Dutch East Indies (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)

 The Dutch East Indies (Dutch: Nederlands-Indië; Indonesian: Hindia-Belanda) was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Dutch government in 1800.

History
The first regular contact between Europeans and the peoples of Indonesia began in 1512, when Portuguese traders, led by Francisco Serrão, sought to monopolize the sources of nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in Maluku. Dutch and British traders followed. In 1602 the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and became the dominant European power. Following bankruptcy, the VOC was formally dissolved in 1800, and the government of the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies as a nationalized colony.

From the arrival of the first Dutch ships in the late sixteenth century, to the declaration of independence in 1945, Dutch control over the Indonesian archipelago was always tenuous. Although Java was dominated by the Dutch, many areas remained independent throughout much of this time including Aceh, Bali, Lombok and Borneo. There were numerous wars and disturbances across the archipelago as various indigenous groups resisted efforts to establish a Dutch hegemony. It was not until the early 20th century, that Dutch dominance was extended across to the future territory of modern-day Indonesia.

From about 1840, Dutch national expansionism saw them wage a series of wars to enlarge and consolidate their possessions in the outer islands. Although Indonesian rebellions broke out, direct colonial rule was extended throughout the rest of the archipelago from 1821 to 1910 and control taken from the remaining independent local rulers. The Bird's Head Peninsula (Western New Guinea), was brought under Dutch administration in 1920. This final territorial range would form the territory of the Republic of Indonesia.

In 1901, the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina announced that the Netherlands accepted an ethical responsibility for the welfare of their colonial subjects that could be summarized in the 'Three Policies' of Irrigation, Transmigration and Education. Upgrading the infrastructure of ports and roads in East Indies was a high priority for the Dutch, with the goal of modernizing the economy, facilitating commerce, and speeding up military movements. The government policy on education, however, brought the Western political ideas of freedom and democracy. During the 1920s and 30s, this small elite began to articulate a rising anti-colonialism and a national consciousness.

In the 20th century the colony gradually developed as a state distinct from the Dutch metropole with treasury separated in 1903, public loans being contracted by the colony from 1913, and quasi diplomatic ties were established with Arabia to manage the Haji pilgrimage from the Dutch East Indies. In 1922 the colony came on equal footing with the Netherlands in the Dutch constitution, while remaining under the Ministry of Colonies.

In 1918 a proto-parliament, the Volksraad, met for the first time, after being established two years before. The Volksraad was limited to an advisory role and only small portions of the indigenous population were able to vote for its members. Nevertheless, the Volksraad used as the medium of political struggle by the Indonesian nationalist to achieve the goal of independence or, at least, self-government.

Japanese influence expansion toward the Southeast Asia in 1930s made the government alert about the possible invasion of Japan to the East Indies. The islands were rich of resources that Japan needed for its industrial and agricultural development. The grant of dominion status to Philippines in 1931 led to the political jealousy among the Indonesian independence activists.

The movements to demand the grant of autonomy status for Dutch East Indies grew significantly. The Indonesian nationalists, with its leaders such as Mohammad Husni Thamrin of Kaum Betawi, Agus Salim of Sarekat Islam Party, and G.S.S.J Ratulangi of Minahasa Union, organized under the Grand Indonesian Congress (Indonesian: Kongres Indonesia Raya), the federation of political and social organisations from all across the archipelago.

The massive demonstrations occurred throughout Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Sulawesi and Eastern Indonesia between 1934 and 1936, demanded the establishment of self-government for Dutch East Indies under Article 1 of the Dutch Constitution and within a period of ten years of political transition into a complete independence.

The first native government of Dutch East Indies, led by Dick de Hoog, the leader of Indo European Alliance (Dutch: Indo Europeesch Verbond), as its first Prime Minister formally inaugurated in July 1936. The Governor-General, however, still functioned as colonial chief executive, president of colonial government, as well as commander-in-chief of the colonial (KNIL) army. In 1939, De Hoog passed away and replaced by Mohammad Husni Thamrin, the first native-descended Indonesian head of government.

On 10 January 1942, during the Dutch East Indies Campaign, Fascist Japanese forces invaded the Dutch East Indies as part of the Pacific War. The rubber plantations and oil fields of the Dutch East Indies were considered crucial for the war effort. Allied forces were quickly overwhelmed by the Japanese and on 8 March 1942 the Royal Dutch East Indies Army surrendered in Java.

A vast majority of the indigenous Dutch East Indies population first welcomed the Japanese as liberators from the colonial Dutch empire, but this sentiment quickly changed as the occupation turned out to be the most oppressive and ruinous colonial regime in Indonesian history. The Fascist Japanese occupation during World War II brought about the fall of the colonial state in Indonesia, as the Japanese removed as much of the Dutch government structure as they could, replacing it with their own regime.