APRA coup d'état
APRA coup d'état | |||||||
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Part of the aftermath of the Indonesian National Revolution | |||||||
Siliwangi Division headquarters occupied by the APRA during the coup | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Legion of the Just Ruler (APRA) | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Sultan Hamid II |
Colonel Ali Sadikin Adolf Gustaaf Lembong † | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Siliwangi Division[1] | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
2,000 APRA troops[2] | 4,500 TNI troops[2] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
≈100 killed[2] |
The APRA coup d'état was a
Simultaneously, the APRA infiltrated Jakarta as part of a coup d’état to overthrow the RUSI Cabinet.
Rise of the APRA
Prior to the transfer of sovereignty on 27 December 1949, a
Growing tensions between the Republicans and Federalists prompted Hamid II to conspire with the former commander of the DST (Depot Special Forces) commando unit
The APRA comprised various Republican elements including defectors from the Indonesian army, Islamic and communist battle groups. The Legion was further augmented by elements of the KNIL, Royal Netherlands Army, Westerling's old commando unit and several sympathetic Dutch nationals including two police inspectors. The Republican government attempted to negotiate with Westerling by offering to pay him US$100,000 in exchange for renouncing his revolutionary activities, but Westerling rejected the offer.[6]
Westerling's Ultimatum
On 5 January 1950, Westerling sent an ultimatum to the RIS government of Jakarta. His demands were the recognition of the APRA as the official army of the state of Pasundan and unconditional respect for the autonomy of the federal states. Westerling added that if the answer was not positive within 7 days, he could not be held responsible for the outbreak of large-scale fighting by the APRA. With no reply to his ultimatum, Westerling started the coup in the night of 22–23 January, a month after international recognition of the Republic of Indonesia.[7]
Westerling's ultimatum certainly caused anxiety not only in the RIS, but also on the Dutch side and Dr Hanz M. Hirschfeld (German-born), Nederlandse Hoge Commissaris (Dutch High Commissioner) who had just arrived in Indonesia. The RIS cabinet bombarded Hirschfeld with questions that made him very uncomfortable. The Dutch Minister of Home Affairs, Dirk Stikker, instructed Hirschfeld to take action against all Dutch civil and military officials who were co-operating with Westerling.[8]
On 10 January 1950, Hatta informed Hirschfeld that the Indonesians had issued an arrest order against Westerling.
In mid-January 1950, the Minister of UNI and Provincial Affairs Across the Seas, Mr. J.H. van Maarseveen visited Indonesia to prepare for the Indonesia-Dutch Union meeting to be held in March 1950. Hatta told Maarseven that he had ordered the police to arrest Westerling.
During his visit to the Netherlands, on 20 January 1950, RIS Economic Minister,
With no reply to his ultimatum, Westerling started the coup in the night of 22–23 January, a month after international recognition of the Republic of Indonesia.[7]
Desertion
On 22 January at 21.00 Westerling received a report that a number of heavily armed RST troops had deserted and left the military station in Batujajar.
KNIL Major G.H. Christian and KNIL Captain J.H.W. Nix reported that the "Erik" company at Kampemenstraat that night was also going to desert and join the APRA in a coup, but was foiled by its own commander, Captain G.H.O. de Witt. Engles immediately raised the alarm. He contacted Lieutenant Colonel TNI Sadikin, Commander of the Siliwangi Division. Engles also reported the incident to General Buurman van Vreeden in Jakarta.
Between 08.00 and 09.00, he received a visit from RST commander Lieutenant Colonel Borghouts, who was devastated by the desertion of his troops. At 9.00, Engles received a visit from Lt. Col. Sadikin. When a rally of the RST troops at Batujajar took place at noon, 140 men were absent. From the camp in Purabaya it was reported that 190 soldiers had deserted, and from the SOP in Cimahi it was reported that 12 soldiers from Ambon had deserted.
Attacks against Bandung and Jakarta
But the attempt to evacuate the Regiment Speciale Troepen (RST), a combination of red berets and green berets, came too late. From some of his former men, Westerling heard about the plan, and before the deportation of RST troops to the Netherlands began, on 23 January 1950, Westerling launched his coup. Westerling's planned coup d’état involved the near-simultaneous capture of Bandung and Jakarta, followed by the capture of
At dawn, about 520 APRA soldiers entered Bandung. However, the
However, the second phase of the coup d'état collapsed since the majority of the KNIL's commanders cooperated with the Indonesian government and refused to support Westerling's actions. A Dutch officer discovered the unloading of ammunition from the Bandung arms depot into trucks of the APRA. Due to this development, the ammunitions convoy did not arrive in the Republican capital Jakarta at 11 PM as planned. Westerling's Legion was unable to launch its scheduled attack at 5 AM on 23 January. There had been plans to seize the presidential palace, army barracks and to arrest Republican politicians including Sukarno, Hatta, Hamengkubuwono IX and Ali Budiardjo. Unable to find any ammunition, Westerling was forced to abort his attack by 6 AM. With the coup attempt in tatters, the APRA retreated from Bandung after negotiations with KNIL Major General Edu Engles. By 5 PM Republican forces under Sadikin had re-established control over Bandung.[13]
Aftermath of the coup
Following Bandung, most APRA units returned to their respective compounds. In the following weeks several small APRA units were defeated in a mopping up campaign by the Indonesian army and police. The
By April 5, several key conspirators including Sultan Hamid II had been arrested by the Republican authorities. On April 19, Hamid II confessed to his involvement in the botched Jakarta coup and to planning a second attack on Parliament scheduled for February 15. Due to the presence of RUSI troops, the attack had been aborted. The role of the Pasundan government in the coup led to its dissolution by February 10, further undermining the federal structure. By then, the Pasundan Parliament's wishes of merger with the republic were fulfilled. By late March 1950, Hamid's West Kalimantan was one of the four remaining federal states in the United States of Indonesia.[4]
Hamid's role in the coup led to increased agitation in West Kalimantan for its integration as part of the Republic of Indonesia. Following a fact-finding mission by the Government Commission, the RUSI House of Representatives voted, by a margin of fifty votes to one, to merge West Kalimantan into the Republic of Indonesia.
Roughly 125 men from the Special Troops Regiment were handed over to the Dutch troops still remaining on Java. A Dutch court-martial sentenced them to prison terms ranging from six to twelve months. All were transferred to Dutch New Guinea to serve their sentences there. After serving out their terms, the former APRA soldiers went sent back to the Netherlands.[15]
Notes
- ^ a b c d Westerling (1952), p. 180-81
- ^ a b c d Westerling (1952), p. 189
- ^ a b c Kahin (1952), p. 456
- ^ a b c d e Kahin (1952), p. 454-56
- ^ Kahin (1952), p. 448-48
- ^ Westerling (1952), p. 198
- ^ a b De Moor (1999) 413-36
- ^ a b c "Sejarah 23 Januari: Pecahnya Kudeta Angkatan Perang Ratu Adil (APRA) di Bandung". merdeka.com. 2021-01-23. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
- ^ "Risalah Sidang Perkara No. 006/puu-iv/2006 Perihal Pengujian UU No 27 Tahun 2004 Tentang Komisi Kebenaran dan Rekonsiliasi Terhadap UUD 1945" (PDF). Mahkamah Konstitusi Republik Indonesia (in Indonesian). 2006.
- ^ Westerling, Raymond. (1952). Mijn memoires / Raymond Paul Pierre Westerling ; geautoriseerde vertaling door Rufus P. Vink Antwerpen, Belgium 1952. P. Vink.
- ^ aktual, redaksi (2015-01-23). "Mengenang Sejarah, Tanggal 23 Januari: Kudeta Angkatan Perang Ratu Adil". Aktual.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2023-05-10.
- ^ De Moor (1999) p. 437-72
- ^ De Moor (1999), p. 473-79
- ^ Raymond Paul Pierre, Westerling (1952). Mes aventures en Indonesie (in French). Translated by Root sebagai –, Waverley (Challenge to terror ed.). London: W. Kimber.
- ^ Voormalige APRA-militairen Nationaal Archief (via Wayback Machine)
References
- Kahin, George McTurnan (1952). Nationalism and Revolution in Indonesia. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-9108-8.
- De Moor, Jaap A. (1999). Westerling's Oorlog: Indonesië 1945-1950. Amsterdam: Balans. ISBN 9789050184250.
- Westerling, Raymond Paul Pierre (1952). Mes aventures en Indonesie (in French). – translated from the French to English by Waverley Root as – Challenge to terror. London: W. Kimber.
Further reading
- De Jong, Louis (1988). Het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden in de Tweede Wereldoorlog, volume 12. Amsterdam: NIOD. ISBN 90-12-06880-0.
- Venner, Dominique (1977). Westerling: Guérilla Story. Paris: Hachette. ISBN 9782010029080.