Republic of Indonesia agreed to the principle of a federal Indonesia in which it would be one state.[8][9] The Dutch then organised the December 1946 Denpasar Conference, which led to the establishment of the State of East Indonesia, followed by a state in West Borneo in 1947.[10]
Military action by the Dutch launched on 20 July 1947 against areas controlled by the Indonesian republicans,
Van Mook Line", which connected the most advanced Dutch positions. The Dutch then established states in the areas they had reoccupied, including East Sumatra (December 1947), Madura and West Java (February 1948), South Sumatra (September 1948) and East Java (November 1948). The leaders of these regions then established the Federal Consultative Assembly.[11]
A second Dutch military action, Operation Kraai, aimed at destroying the Republic, was launched on 18 December 1948. Despite recapturing the major cities of Java, including the republican capital of Yogyakarta, and all of Sumatra except Aceh in the far north, it triggered the protest resignation of the cabinets of the State of East Indonesia and Pasundan (West Java) and the Sultan of Yogyakarta from his position as regional head. There was also pressure from the United States and the United Nations, in particular in the form of a Security Council resolution.[12][13] The Dutch agreed to negotiations with Indonesia to arrange a transfer of sovereignty. The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference took place in The Hague from August to November 1949 and resulted in the Dutch agreeing to hand over sovereignty to the Dutch East Indies, except for Western New Guinea. However, many Indonesian nationalists believed that the Dutch had insisted on a federal state in an attempt to weaken or even break up the new nation, a manifestation of a "divide and conquer" strategy. Nevertheless, on 27 December 1949, sovereignty was transferred to the United States of Indonesia.[14][15][16]
People's Representative Council consisted of 50 representatives from the Republic of Indonesia and 100 from the various states according to their populations. The Senate had two members from each constituent part of the RIS regardless of population, making 32 members in total. The state was governed according to the Federal Constitution of 1949, which had been drawn up on the sidelines of the Round Table Conference. It had a cabinet of 16 members, led by Prime Minister Hatta.[17][18][19]
Constituent entities
The RIS comprised sixteen main entities: seven states (negara), including the "Republic of Indonesia" consisting of parts of Java and Sumatra (a combined population of over 31 million); and the nine formerly directly-ruled territories (neo-lands, Dutch: neo-landschappen). Apart from the Republic of Indonesia, all these constituent entities, which had populations between 100,000 and 11 million, were established by the Dutch. Also included were some smaller entities not seen as viable as distinct political entities.[17][20][21]
^Recognition by the Dutch authorities of the temporary representative body Schiller 1955, p. 121
Dissolution
From the outset, the majority of Indonesians were opposed to the federal system resulting from the Round Table Agreement. The main reason was that the whole concept was associated with colonialism. However there were other reasons, including the feeling that a federal state lacked cohesion and would potentially lead to states seceding and that the Indonesian side had only accepted it as a short-term tactic. In addition, most of the non-republican areas were controlled by traditional rulers, who were seen as too pro-Dutch and anachronistic. Finally, there were insufficient ethnic or cultural ties between people in the individual states to overcome the dominance of Java. For example, although the population of the State of Madura was entirely ethnic Madurese, almost as many Madurese lived in the ethnically mixed State of East Java, forming a substantial minority.[40][41][42]
Even those who supported the idea of a federal state wanted the form of it to be decided by the people of Indonesia through an elected Constitutional Assembly, rather by than the former colonial power. The Dutch also tried to convince Indonesians that a unitary state would mean Javanese domination, although without much success.[40]
In March and April 1950, all the constituents of the RIS except East Sumatra and East Indonesia dissolved themselves into the Republic.[30] From 3–5 May, a three-way conference between the State of East Indonesia, the State of East Sumatra and the Republic of Indonesia ended with a decision to merge the three entities into a single unitary state.[43] On 19 May, an announcement was issued by the governments of the United States of Indonesia (representing the two remaining constituent states) and the Republic of Indonesia, which stated that all parties, "...have reached an agreement to jointly create a unitary state as the transformation of the Republic of Indonesia proclaimed on 17 August 1945".[44] The United States of Indonesia was officially dissolved by President Sukarno on 17 August 1950 – the fifth anniversary of his proclamation of independence – and replaced by the unitaryRepublic of Indonesia.[45]
Cribb, Robert (1996). "Democracy, self-determination and the Indonesian revolution". In Drakard, Jane (ed.). Indonesian Independence Fify Years On 1945-1995 (Annual Indonesia Lecture Series No. 20). Monash Asia Institute. pp. 1–12.
Ide Anak Agung Gde Agung (1996) [1995]. From the Formation of the State of East Indonesia Towards the Establishment of the United States of Indonesia. Translated by Owens, Linda. Yayasan Obor.