Linggadjati Agreement

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The Linggadjati Agreement was a political accord concluded on November 15, 1946 by the Dutch administration and the unilaterally declared Republic of Indonesia. The agreement is named after Linggadjati, the mountain village in Central Java where it was signed after negotiations that took place on November 11 and 12. The Dutch side was represented by Lieutenant General Governor Hubertus van Mook, the Indonesian side by Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir.

Negotiations had begun in October 1946 and a ceasefire in Java and Sumatra was agreed to. Recognising their still weakened position following World War II, the Netherlands were more prepared to negotiate with the Republic than they were later in the Indonesian National Revolution.^[1] In the terms of the agreement, the Netherlands agreed to recognize Republican rule over Java, Sumatra and Madura. The Republic would become a constituent state of the 'United States of Indonesia', which should be established by January 1, 1949 at the latest and form a union together with the Netherlands, Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles. The Dutch queen would remain official head of this union.

However, on March 25, 1947 the Lower House of the Dutch parliament ratified a 'stripped down' version of the treaty, which was not accepted by the Indonesians. Further disagreements rose over the implementation of the agreement. On July 20 of the same year, the Dutch administration cancelled the accord, followed by military intervention in form of Operatie Product, the first of the two so-called politionele acties ('police actions').