What Happened in 1945 – 1945 was a very important year in Indonesian history, because that year Indonesia declared independence from Dutch and Japanese colonialism. The following are some of the events that occurred in 1945 related to the Indonesian state:
On August 17, 1945
the first President of the Republic of Indonesia, Soekarno, proclaimed Indonesian independence at Jalan Pegangsaan Timur No. 56, Jakarta]. This proclamation was heard by the Indonesian people through radio broadcasts and gave rise to a high spirit of nationalism.
On August 18, 1945
the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence (PPKI) ratified the 1945 Constitution as the state constitution and appointed Soekarno as President and Mohammad Hatta as Vice President. PPKI also formed the Indonesian National Committee (KNI) as a temporary people’s representative body.
On September 19, 1945
Soekarno announced the formation of a Presidential Cabinet as the first government of the Republic of Indonesia. This cabinet consists of 12 ministers who come from various political and religious backgrounds.
Read also : The Battle of Surabaya
On September 29, 1945
British troops as representatives of the Allies arrived in Jakarta, accompanied by Dr. Charles van der Plas, Dutch representative to the Allies. The presence of the Allied troops was supported by the NICA (Netherland Indies Civil Administration – Dutch East Indies civil administration) led by Dr. Hubertus J van Mook, he was prepared to open negotiations on the basis of Queen Wilhelmina’s radio broadcast speech in 1942 (statkundige concepti or statehood conception), but he announced that he would not talk to Sukarno whom he considered to have collaborated with Japan.
In October 1945
there were battles between the Allied troops and NICA with the Republic of Indonesia army (TRI) and armed people in various areas, such as Surabaya, Bandung, Semarang, Palembang and Medan. This battle showed that Indonesia did not want to surrender to the invaders and was willing to defend its independence.
On November 14, 1945
Soekarno and Hatta met with Lord Mountbatten, Supreme Commander of the Allies in Southeast Asia, in Singapore. In this meeting, Mountbatten acknowledged Indonesia’s de facto independence and offered assistance to overcome security and economic problems. However, the Netherlands still did not want to recognize Indonesia’s independence de jure and tried to restore its power in Indonesia.
These are some of the events that occurred in 1945 related to the Indonesian state. This year is the beginning of the Indonesian nation’s struggle to defend its independence from the threat of colonialism.