Portuguese take Malacca.
Dutch fleet visits islands of Indonesia.
Dutch companies join to form United East India Company.
Dutch East India Company goes out of existence; control of its colonial territories passes to government of the Netherlands.
British seize Dutch Southeast Asian colonies.
British return colonies to the Dutch.
Java War is fought against the Dutch.
Dutch begin unpopular system under which farmers must set aside part of their lands for export crops.
The Netherlands begins investing in welfare and education in Indies.
Social Democratic Association is founded; it later becomes Indonesian Communist Party.
Sukarno and other nationalists form Indonesian Nationalist Party.
Sukarno is arrested by the Dutch and imprisoned through 1932.
Japanese invade Southeast Asia during World War II.
Dutch East Indies fall to Japanese; Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta take posts in Japanese administration.
(Aug. 17) Sukarno and Hatta proclaim Indonesia's independence from the Netherlands.
Viding the territory into areas that were governed by Dutch officials with local rulers under them. Economically, the Netherlands introduced the cultivation system, under which all villages had to set aside part of their land for growing crops, such as coffee, which could be sold abroad.
The cultivation system made the Indies profitable for the Dutch, but it also led to abuses as colonial officials attempted to maximize their own profits from exports. The system was widely criticized in the Netherlands, and many Dutch leaders and citizens argued that the Netherlands should return some of its profits to the colonies. In the early twentieth century, the Netherlands adopted a program known as the Ethical Policy. The goal of this program was to invest in welfare and education in the Indies, and it helped provide educational opportunities, especially to the elites.
1946 Dutch attempt to reestablish their control of Indonesia by force.
1949 (Dec. 27) Dutch transfer sovereignty over most of their East Indies colonies to Indonesian government.
1950 (Aug. 14) Indonesia becomes completely independent with Sukarno as its president.
1957 (Mar. 14) Sukarno proclaims martial law and tries to maintain his power through alliances with Communist Party and military.
1958 Army puts down military revolt in Sumatra, strengthening its position in government.
1959 Responding to Muslim demands in northern Sumatra, government grants Aceh region special status.
1960 Sukarno lays claim to West New Guinea.
1963 When Malaysia achieves its independence, Sukarno sends in troops in
Failed takeover attempt; the Netherlands cedes Indonesia control over West New Guinea, which becomes Irian Jaya province.
1965 (Sept.) Procommunist military attempt to take power is followed by anticommunist backlash, in which thousands suspected of being communist sympathizers are killed.
1966 (Mar. 11) Military forces Sukarno to hand over most of his power to Suharto.
1967 Suharto is appointed acting president.
1968 Suharto is officially recognized as president.
1970 (June 21) Sukarno dies.
198 / Indonesia Modem Nationalism
The new educational opportunities available to natives of the Dutch colony helped to promote a sense of nationalism. Indonesians were also inspired by the rising power of Japan, an Asian nation, and by nationalism in China and other countries dominated by the West. A number of organizations emerged to work toward self-government for the Indies. In 1914 the Social-Democratic Association was founded, which became the Indonesian Communist Party in 1924.
During the 1920's Sukarno became one of the most prominent nationalist leaders. In 1928 Sukarno, a recent graduate of a technical college in the city of Bandung, and other nationalists founded the Indonesian Nationalist Party, which held Indonesian independence as its goal. After Sukarno was imprisoned
Indonesia Time Line (continued)
1975 After Portuguese leave East Timor, fighting breaks out among Timor's various
Factions.
1975 (Dec. 7) Indonesia invades East Timor.
1976 Indonesia forcibly incorporates East Timor, but Timor guerrillas continue to resist.
1991 (Oct. 28) Indonesian troops kill peaceful demonstrators in East Timor.
1992 New Guinea agrees to crack down on guerrilla camps along its border with Irian Jaya.
1992 (Nov. 20) Indonesian forces capture East Timor's resistance leader.
1994 Proindependence Timorese stage protest that turns into riot near Jakarta.
1996 (July) Rioting breaks out in Jakarta following police raid on Indonesian Democratic Party headquarters.
1997 (Feb.) Political uprising breaks out in Kalimantan, Indonesian-controlled portion of Borneo.
1998 (Feb.) Indonesian currency loses most of its value in a few days, setting off Asian economic crisis and provoking student demonstrations against government.
1998 (May 5) Ethnic riots break out in Medan.
1998 (May 12) Indonesian crisis worsens as police kill student demonstrators.
1998 (May 21) Suharto resigns in wake of political disorder and his vice president,
Bucharuddin Jusuf Habibie becomes president.
By the Dutch from 1930 to 1932, his prestige grew among Indonesians.
In 1941 the Japanese invaded Southeast Asia, and the Dutch government of the Indies surrendered to them in 1942. The Japanese victory boosted hopes for independence in many colonies in Asia. Sukarno and a fellow nationalist leader, Mohammad Hatta, agreed to cooperate with the Japanese, believing that this would bring Indonesia closer to independence.
World History
