Indonesian independence

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Proclamation of independence

On 17 August 1945 the Indonesian nationalist forces unilaterally declared Indonesian independence after almost 350 years of Dutch rule. Five years of revolution and military hostilities with the Dutch occupation followed. As a result of the intervention of the British and the United Nations Security Council, agreement between the Dutch and Indonesians was reached on 2 November 1949. The Republic of the United States of Indonesia was granted complete and unconditional sovereignty on 27 December 1949.

The Australian government played a significant role in the diplomatic negotiations during this period, with the Minister for External Affairs, Herbert Vere Evatt, taking a keen interest in developments in Indonesia.

Record holdings

The National Archives holds many documents relating to Indonesian independence, mainly located in Canberra. These can be divided into a number of general categories corresponding to Commonwealth government functions. Details of records in the collection relating to five of these functions – Defence, Foreign Relations, Executive Government, Immigration and Security and Intelligence – are listed below.

Location of the records

Records listed under the Defence function in the table overleaf are held by offices of the National Archives or the Australian War Memorial as indicated. All records listed under the remaining categories are held by the National Archives in Canberra.

Identifying records of interest

Some of the record series listed below are large and include many records unrelated to Indonesia. You may need to consult relevant indexes to identify records from these series that are specifically related to Indonesia. Alternately a keyword search for items using RecordSearch will locate relevant material. Try searching on terms such as Indonesia, Netherlands East Indies, RUSI, Sukarno, Hatta, and other personal and place names associated with Indonesian independence.

Records with information relating to Indonesian independence

Defence – Canberra
Title or description of record Date range Series number
The Sir Frederick Shedden collection 1901–70 A5954
Correspondence files, Department of Defence 1935–58 A816
Correspondence files, Department of Air 1935–60 A1196

Defence – Melbourne
Title or description of record Date range Series number
Correspondence files (general) 1923–50 MP1049/5
Secret correspondence files, Army 1939–45 MP729/7
General and civil staff correspondence files, Army 1943–51 MP742/1
Translations of cypher messages 1945–46 B5555

Defence – Sydney
Title or description of record Date range Series number
General correspondence files, 'C' (Confidential) series, Australian Military Forces 1934–52 SP1048/6

Australian War Memorial
Title or description of record Date range Series number
Special collection II – Defence Committee records 1939–57 AWM123

Foreign Relations – Canberra Department of External Affairs
Title or description of record Date range Series number
Cumpston collection of documents on Australian foreign policy 1901–69 A4311
Correspondence files (South East Asia Top Secret) 1948–50 A6537
Correspondence files, Department of External Affairs 1945 A1066
Correspondence files, Department of External Affairs 1945–46 A1067
United Nations documents 1969–73 A1726
Correspondence files, Department of External Affairs 1947 A1068
Cables to and from External Affairs Minister, HV Evatt (E series) 1947–49 A9420
Records of the Australian Delegation to the United Nations Security Council Committee of Good Offices [GOC], and United Nations Commission for Indonesia [UNCI] 1947–51 A10158
Correspondence files, Department of External Affairs 1948–89 A1838

Department of External Affairs, Overseas Posts files
Title or description of record Date range Series number
Correspondence files, Australian High Commission, London 1920–68 A2908
Correspondence files, Washington 1939–87 A3300
Correspondence files, Djakarta/Jakarta 1946–50 A4355
Secret/Top Secret correspondence files, Washington 1949–51 A5460
Correspondence files, Singapore 1946–57 A4968
Correspondence files, Djakarta/Jakarta 1948–50 A4357
Correspondence files, Washington 1949–51 A3094

Immigration
Title or description of record Date range Series number
Correspondence files, Department of Immigration 1939–50 A659

Executive Government
Title or description of record Date range Series number
Correspondence files, Prime Minister's Department 1934–50 A461
Correspondence files, Department of Primary Industry 1948–56 A609

Security and intelligence
Title or description of record Date range Series number
War correspondence files, Attorney-General's Department 1939–49 A472
Subject files (files on organisations and subjects) 1949– A6122
Microfilm copies of personal and subject files 1949– A6122

Further sources on Indonesia