Linggarjati Negotiations: Content, Character, Impact, Implementation
Linggarjati Negotiations – During the transition period of power transfer from colonial hands to Indonesian hands, there were many conflicts and disputes.
Because of this, parties outside Indonesia as well as the Netherlands and Japan intervened to mediate. This is done for the sake of creating a conducive state situation and starting to be able to build their own.
One of the most important events after a year after Indonesia declared itself an independent country, Japan was expelled. One of the reasons was the return of the Dutch troops who disarmed the Japanese armed forces.
The Dutch themselves still have great intentions and desire to dominate Indonesia. That is why, they do not hesitate to exclude other countries.
Of course, Indonesia did not remain silent as the Dutch, who had colonized Indonesia for 350 years, wanted to return to power.
One of the efforts to maintain this newly declared independence is to conduct negotiations and make agreements.
An agreement was made in November 1946 to maintain the sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia and this negotiation and agreement was called the Linggarjati Agreement.
Background of the Linggarjati Negotiations
The Dutch, which at that time had not yet fully accepted Indonesian independence, made tactics to seize the land of the archipelago.
It began with the arrival of allied forces and AFNEI with the agenda of disarming the Japanese troops who lost in World War II.
However, their arrival wasn’t purely to do that because they came with NICA or Netherlands-Indies Civil Administration.
The arrival of members of the Dutch civil service created suspicion on the part of the government and the people of Indonesia. Their arrival is considered as a way to regain control of Indonesia.
Inevitably, several conflicts occurred which led to several battles.
One of the battles recorded in history to date due to the return of the Dutch was the Battle of Ambarawa on November 10, 1945.
With so much fighting and contention going on, both sides were clearly at a loss.
To avoid greater losses, both the Netherlands and Indonesia finally agreed to hold negotiations which were also the first diplomatic contact between the two countries.
These negotiations were mediated by the British as the person in charge of resolving Asian political and military conflicts.
The peace talks were held in Linggarjati. Linggarjati was chosen as a place of peace because the area between Kuningan and Cirebon was considered neutral.
At that time, the Dutch still controlled the Batavia or Jakarta area. The Indonesian people themselves set the center of their government in Yogyakarta.
It was because of the choice of location that this negotiation was named the Linggarjati Negotiation.
Implementation of the Linggarjati Negotiations
Before the negotiations were decided to be held in Linggarjati, the British, represented by diplomat Sir Archibald Clark Kerr, proposed holding a meeting at Hooge Veluwe.
Unfortunately, this meeting did not reach the desired agreement.
This was due to the Dutch who did not want to recognize Indonesia’s sovereignty, which covered the areas of Java, Sumatra and Madura Island. At that time, the Dutch only recognized Java and Madura.
After that, at the end of August 1946, the British government again sent an envoy, Lord Killearn, to Indonesia to conclude negotiations between the Netherlands and Indonesia.
Finally, on October 7, 1946, the Indonesian and Dutch sides were successfully met at the British Consulate General in Jakarta.
The talks, led by Lord Killearn, resulted in a ceasefire agreement, effective October 14.
This ceasefire then paved the way for the Linggarjati negotiations.
The negotiations, which were held in Linggarjati itself, began on November 11 and ended on November 13, 1946.
However, representatives from each party have started to come since November 10, 1946. The negotiations which lasted for three days resulted in the Linggarjati Agreement.
The results of the negotiations were signed on November 15, 1946 in Jakarta. The ratification process was carried out on May 25, 1957 at the State Palace officially with a state ceremony.
Figures Involved in the Linggarjati Negotiations
As negotiations were held to reconcile the two countries, each country sent its delegation. From the Indonesian side, Sutan Syahrir was appointed as chairman.
Accompanied by Muhamad Roem, Dr. AK Gani and Mr. Susanto Tirtoprojo, SH Meanwhile from the Dutch side, Prof. Schermerhorn as chairman. With delegation members Max van Pool and F. De Boer.
Meanwhile, from the British side, as the mediator of this negotiation sent Lord Killearn, who also chaired the meeting at the British Consulate General, as his representative.
Apart from Lord Killearn acting as arbiter, there were also several witnesses and guests present. These people are Amir Syarifudin, dr. Leimena, Ali Budiharjo, Mr. Proclaimers Sukarno and Hatta.
Contents of the Linggarjati Agreement
The Linggarjati negotiations resulted in 17 articles of agreement with four main articles.
- The first point of the four main articles is that the Netherlands recognizes de facto that the territory of Indonesia is Java, Sumatra and Madura.
- The second point, the Netherlands must leave the territory of the Republic of Indonesia no later than May 1, 1949.
- The third point, the Indonesian and Dutch parties agreed to form an RIS state or the United States of Indonesia.
- And the last point, as RIS, Indonesia must be part of the commonwealth (the commonwealth) an Indonesian-Dutch union in which the Queen of the Netherlands is the head of the union.
Impact of the Linggarjati Agreement
After the negotiations and the Linggarjati agreement were held, Indonesia received several impacts. There are positive impacts but there are also negative impacts.
Positive impact
Some of the positive impacts are that Indonesia’s image in the eyes of the world is getting stronger.
- With the recognition from the Netherlands, as the colonial state, of the independence of Indonesia, encouraging other countries to legally recognize Indonesia’s independence.
- Due to the Dutch recognition of Indonesia’s territory, based on the contents of the agreement, the de facto territory of Indonesia included Sumatra, Java and Madura.
- In addition, the conflict between the Netherlands and Indonesia ended. At that time, there were concerns that the confrontation between the Indonesian people and the Dutch forces would continue.
- Moreover, the comparison of its power is not balanced between the Dutch who already have advanced powers and the Indonesian people who are still very weak.
Negative impact
In addition to the positive impacts above, the results of the Linggarjati Negotiations have a negative impact on the Indonesian people.
- The first negative impact is that Indonesia’s territory is very small, only three islands, namely Sumatra, Java and Madura. In addition, Indonesia still has to follow the Indo-Dutch Commonwealth.
- This also gave time for the Dutch to build up their military strength and then carry out military aggression.
- This agreement was widely opposed by the community and various parties. The parties that refused included the Masyumi Party, PNI, the Indonesian People’s Party and the Common People’s Party.
- In addition, the appointed leader, Sutan Syahrir, was considered to have given support to the Dutch. This caused members of the Socialist Party and KNIP to withdraw support for the negotiating leaders.
- They consider this incident as evidence of the weakness of the Indonesian government in defending the country’s sovereignty.
To overcome the problem of withdrawing this support, the government issued Presidential Regulation no. 6/1946.
The aim is to add members of the Central Indonesian National Committee so that the government gets additional votes to support the Linggarjati negotiations and agreement.
Violation of the Linggarjati Agreement
The agreement that was formed from the negotiations between the Netherlands and Indonesia in Linggarjati did not go smoothly. The Dutch violated the agreement that had been made.
On July 20, 1947, the Governor-General of the Netherlands HJ van Mook stated that the Netherlands was no longer bound by the Linggarjati agreement.
Until then the next day, on July 21, 1947, the First Dutch Military Aggression against Indonesia broke out.
The conflict, which had subsided for several months, flared up again. Conflicts and wars are unavoidable.
Even though the Dutch suffered losses no less than the Indonesians, the Dutch still insisted on taking control of Indonesia again.
However, the Dutch action against this agreement was denounced by many countries. The United Nations even intervened to resolve the dispute between the two countries.
To resolve this, then another negotiation was held, known as the Renville agreement. Although unfortunately, this agreement has many things that are detrimental to the Indonesian side.
Thus a glimpse of the history of the Linggarjati Negotiations, the Dutch who did not want to give up on controlling Indonesia did indeed take various ways to be able to conquer Indonesia again.
However, the Indonesian people did not want their independence to be retaken, so they put up a fierce resistance.
With negotiations and resistance on this battlefield, Indonesia can hold fast to its hard-earned sovereignty.
