Operatie Product

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Operatie Product, was the first of two major Dutch military offensives against the Republic of Indonesia during the Indonesian National Revolution. It took place following Dutch assertions that Indonesia cooperated insufficiently in the implementation of the Linggadjati Agreement, which had been ratified on March 25, 1947 by the lower chamber of the Dutch parliament. This police action was also influence by a Dutch perception that the Republic had failed to curb the influence of Indonesian Chinese, Indonesian Indians and the rising Indonesian Communist Party.^[1]

Operatie Product, directed by General Simon Spoor, was intended to occupy economically important areas of West and East Java, leaving Yogyakarta, seat of the Republican government, alone because of the high costs that the fighting was expected to incur. On July 21, the Dutch deployed three divisions in Java and three brigades on the less-densely populated Sumatra. The operation resulted in the occupation of large parts of Java and Sumatra, with the Republican army (TNI) offering only weak resistance. ^[2]

Nevertheless, the TNI and its allies continued to conduct guerilla operations from the hills in Dutch-controlled territory. The Dutch retaliated with air strikes and a blockade of Republican-held areas. However, the Dutch were held back from full conquest of the Republic because of pressure from the UN Security Council, and by the United States, who were calling for a ceasefire. ^[3] This led to the announcement of a ceasefire in January 1948 followed by a formal armistice. As a consequence, what was previously considered to be an internal Dutch affair now took on an international dimension.

The Renville Agreement, as the armistice was called, stipulated the withdrawal of Indonesian forces from Dutch-occupied territory and the establishment of a ceasefire boundary known as the Van Mook Line.^[4] After some time, however, the Indonesian military, secretly, returned and began guerrilla operations against the Dutch. This led, eventually, to the second major Dutch offensive, called Operatie Kraai. ^[5]

See also

• Rawagede massacre

Notes and References

1. ^ Kahin (2003), p. 27
2. ^ Jackson (2008), p. 23
3. ^ Spruyt (2005), p. 150
4. ^ Kahin (2003), p.29
5. ^ Agressi II: Operatie Kraai. De vergeten beelden van de tweede politionele actie. Orig. edn. - ZWEERS, L

Bibliography

• Jackson, Robert (2008). Modern Military Aircraft om Combat. London: Amber Books. 
• Kahin, George McTurnan; Audrey Kahin (2003). Southeast Asia: A Testament. London: Routledge Curzon. ISBN 0-415-29975-6. 
• Ricklefs, M.C. (1993). A History of Modern Indonesia Since c. 1300.. San Francisco: Stanford University Press. 
• Spruyt, Hendrik (2005). Ending Empire: Contested Sovereignty and Territorial Partition. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.