The End in Sight

The End in Sight. Voices from the last year of the Netherlands Indies, P.J. Drooglever and M.J.B. Schouten (1999)

On 27 December 1949, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands signed the official act that transferred sovereignty over Indonesia. The ceremony took place in the royal palace on the Dam in Amsterdam. This signified the end of the Dutch East Indies. The final year had been particularly nerve-racking. At the beginning of 1949 it still looked as if the Netherlands would be capable of arranging matters in Indonesia according to its own wishes. The army had occupied Yogyakarta during the ‘Second Police Action’, thereby defeating the defiant Republic of Indonesia. At least, this is how it appeared. Reality proved different and, under pressure from all sides, the Netherlands was increasingly forced to make compromises during the course of that year. The occupied towns were evacuated once again and, with the transfer of sovereignty, the key positions in the new state fell to Sukarno and Hatta, who had declared independence on 17 August 1945.

The Dutch-language publication entitled Het Einde in Zicht. Stemmen uit het laatste jaar van Nederlands Indië  [Trans. The End in Sight. Voices from the last year of the Netherlands Indies] contains letters and reports written by administrators, military personnel and politicians from Indonesia and The Hague, revealing this change in relations. The items were selected so that they would reflect the reactions of the Dutch in particular as well as the Indonesians who cooperated with them. Most people found it hard to keep track of  the changes, let alone appreciate them. They heralded an end to the world in which they had felt at home for a long time. The items were selected and placed in an explanatory context by the authors of the Dutch documentary edition on the decolonisation of Indonesia, entitled, the Officiële bescheiden betreffende de Nederlands-Indonesische betrekkingen 1945-1950. [Trans. Policy papers on Dutch-Indonesian relations 1945-1950].