Imperial Power In Indonesia

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Indonesia was controlled under an imperial power for a very long time. Before the government of Holland took over, Indonesia was held under control by the Dutch East India company for several years (1680-1800). They essentially used them as slave labor and exercised strict control over production on the island (mainly spices). The Dutch had control over most of Indonesia, but not control over Java. In the 1700s, there was a series of wars called the Javanese wars. Specifically, there were three. The first began when a group of slaves stood up against the Dutch. In the second war, the king of Mataram (kingdom in central Java) died. In the third and final war, the new king of Mataram had two challengers up against the throne. After these wars, control in Java was almost non-existent but, the Dutch East India company continued to rule over the islands. In 1800, the Dutch East India company went bankrupt and for years after this, the control of the island was unstable.
In 1816, the government of Holland took control of the island and replaced the role that the Dutch East India company had, but did not have absolute control until 1830. There was another war between the Dutch and …show more content…

Things such as this first native political society, Budi Otomo, was founded in 1908. Then the first mass-based political party, the Sarekat Islam (Islamic Union) in 1911. Other groups and movements continued to be founded as time continued. A big moment for moving towards indonesian nationalism was the declaration of the youth pledge in 1928. During this, three ideals were proclaimed, “to wit one motherland, one nation and one language.” But this action caused the colonial authorities to react with another act of suppression. Young leaders against the Dutch, such as Soekarno (who would become Indonesia 's first president in 1945) and Mohammad Hatta (Indonesia 's first vice president) were arrested and