Netherlands-Indonesian Union

Netherlands-Indonesian Union
Nederlands-Indonesische Unie
Uni Belanda Indonesia
Confederation between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United States of Indonesia
1949-1956a
The Netherlands and Indonesia
Capital Amsterdam
Jakarta
Languages Indonesian
Dutch
Indigenous languages
Religion Sunni Islam
Christianity
Hinduism
Buddhism
Government confederal monarchy
Hoofd der Unie
(Head of the Union)
 -  1949-1956 Juliana of the Netherlands
History
 -  Established 27 December 1949
 -  Disestablished 1956

The Netherlands-Indonesian Union was a confederal relationship between the Netherlands and Indonesia that existed between 1949 and 1956.

History

On 15 November 1946 the Linggadjati Agreement was signed between the Netherlands and the Republic of Indonesia (which was not recognized by the Dutch at the time), which stated that the Dutch East Indies would get under the name of 'the United States of Indonesia' ater its independence. A Netherlands-Indonesian Union was established "to promote their common interests." As a result of the military offensives undertaken by the Netherlands (called Police Actions in the Netherlands; and Dutch Military Aggressions in Indonesia) the execution of the agreement could not take place. After the Netherlands had signed a truce with the Republic of Indonesia, the transfer of sovereignty could take place on 27 December 1949, and thus the Netherlands-Indonesian Union was founded.

Structure

The Netherlands-Indonesian Union would be a Dutch equivalent of the British Commonwealth. The Union would consist of two independent and sovereign partners:

  1. the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of
    1. the Netherlands
    2. Suriname
    3. the Netherlands Antilles
    4. Netherlands New Guinea
  2. the United States of Indonesia, comprising seven states.

The status of Netherlands New Guinea should be discussed further. Preliminary New Guinea remained under Dutch rule. And, where Suriname and the Antilles would be equal partners (federated states) in the Kingdom, New Guinea would remain a colony. The Head of the Union (Hoofd der Unie) would be Queen Juliana. The collaboration would take place in the following areas:

To accomplish this, various organs would be called in life. Firstly, a conference of ministers had to be held every six months. Secondly, a permanent secretariat was established in The Hague. Each partner would choose a Secretary-General, who would each year take the leadership of the Secretariat. (From 1950 this was P.J.A. Idenburg for the Netherlands, who would remain it until 1956.) Finally, there was a Union-Court of Arbitration set up to judge disputes between the Netherlands and Indonesia.

End

Little came of the Union. She was actually created, but after the Republic of Indonesia had united all its states, from a close cooperation in the Union came almost nothing. Indonesia finally abolished it unilaterally in 1956.

Sources

Nijhoffs Geschiedenislexicon Nederland en België, compiled by H.W.J. Volmuller in collaboration with the editors of De Grote Oosthoek, The Hague‑Antwerp 1981.