police actions (Indonesia)

{{Short description|1947 and 1949 Dutch military offensives on Java and Sumatra}}

File:Drie Nederlandse militairen tijdens een actie. De brenschutter richt zijn wapen , Bestanddeelnr 5560.jpg in 1948]]

The police actions ({{langx|nl|Politionele acties}}, also {{lang|nl|politiële acties}}),{{Cite encyclopedia|title=CD-ROM version|encyclopedia=Encarta Encyclopedie Winkler Prins|date=1993–2002|publisher=Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum|language=nl}} were two major military offensives that the Netherlands carried out on Java and Sumatra against the Republic of Indonesia during its struggle for independence in the Indonesian National Revolution.{{Cite book|last=Vickers|first=Adrian|author-link=Adrian Vickers|title=A History of Modern Indonesia|place=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2005|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofmoderni00adri/page/99 99]|isbn=0521542626|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmoderni00adri/page/99}}{{cite book|last=Ricklefs|first=Merle Calvin|authorlink=M. C. Ricklefs|year=1991|page=225|title=A history of modern Indonesia since c. 1300|edition=2|place=Basingstoke; Stanford, California|publisher=Palgrave; Stanford University Press|isbn=033357690X}} In Indonesia they are collectively known as the Dutch Military Aggressions ({{langx|id|Agresi Militer Belanda}}), although the less common translation {{lang|id|Aksi Polisionil}} is also used.

In Dutch historiography and discourse, the entire Indonesian War of Independence was for a long time euphemistically referred to as 'the police actions', as coined by the government of the time. In the Netherlands, the impression prevailed that there had only been two separate, short-lived police actions, intended to restore Dutch authority over a rebellious overseas territory. This perspective ignores the fact that between the arrival of Dutch troops in March 1946 and the cession of sovereignty in December 1949, there had been a full-scale military occupation and an ongoing counterinsurgency involving 120,000 conscripts.{{cite web|url=https://www.de-lage-landen.com/article/hoe-david-van-reybrouck-een-poffertje-proeft-en-het-nederlandse-zelfbeeld-corrigeert|title=Hoe David Van Reybrouck een poffertje proeft en het Nederlandse zelfbeeld corrigeert|last=Vanheste|first=Tomas|date=15 July 2021|website=de-lage-landen.com|publisher=De lage landen|language=nl|access-date=13 June 2023}}

Operation Product

Operation Product took place between 21 July and 5 August 1947. The Dutch greatly reduced and fragmented Indonesian-controlled territories, with a particular focus on the oil fields and rubber plantations of Sumatra, and the sugar plantations and economic infrastructure of Java.{{Cite book|last1=Kahin|first1=George McTurnan|author-link1=George McTurnan Kahin|last2=Kahin|first2=Audrey|title=Southeast Asia: A Testament|publisher=Routledge Curzon|year=2003|location=London|isbn=0415299756}} The offensive excluded an attack on the city of Yogyakarta, wartime seat of the Republican government, due to high expected costs of urban warfare.

The actions of the {{lang|nl|Mariniersbrigade}} on Java were further divided into an amphibious landing on Pasir Putih, East Java (Product North), amphibious operations in the Meneng Bay (Product East), and a southward offensive launched from Porong (Product South).{{cite book|last=Hornman|first=W.J.M.|date=1995|title=De Mariniersbrigade: De Geschiedenis|language=nl|location=Hoevelaken|publisher=Verba|isbn=9055131687}}

Operation Kraai

Operation Kraai (Operation Crow) took place between 19 December 1948 and 5 January 1949.{{cite web|url=https://www.oorlogsbronnen.nl/thema/Operatie%20Kraai|title=Operatie Kraai|publisher=Network of War Collections|lang=nl|access-date=3 June 2022}} It resulted in the Dutch capture of Yogyakarta, the arrests of much of the Indonesian leadership, and the exile of what remained of the Republican government to Sumatra.

Actions of the {{lang|nl|Mariniersbrigade}} on East Java during this offensive are referred to as Operation Zeemeeuw (Operation Seagull).

Other operations

Eclipsed by the scale and notoriety of Product and Kraai, other Dutch offensive operations of the Indonesian Revolution included:{{cite web|url=https://www.nederlandsekrijgsmacht.nl/index.php/historie-nl-leger/activiteiten-van-het-knil/143-expedities-van-het-knil/knl-expedities-tussen-1873-en-1950/78-strijd-in-nederlands-indie-1945-tot-1950|title=Strijd in Nederlands-Indie (1945 tot 1950, algemeen)|author=|website=nederlandsekrijgsmacht.nl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201123442/https://www.nederlandsekrijgsmacht.nl/index.php/historie-nl-leger/activiteiten-van-het-knil/143-expedities-van-het-knil/knl-expedities-tussen-1873-en-1950/78-strijd-in-nederlands-indie-1945-tot-1950 |lang=nl|access-date=3 June 2022|archive-date=2023-02-01 }}

Operation Trackman (Gresik, 10 August 1946)
Operation Quantico (Gresik, 19 August 1946)
Battle of Margarana (Marga, 20 November 1946)
South Sulawesi campaign (10 December 1946–21 February 1947)
Operation Ideaal (Mojokerto, 17 March 1947)
Malang Operation (30 June 1947)
Operation Carthago (Asembagus, 5 September 1947)
Operation Albatros (Pacitan, 12 January 1949)
Operation Otter (Prigi Bay, 7–18 April 1949)
Paciran Operation (20–28 May 1949)

police actions (Indonesia)

Operation Product

Operation Kraai

Other operations

See also

References

Further reading