The Communistische Partij (PKI) — the Partai Komunis Indonesia, the Communist Party of Indonesia — was the Indonesian communist party that conducted the communist uprisings of 1926 on Java and that, in the late-colonial period, was active on Ambon — where the colonial army kept watch that the gevaarlijke communist Patty (the book’s misspelling/abbreviation of Partai Komunis) would not “zijn hoofd af zou slaan” of the former sergeant Nussy, who had become mantri-politie on Ambon under the civil bestuur of his former commander, the Assistent-Resident Schmidt.
The 1926 uprisings
The PKI conducted the communist uprisings of 1926 on Java. The uprisings, together with the nasmeulend verzet (smouldering resistance) that flared up on the Westkust of Atjeh at the same time, forced a partial restoration of the K.N.I.L.’s strength after the cutbacks of the post-First-World-War period.
The Soekarno connection
The book notes that between 1906 and 1927 “de communisten, met Soekarno (u kent hem wel!) en zijn handlangers, hun slag wilden slaan” — the communists, with Soekarno and his henchmen, tried to make their strike on Java. The connection between the PKI uprisings of 1926 and Soekarno is the book’s framing of the communist threat as continuous with the later Indonesian nationalist movement.
The threat to Nussy on Ambon
The PKI was active on Ambon in the late-colonial period. The colonial army kept watch that the gevaarlijke communist Patty would not “zijn hoofd af zou slaan” of Nussy — would not “behead” Nussy — because “Nussy was altijd soldaat gebleven, soldaat sadja” — Nussy had always remained a soldier, nothing but a soldier. The PKI’s threat to Nussy is the book’s small register of the political danger to the old colonial army’s Ambonese soldaten in the late-colonial period: the soldaten who had served the Dutch were, in the late-colonial period, suspected by both the Republican nationalists and the communists.
Significance
The Communistische Partij (PKI) is significant in Oom Ambon van het K.N.I.L. as the Indonesian communist party that conducted the communist uprisings of 1926 and that, in the late-colonial period, was active on Ambon. The book’s argument is that the PKI’s threat to Nussy — the old colonial army’s Ambonese soldaten — was the political danger of the late-colonial period: the soldaten who had served the Dutch were, in the late-colonial period, suspected by both the Republican nationalists and the communists.
See Also
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 colonne Schmidt.”
The Communistische Partij (PKI) — the Partai Komunis Indonesia, the Communist Party of Indonesia — was the Indonesian communist party that conducted the communist uprisings of 1926 on Java and that, in the late-colonial period, was active on Ambon — where the colonial army kept watch that the gevaarlijke communist Patty (the book’s misspelling/abbreviation of Partai Komunis) would not “zijn hoofd af zou slaan” of the former sergeant Nussy, who had become mantri-politie on Ambon under the civil bestuur of his former commander, the Assistent-Resident Schmidt.
The 1926 uprisings
The PKI conducted the communist uprisings of 1926 on Java. The uprisings, together with the nasmeulend verzet (smouldering resistance) that flared up on the Westkust of Atjeh at the same time, forced a partial restoration of the K.N.I.L.’s strength after the cutbacks of the post-First-World-War period.
The Soekarno connection
The book notes that between 1906 and 1927 “de communisten, met Soekarno (u kent hem wel!) en zijn handlangers, hun slag wilden slaan” — the communists, with Soekarno and his henchmen, tried to make their strike on Java. The connection between the PKI uprisings of 1926 and Soekarno is the book’s framing of the communist threat as continuous with the later Indonesian nationalist movement.
The threat to Nussy on Ambon
The PKI was active on Ambon in the late-colonial period. The colonial army kept watch that the gevaarlijke communist Patty would not “zijn hoofd af zou slaan” of Nussy — would not “behead” Nussy — because “Nussy was altijd soldaat gebleven, soldaat sadja” — Nussy had always remained a soldier, nothing but a soldier. The PKI’s threat to Nussy is the book’s small register of the political danger to the old colonial army’s Ambonese soldaten in the late-colonial period: the soldaten who had served the Dutch were, in the late-colonial period, suspected by both the Republican nationalists and the communists.
Significance
The Communistische Partij (PKI) is significant in Oom Ambon van het K.N.I.L. as the Indonesian communist party that conducted the communist uprisings of 1926 and that, in the late-colonial period, was active on Ambon. The book’s argument is that the PKI’s threat to Nussy — the old colonial army’s Ambonese soldaten — was the political danger of the late-colonial period: the soldaten who had served the Dutch were, in the late-colonial period, suspected by both the Republican nationalists and the communists.
See Also
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 colonne Schmidt.”