forces to hand over their remaining weapons to the Indonesians. On 3 October, he surrendered to a Dutch Navy captain, the first Allied representative to arrive. The senior Japanese commander in Surabaya, Vice Admiral Shibata Yaichiro, supported the Republicans and gave Indonesians ready access to arms. The leader of the Dutch group, Mr Pluegman, was killed because of mass anger. This provoked nationalist Indonesian militia, who overran the Dutch and Japanese, and tore off the blue part of the Dutch flag, changing it into the Indonesian flag. On 19 September 1945, a group of Dutch internees supported by the Japanese raised the Dutch flag outside the Hotel Yamato (formerly Hotel Oranje) in Surabaya, East Java. In the following weeks, power vacuums existed, both from outside and within Indonesia, creating an atmosphere of uncertainty, but also one of opportunity. As the news about the independence declaration spread throughout the archipelago, ordinary Indonesians felt a sense of freedom that led most to regard themselves as pro-Republican. On 17 August 1945, Soekarno and Hatta declared the independence of Indonesia in Jakarta, two days after the Japanese emperor's surrender in the Pacific.
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