The Westkust verzet 1925-1927 — the Westkust (West Coast) resistance of 1925-1927 — was the last significant Acehnese armed resistance episode of the inter-war period, centred on the Westkust of Atjeh and beginning on 25 October 1925. The resistance is mentioned in Oom Ambon van het K.N.I.L. as part of the nasmeulend verzet (smouldering resistance) that flared up again on the Westkust in the inter-war period, alongside the communist uprisings on Java of 1926.
The beginning (25 October 1925)
“Atjeh’s Westkust begon 25 October 1925 met…” The Westkust of Aceh began on 25 October 1925. The *Westkust verzet 1925-1927|Westkust verzet]] was the last significant Acehnese armed resistance episode of the inter-war period, seven years after the handover of 1918 had politically closed the Aceh War.
The four months and the sergeant
“Echter, vier maanden later, op 1 March 1926 zou een sergeant laten zien…” — however, four months later, on 1 March 1926, a sergeant would show… The *Westkust verzet 1925-1927|Westkust verzet]] was met by the Marechaussee patrouilles; the sergeant of 1 March 1926 is one of the set-piece figures of the resistance’s suppression.
The end (1927-1931)
“1927 viel, volgden weer…” — 1927 fell, and again followed… The *Westkust verzet 1925-1927|Westkust verzet]] is dated to 1925-1927, but the book also notes that the last of the Westkust resistance fell in Juli 1931: “In Juli 1931 viel de laatste.” The resistance therefore flickered on for several years after its formal end, with the last resister killed in 1931.
The Sigli and Lho Soekon incidents
The book also mentions the *Sigli|Sigli]] incident — “1925 Sigli kapitein Van der Sluys Veer” — and the *Lho Soekon|Lho Soekon]] incident — “wandelde in 1933 in Lho Soekon de…” The *Westkust verzet 1925-1927|Westkust verzet]] was therefore part of a broader cycle of Acehnese resistance in the inter-war period, which included incidents at Sigli and Lho Soekon as well.
Significance
The Westkust verzet 1925-1927 is significant in Oom Ambon van het K.N.I.L. as the last significant Acehnese armed resistance episode of the inter-war period. The book’s argument is that the resistance — beginning in 1925, flickering on until 1931 — was the nasmeulend verzet (smouldering resistance) that flared up again on the Westkust seven years after the political closure of the Aceh War in 1918. The Westkust verzet 1925-1927 is therefore the book’s marker of the long tail of the Aceh War — the resistance that continued, in flickers, long after the war was politically over.
See Also
- Westkust (of Atjeh)
- Atjeh-oorlog
- Handover of Aceh to a civil Gouverneur (1918)
- Communist uprisings of 1926
- Van der Sluys Veer
- Sigli
- Lho Soekon
- 25 October
- 1 March
- 1925
- 1926
- 1927
- 1931
Source
Oom Ambon van het K.N.I.L., by G. W. T. Dames, Maj. Inf. K.N.I.L. b.d. (‘s-Gravenhage: Koninklijke Bibliotheek, 1954), chapter “Ooms leger” and chapter “De patrouille.”