Linggadjati Agreement

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Sutan Sjahrir (left) and Wim Schermerhorn drafting the agreement

The Linggadjati Agreement (Linggajati in modern Indonesian spelling) was a political accord concluded on 15 November 1946 by the Dutch administration and the unilaterally declared Republic of Indonesia in the village of Liggarjati, near Cirebon in which the Dutch recognised the republic as the de facto authority in Java, Madura and Sumatra.

Background

In 1942, the Japanese occupied the Dutch East Indies. On 17 August 1945, two days after the Japanese surrender, Indonesian nationalist leader Sukarno declared Indonesian independence. The Dutch viewed the Indonesian leadership as collaborators with the occupying Japanese, and were determined to reassert their control over the nation by force.^[1] Fighting broke out, which developed into a full-scale war of independence between Dutch forces and Indonesian republicans. By mid-1946, both sides were under pressure to negotiate. In July, 1946, Acting Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies Hubertus van Mook organised a conference in Malino at which representatives from Borneo and eastern Indonesia backed the proposal for a federal United States of Indonesia with links to the Netherlands.^[2]

The negotiations

Following the Malino Conference, further negotiations with the Indonesian authorities began in October 1946 and a ceasefire in Java and Sumatra was agreed to and signed on 14 October 1946. Recognizing their still weakened position following World War II, the Netherlands were more prepared to negotiate with the republic than they were later in the Indonesian National Revolution.^[3] Most of the negotiations took place in the mountain village of Linggadjati around 25 km south of Cirebon, although the final document was actually initialed in Cirebon.^[4] The Dutch side comprised the following:

• Willem Schermerhorn, Dutch Prime Minister from 1945-1946
• F. De Boer, Liberal politician
• Max van Poll, Roam Catholic Party politician
• Hubertus van Mook, Lieutenant General Governor (ex officio)

On the Indonesian side were:

• Sutan Sjahrir, Prime Minister
• Amir Sjarifuddin, Defense Minister
• Johannes Leimena

Former British ambassador to Egypt Miles Lampson acted as intermediary in the early stages, but he was not needed as the two sides established good relations.^[5]. The two sides initialed the draft agreement on 15 November.^[6]

The agreement

The agreement comprised an introduction, 17 articles and a final clause. According to the terms, the Netherlands agreed to recognize Republican rule over Java, Sumatra and Madura (Article 1). The Republic would become one of three constituent states of the federal United States of Indonesia, along with the State of Borneo and the Great Eastern State, comprising the region of the Eastern Dutch East Indies known as the Great East (Articles 2, 3 & 4). The Netherlands Indies, together with the Netherlands, Suriname, and the Netherlands Antilles, would form a Netherlands-Indonesian Union with the Dutch monarch as official head of this Union (Articles 5, 7 & 8). Both the United States of Indonesia and the Union which would be established by 1 January 1949 at the latest (Article 12). Once the agreement was signed, both parties would reduce their armed forces (Article 16).^[7][8][9]

Later developments

After the agreement was signed, the Dutch side began to establish federal states, beginning with the State of East Indonesia at the December 1946 Denpasar Conference. This increased Republican opposition to the agreement. The Central Indonesian National Committee was therefore increased in size through the appointment of government supporters and this, together with resignation threats from Indonesia leaders Sukarno and Hatta ensured the agreement was ratified by the Indonesian side in February 1947.^[10] Meanwhile, n 10 December 1946, the Dutch government announced its own interpretation of the Agreement in a statement from Foreign Minister Jan Jonkman. As a result of pressure from the Dutch Catholic Party, which wanted to conduct missionary activities in the West Papua, Jonkman stated that the region would not after all be handed over to the United States of Indonesia, a statement at odds with article 3 of the Linggadjati Agreement.^[11] On 25 March 1947 the Dutch House of Representatives ratified a 'stripped down' version of the treaty which was, however, not accepted by the Indonesians. Further disagreements rose over the implementation of the agreement. On 20 July 1947 the Dutch administration cancelled the accord and proceeded to commence military intervention in form of the Operatie Product, the first of two events known as politionele acties ('police actions').

After the agreements surrounding the Linggadjati Agreement broke down, there was a prolonged period of diplomatic dispute and open conflict in Indonesia for much of 1947 between the Dutch and Indonesian authorities. The United Nations Security Council established a Committee of Good Offices which led to the signing of the Renville Agreement in January 1948 on the USS Renville anchored off Jakarta.

However the Linggadjati Agreement and the Renville Agreement were at best only partially successful. Disagreements and sharp military clashes between the Dutch and the Indonesia sides continued on throughout 1948 and into 1949.

See also

• Timeline of the Indonesian National Revolution
• Dutch police actions
• Renville Agreement

Notes

References

External links

• Text of the Linggadjati Agreement