The Japanese capitulation of 15 August 1945 was the surrender of the Imperial Japanese armed forces that ended the three-and-a-half-year Japanese occupation of Atjèh and the wider Sumatra theatre — news of which, Piekaar records, “unexpectedly” reached Atjèh on 14 August 1945, “in the Muslim fasting month,” when “the preparations for the Allied invasion were in full swing.” Piekaar’s Atjèh and the War with Japan treats the capitulation as the hinge between the Japanese and the republican eras: it ended the occupation regime, but, by failing to bring a full Allied reoccupation, it opened the way for the Poesa–oelama revolution that would make Atjèh, within months, one of the firmest strongholds of the Indonesian Republic.
The liberation of Sabang
A “party” of the 1.3.6. force under B. W. Lefrandt, former receiver at the customs and excise service in Sigli, was already located in the mountainous region of Seulimeum, tasked with “the preparation for the reception of the Allied airborne troops, who during the impending invasion, behind the Japanese coastal defence, would be dropped.” “Still in August August the English fleet appeared before Sabang and a temporary naval base was established on Sabang. Also the Dutch navy and the Dutch administration, the latter as part of the Amacab (Allied Military Administration Civil Affairs Branch), made their entry.” The thousands of enterprise workers from Atjèh, East Sumatra and Tapanoeli who had performed slave labour on the island “were transferred to the mainland.”
Retreat of the Japanese
“The enormous stocks of foodstuffs stored by the Japanese were sold. The Japanese army began its retreat from Aceh. Only a small occupation force would remain behind.” “As triumphant as the entry had been, so shameful was the evacuation. The years of pent-up hatred of the fanatic population against the new oppressors was unleashed on the retreating troops. Amid the jeers of the population, which did not shrink here and there from resorting to acts of violence, the Japanese left the ravaged land.” The Japanese themselves “seemed initially willing to loyally comply with the conditions of the capitulation. The Indonesian military organizations were disarmed. Some Japanese officers, who wanted to evade the capitulation, in order to conduct guerrilla operations from Aceh’s mountainous region, were recalled.”
The failed restoration
On the mainland, however, the Allied occupation “was limited to the places Medan, Padang and Palembang.” The plans prepared by the Chief Co Amacab, the Governor of Sumatra A. I. Spits, “had to remain unused.” “The proclamation of the Republic and the appointment of an Acehnese, mr. Teukoe Moehamad Hasan, as republican Governor of Sumatra, gradually changed the situation.” The oelèëbalang class, “freed from Japanese pressure, immediately set about to restore their old position of power,” rallying around Teukoe Hadji Tjhi’ Moehamad Djohan Alam Sjah of Peusangan, “the symbol of the resistance of the oelèëbalang party.” On 7 September 1945, “oelèëbalangs from all of Aceh traveled to Koetaradja to offer him their congratulations.” Yet the leaders of the former resistance party — foremost among them Teungkoe Moehamad Daoed Beureu-éh — “regained courage” and the oelama party and PUSA youth “began to stir again.”
Significance
The capitulation ended the Japanese occupation but did not restore Dutch authority. The hesitant Allied reoccupation gave the Poesa–oelama forces time to consolidate the social revolution that, within months, would sweep away the oelèëbalang class throughout Atjèh and align the residency firmly with the Indonesian Republic.
See Also
- Japanese invasion of Atjèh
- Sumatra capitulation (28 March 1942)
- Amacab
- 1.3.6. force
- B. W. Lefrandt
- Sabang
- Seulimeum
- Teukoe Hadji Tjhi’ Moehamad Djohan Alam Sjah
- Teukoe Moehamad Hasan
- Teungkoe Moehamad Daoed Beureu-éh
- A. I. Spits
- 15 August 1945
- 1945
Source
Atjèh and the War with Japan, by Dr. A. J. Piekaar, translated from the Dutch original Atjèh en de oorlog met Japan (1949) (‘s-Gravenhage/Bandung: N.V. Uitgeverij W. van Hoeve; English edition), Chapter VII § 4 and Chapter XIII.