 The National Broadcasting Company at its affiliated stations present the Pacific story. This is the story of the Pacific, the drama of the millions of people who live around this greatest sea, where the United States is now committed to a long-term policy of keeping the peace. This, as another public service of the National Broadcasting Company, is the background story of the events in the Pacific and their meaning to us and to the generations to come. Thunder in Java. We have had 350 years of the promises of the Dutch. We want no more. We offered the Indies self-government within the Commonwealth of the Indies. If Indonesia does not achieve independence, there will be war and revolution for many years. The thunder has been rolling up in the Netherlands' Indies for half a century. The Indonesians, the people of the Indies, and the Dutch both made their positions clear. The Indonesians want independence. The Dutch regard the Indies as their preserve and wish to be left completely alone with them to develop them their own way. But now, for more than a month, the Dutch have had to accept the help of the British to quell the uprisings and to disarm the Japanese. I'll tell you why the British are there. Observers on the spot have their own opinions. The British aren't in Java only to disarm the Japanese and put down the Indonesian outbreak. They're there to help re-establish Dutch rule and indirectly to help themselves. They know that if the Dutch were thrown out of the Indies, that Britain would be through in Malaya and Burma and that the French would be through in Indochina. Across the scene of conflict in Java passes a procession of characters. Some are Indonesians, some are Dutch and some are British. There's Ubertus J. Van Mook, who perhaps knows as much about the Netherlands Indies as any Dutchman living. There's Van De Plas, through whom the Dutch plan to rule the Indies. There's Dr. T. R. Soccano, who was president of the Indonesian Republic. And Dr. Mohamed Hatter, vice president of the Indonesian Republic. There's Wijo Judd Mojo, whom the Dutch regard highly. And there's a man named Salem. And all these know the value of the Dutch Indies. It's one of the richest spots in the world. This is the observer again. Now look at this map. The Indies are no mere flock of atools. Now look at this. The observer's finger traces over the map. This empire down here is Java, New Guinea, Madura, Sumatra, Borneo. And all these other islands around in here cover about 733,000 square miles. That's about the size of Mexico. Or almost three times the size of Texas. Three times the size of Texas. And living in these islands are about 70 million people. About the population of pre-war Germany. Something like 90% of these people are Mohammedans. And that is important. Important because it links the Indies with the Mohammedan world. With stretches from Morocco across North Africa, through Egypt, Palestine, Iran and Arabia, through India, to the East Indies themselves. Of these Mohammedans, one was Salem. Before I journeyed to Arabia, it seemed to me that mankind was divided into white men and brown men. In Manankabar, where I was brought up, every white man was a European and a Christian. And we were taught to regard them as more respectable citizens than us brown Mohammedans. But in Arabia, I met white men. Pilgrims who had come from Egypt and Russia and Turkey. I saw the white man was no different from me. They are no different. And they are no better. We must fight for racial equality. Salem became a nationalist leader in the Indies. He took up the cause of the Indonesians against the Dutch. When an Indonesian is sent to prison because he left his work on a European plantation before his contract had expired, that is tyranny. This penal sanction must stop. Salem's name rang through the island. Salem is the real heart of the Sarikat Islam. Yes, and he has shown the others the way by leaving the Volksrad and refusing to cooperate with the government. Salem was the representative of Sarikat Islam in the Volksrad. Sarikat Islam, which means Red Islam, grew to be a powerful organization. A nationalistic movement strongly Mohammedan. Salem showed the way. And armed revolts broke out in Java and Sumatra in 1926 and 1927. The outbreaks were put down, but out of them grew an even stronger organization. The National Indonesian Party. The Indonesians at last, after more than 300 years of Dutch rule, were beginning to react, to draw together, to think of themselves as a people regardless of their many differences. Salem has been asked by the Dutch government to go to Geneva to be its labor advisor. Geneva? To the international labor conferences? Yes. What a wonder that the government would ask him. After his refusal to cooperate with the government in the Volksrad. Salem will see through their cunning. Do you think he will go? If he can help us people. First and foremost, the penal sanction must be abolished. You are dealing with human beings, with men, not with beasts. They remembered Salem at that international labor conference at Geneva and they listened to him when he came back. Our strength will be to federate our Indonesian trade unions with the international trade union movement. He had gone as an advisor, but he had come back still a fighter for the common man. To require several days of road building for the masters each year is forced labor. Let them say it is a form of tax. I say it is forced labor. We will not do it. They talked and eager Indonesians listened. This was the rolling thunder, though now it was no more than a murmur. The Dutch properly assessed it. They made concessions. The Indies are no longer simply a colony of the Netherlands. The Indies have become one of the four component parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Today, the Indies are equal in constitutional rank with Holland and Europe, with Suriname and Curacao. Besides this, the basic civil rights of the Indies have been reaffirmed. And to Indonesians will have freedom of assembly and the press. You will have protection of person and property and the right of petition. The Indonesians were skeptical. It must be realized by all that the constitution of the Indies have been modified no less than four times in the past quarter of a century. And in every case, more self-government has been given to the people of the Indies. Concessions were made, but the nationalistic movement was stirring and it could not be checked even by these concessions. Salem's influence dwindled. He still thought in terms of Mohammedan nationalism while others thought in broader terms. Young Indonesians traveled. Some of them visited Holland and came back with ideas even more dynamic than Salem's. All Dutchmen are not supporters of the imperial system. Some of them are against it. Some are even against the Dutch in the Indies. The young Indonesians talked and others listened. There is no reason why we should not have as much pride as the Dutch themselves. We should have the same rights they have. We have a right to share in the responsibility of the government. These were the days of Dr. Sotomo, the professor of the medical school at Surabaya and of Dr. T. R. Sokarno, the engineer who was years later to become president of the Indonesian Republic. The Dutch had their eyes on both these men and on the other leaders of the movement. Sotomo died and Sokarno was exiled. The Dutch kept alert. The Indonesians are better off on the Dutch rule than being free of it. You mean they are not ready for independence? No, they are not. Take the difference in language, for example. More than 60 different languages are spoken in the Netherlands, indeed. A good many of them speak Malay, don't they? In the big towns, yes. But most of the rural population cannot speak Malay. They seem to have gotten along all these years. Only with difficulty. And besides, there are 19 distinct systems of native civil law. Would this preclude unity? That is, would this preclude the Indonesians getting together? It will make it exceedingly difficult to unity of the Netherlands in this defense on Dutch rule. Take the Dutch element of cohesion away and the whole edifice would crumble into fragments. This was the Dutch position. When the war broke out in Europe in 1939, some of the Indonesian leaders rallied to the support of the Queen and the Netherlands government. We pledge our loyalty to Holland against the Nazi aggressors. This was Dr. Sopano. Those who say that Her Majesty Queen Wilhelmina is now in exile only see the Netherlands as a small country by the North Sea, which is now occupied by the enemy. Queen Wilhelmina had to leave the Netherlands in order to safeguard her empire of more than 70 million people. These were the words of Salem. Does this mean that Salem and Sokano are supporting the Queen? What about our nationalist movement? The answer came after the war spread to the Pacific and the Japanese like a tidal wave swept over the Indies. The Dutch as well as the Indonesians knew that the crucial hour had struck. Now the Dutch could never return to the islands under the old setup. They would have to offer more. They would have to offer something to actuate the Indonesians to help them against the Japanese. Not long after the Japanese had taken the islands, the Dutch offer came. We pledge self-government for the Indies in the new Commonwealth of the Netherlands. Sokano remained aloof from the Japanese for some time. The Japanese knew that he was rising as a power among the Indonesians. We remember, Dr. Sokano, what you said back in 1931 about the so-called disarmament conference in Washington, DC being nothing but an American trick to hamstring Japan. It was not fair. No. Dr. Sokano, you as we have suffered persecution from the Western nations. You were exiled, but now through the Japanese military power you are back once more with your people here in Java. Yes. You are of course the most influential leader of the people of the Indies and as such we should like to honor you with the chairmanship of the committee for the centralization of the people's strength. What committee is this? The project will be, Dr. Sokano, to promote cooperation between your people and us Japanese. I see. You are the spokesman of 50 million Indonesians and as such we should be deeply honored to have you visit Japan as our guest. Sokano invited his time. He knew he was in a bargaining position. If the Japanese hoped to win the cooperation of the Indonesians they would need him and within reason he could write his own ticket. He went to Japan, talked with the ranking dignitaries. The emperor conferred on him the second class order of the rising sun. He came back and talked so that all his followers and the Japanese could hear him. I am convinced that Japan is right in this war. Some of his followers supported him. They talked of Indonesia's place in the sun after Japan had won. But some did not support him. They watched the progress of the war. By spring 1945 they were drawing away from the Japanese and with them almost imperceptibly Dr. Sokano. Three days after the collapse of Japan the Indonesians proclaimed their independence and the creation of an Indonesian republic, Dr. T. R. Sokano president. We did not like the Japanese oppression and we do not want Dutch oppression. But Dr. Sokano, several years now you've been collaborating with the Japanese. Not collaborating. Passively operating with them since this was in the best interest of the Indonesian people. The Dutch will have no part of Sokano. He's a fool-blooded opportunist and a Japanese puppet. But the Dutch found that they could not easily drive away between Dr. Sokano and the Indonesian people. They rallied to resist the return of the Dutch. The Republic of Indonesia hereby declares war on all Dutch Eurasians and Ambunis. The people of the island of Ambon have furnished many truths to the Dutch. We must fight them as we fight the Dutch and the British. The British are trying to re-establish the rule of the Dutch over us. We will never give in. The Dutch are sending more troops from Holland. We must see that they never are permitted to land. We will fight them with all the weapons of war we have. Firearms, poisons, poison darts, fire and wild animals, even snakes. With Dr. Sokano as the vice president of the Indonesian Republic, Mohamed Hatter and tens of thousands of determined revolutionaries. As the British landed, the Indonesians sent them a warning. If you bring along any Dutch troops, we will shoot them. The British sent ahead Dutch Colonials and suggested they talk with Sokano and Hatter. Rioting broke out. The shooting had started. The fighting in Java echoed around the world. In the Dutch capital, the government took a firm stand. We are ready to offer the Indonesians self-government with the Indian Netherlands Commonwealth, but we will not deal with Sokano. In the British capital, Prime Minister Atlee served notice in commons of Britain's position. We will back up the Dutch to regain control of the Netherlands East Indies. The forces were moving for battle. As the British forces moved in and the Indonesian forces deployed to meet their onslaught, the Dutch attacked Sokano. Sokano and his Japanese support gang are masquerading as liberators to blood out their rotten war record. The real issue is between Sokano, the Japanese property of Japan and the freedom offered by Queen Melhamina. That's quoted an Indonesian leader, Raden Widjo Jadmojo. Neither the culture nor the uneducated groups in the Netherlands East Indies will accept totalitarian nationalism of the kind offered by Sokano and his followers, although there is undeniably a growing desire for freedom. But other Indonesians straddled no fence. If Indonesia does not achieve independence, war and revolution will follow for many years. Indonesia owes nothing to the Dutch. These were the words of Mohammed Hatter, Vice President of the New Indonesian Republic. And the Indonesians showed that they meant what they said. The British pushed inland, but the Indonesians disputed every advance foot by foot. When some of the first fighting had stopped, Sokano went on the radio, addressed President Truman of the USA and charged that the Dutch troops fighting in the Netherlands East Indies were using United States uniforms, US arms, ammunition and trucks. In the wild and desperate fighting, Brigadier WW Malabi, commander of the British troops at Surabaya, was killed. Sokano sat down with Dr. Sokano at a conference table. Each side outlined its position, but scarcely had they started their conversations when the discussions were called off. We will not deal with Sokano. The government does not intend to turn the country over to a band of terrorists and quizlings who for more than 15 years denounced the United States, Britain and the Netherlands. Around Batavia and the naval base at Surabaya, tension increased. We outnumber them. Now is the time to throw them back into the sea. If we wait, they will have time to bring more ships, tanks and airplanes. They can't gain nothing by waiting. They say they will negotiate, but that only means that they want us to give in. The Dutch repeated their offer. We offer you Indonesians a partnership in the Netherlands Empire with equal standing with the Kingdom of Holland and Suriname Kurosawa. There is no sign of you Dutch having any other intention than storing the old colonial system. The British warned that unless you Indonesians surrender you must face a full-scale attack. We will not surrender. During the night, the British naval units drew up within range at the naval base at Surabaya. At dawn, the shelling started. As the British board shelled into the Indonesians positions, reactions were registered thousands of miles away. Are you Dutchmen? I am instead of going to the Indies. They don't force you there. In Australia, dock workers demonstrated against the Dutch troops stopping their en route to the Indies. And in the United States, at Terminal Island, California, Indonesian seamen walked off a Dutch ship. Do you remember you signed on for the trip? Your time is not yet dark. We signed for the duration of the war. Now we want to go home. You realize that if 15 or 20 of you seamen leave the ship, we will not be able to... It is not that. It is what you Dutch and the British are doing in Java. If you leave the ship, you will be detained by the United States immigration authorities. Why are you shooting our people in Java? We are the Dutch. We must fight them wherever we find them. Poison the water. Show no mercy to prisoners of war. So Kano's voice rang through the radio. Now exhorting his people to fight. Now appealing to Truman and Adli and Stalin. The fighting went on. Behind the battle lines, political events were taking place within the New Indonesian Republic. 36-year-old Sutan Jaria became the premier of the unrecognized Republic and pleaded himself to try to restore peace to Indonesia. The question is whether Sutan Jaria can restore peace. This is the observer. A nationalist movement has been smoldering for a long time. And the outbreaks in Batavia and Surabaya were followed by outbreaks in other places. Simari and Dr. Carter. What complicates the situation is the Mohammedan angle. The fighting has taken on the nature of a religious war, as well as a political war. The Indonesian extremists have now called for a war on the British. And since the British are closely concerned with a good part of the Muslim world, the trouble could considerably spread beyond the islands of the Netherlands Indies. Meantime, as Dutch forces converge on the Indies to relieve the British, questions loom on the nature of the future government of the Indonesians. On the Netherlands Charter, the Indies will have the same standing as Holland. It will, in fact, be the Netherlands Commonwealth in the Pacific, as Holland is the Netherlands Commonwealth in Europe. Would it have the same relationship to Holland as, say, Canada has to Britain? Actually, it will be closer. Holland and the Indies will both be part of the same national state. Well, under that arrangement, the Indies would not be independent. It would be more a matter of equal partnership. Would any provision be made for eventual independence of the Indies? The Netherlands foresee mutual, good relations are mutual advantage. This is the Dutch view. The Indonesian nationalists have their own ideas about this arrangement. It is nothing but a facade. The old colonial system would operate it just as it has all these years. Don't you think the Dutch are sincere about setting up this equal partnership? They have said nothing about internal reorganization. Granted that they would set up the Netherlands Commonwealth and make us a partner in it. What have they offered to do about the internal government? Well, I don't know. Have they said anything about voting privileges? Well, not that I know of. Have they said anything about educating Indonesians for responsible citizenship? Have they said anything about their attitude toward nationalism among us Indonesians? No. They have said nothing about eventual freedom for the Indies. And that means that any effort to free ourselves in the future would be reasonable. Well, it may be possible that these details have not been set forth because they must be democratically decided by all the people concerned. For us, the Netherlands charter office little over the old system. We could still be governed by the small group of Dutchmen and Eurasians and alien asiatics who have run the Indies for years. Two other plans have been advanced for the Indies. One, a plan for the internationalization of the Indies under a mandate. The other, a plan for the inclusion of the Indies in a new independent states within the Philippines, Malaya, and perhaps Burma and Thailand. But while these academic questions were being discussed, British and Dutch and Indonesians were dying in the struggle for the actual control of the island. The Indonesians are trying to make bombs and weapons to carry on the fight. The situation in Central Java is gray. Fighting continues. The Indonesians are bringing up reinforcements that has caused an anxiety in view of the aggressive attitude of the extremists. Within the new Indonesian Republic, Dr. Sokarno ceased to be a frontman. But as he faded and Sultan Javier sought to find some kind of acceptable solution, other Indonesians were strong men came to the fore. Notably, Muhammad Hatta, Vice President, and Sobarjo, the Foreign Minister, and the elderly one who 25 years ago was a nationalist leader, the one called Salem. These younger men depend on you for counsel, do they now? I have gone farther along the road. I see that some Indonesians are for the Netherlands Charter. The Indonesians? A rodent, Wigel John Moldjo, is that... Let's see, I've got to hear my notes. Oh, yes, he said, the people's desire for self-government can best be met through the creation of a harmonious United States of Indonesia, within the orbit of the Netherlands Kingdom. You know that Rodent Wigel John Moldjo is Senior Administrator of the New Guinea and Moratay Area? Yes, I knew he was in the government. This is what we mean when we say that under the Netherlands Charter, we could be governed by the same group who have run the Indies for years. Oh, but that happened, unless you had experienced hands running the country. What you are about to say is what always is said, that we are not ready for independence, that the Dutch have proved themselves able administrators by the way they have governed the Indies for the past 350 years. But these are only half-truths. That is why we are fighting today. Dutch attitude toward the Indies is one of complete possessiveness. They have fostered their thought abroad in the world that only they are capable of running the Indies. There is something delicate about its administration that only they understand. They wish us Indonesians to have contact with the outside world only through them. They regard the Indies as their preserve, and they point to the billion and a half dollars they have invested in the Indies. And on the basis of all this they wish to be left alone to manage the Indies as they see fit. This is the point of view of the Indonesian nationalists. The position of the Netherlands remains unchanged. We will convene a conference with the Netherlands Charter as soon as it is possible to sit down with the Indonesians. The fighting goes on. As the Indonesians fight in the jungles and in the villages and in the towns and the Dutch forces are reinforced to put down all resistance, Holland's apeless statesmen are pondering on ways and means of preserving the empire of the Netherlands in the East Indies. And the Indonesians are repeating the age-old legend of Jojo Bojo. In your light shall burn without fire, then the end of foreign rule shall be near. But before the end the rule of the white race shall be succeeded for a short time by the rule of the yellow race. You have been listening to the Pacific Story presented by the National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated independent stations as a public service to clarify events in the Pacific and to make understandable the current of life in the Pacific Basin. For a reprint of this Pacific Story program, send 10 cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press Berkeley, California. May I repeat? For a reprint of this Pacific Story program, send 10 cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press Berkeley, California. The Pacific Story is written and directed by Arnold Marquess. The original musical score was composed by the director of the band Pablo Luzo. Your narrator, Gaine Whitman. Programs in this series of particular interest to service men and women are broadcast overseas through the worldwide facilities of the Armed Forces Radio Service. This program came to you from Hollywood. This is The National Broadcasting Company.