Japanese Occupation

The demands of the Japanese for raw materials resulted in the occupation of Indonesia during the WW2 from March 1942 until 1945. (B) Initially, Japan occupied the archipelago to secure its abundant natural resources. After the successful invasion, Japan divided Indonesia into 3 regions:  the Sixteenth Army controlled Java and Madura,   and the 25^th Army controlled Sumatra, while  the Navy 2^nd South fleet retained its control over Borneo and eastern Indonesia . (D) During the year of occupation, an assembly of thousands of Indonesians created a large labor force. The government sent the massive slaves to south East Asia and forced them to serve the Japanese military.  Additionally, Japan’s huge demands for rice drove the Japanese to compel the local people to grow rice crops which were then exported to Japan, but were not given the right to grow food for themselves. (A) This caused many Indonesians to suffer or die as a result of starvation. However,  although Japan's invasion brought many negative effects to Indonesia, Indonesians considered the occupation of Japan as one of the most crucial events in Indonesian History. The Japanese regarded their motives as positive and justified their role as the light of Asia. (D) Therefore, the justification of themselves led the Japanese to bring great modification of the social structure of Indonesia and helped to increase the sense of nationalism. (A) The Japanese occupation ended the hundred years of Dutch colonial rule; it not only assisted Indonesia to declare its independence from the Netherlands, but also gave the Indonesians an opportunity to participate in politics and the military. (D) Nevertheless, to gain support from the Indonesians, the Japanese encouraged nationalism in Java, but their plan backfired on their military; the encouragement of nationalism promoted the nationalists to start the movement and set the stage for the Indonesian nationalists to precede the nationalistic movements. (A) In 1945, Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta two great nationalists of Indonesia, started the movement.(C) They fiercely defeated the Japanese army; however, the rebel force was still subordinate to the power of Dutch. The arrival of the Dutch galvanized people ‘s sense of patriotism, and the Indonesians started to fight for their independence.