United States of Insulindia

The **United States of Insulindia** (Dutch: *Verenigde Staten van Insulindië*, Bahasa: *Republik Insulindia Serikat*) or the **Second Insulindian Republic**, also abbreviated as **USI**, is a federal-state that was formed after the Insulindian National Revolution that lasted from the declaration of Independence on the 9th of August to the cessation of hostilities on the 8th of December 1948, called the Surabaya Truce.

## Background

*See also: Insulindian National Revolution*

The capitulation of the Netherlands in August 1944 due to a joint Anglo-French Invasion caused severe confusion in Batavia (*now* Djakarta) where the Colonial Government of the Dutch East Indies were based, led by the seasoned admiral and VNH politician, Johan Furstner (Though technically, they are not aware of the situation in the Netherlands proper, the only thing they were aware of is the sudden blackout of information from Amsterdam).

The first course of action they took was for the expansion of the PiD (*Politieke Inlichtingen Dienst - Political Intelligence Departement*), the "secret police" of the Dutch East Indies. They tried to suppress the populace's consciousness of the lack of orders from Amsterdam, suggesting that something had happened to the legitimate Dutch Government. They then jailed many nationalist leaders "for treasonous activity against the Crown of the Netherlands."

Among the many prominent nationalist leaders are Mohammad Hoesni Thamrin, Radjiman Wedjodiningrat, and Tengku Amir Hamzah. The attempted arrest of another Atjehese figure, Daud Bereueh sparked a guerilla war in Atjeh between the PUSA (All-Atjeh Union of Clerics, Bahasa: *Persatuan Ulama Seluruh Aceh*) that would arguably be considered the first shots fired during the National Revolution.

Hoesni Thamrin would die in Dutch imprisonment, on the 19th of December 1944, succumbing to typhus because of the poor treatment and unsanitary conditions of the Dutch prison cell, sparking outrage and causing riots and strikes in Batavia proper. Amidst the chaos, revolutionary cadres from the failed 1926 and 1936 revolts - such as Amir Sjafruddin, Tan Malaka and Munawar Musso would return from their exiles in India and Indochina, and meanwhile, the Imperial Japanese Navy would perform secret operations that extracted many dangerous nationalist figures such as Soekarno and Hatta from their exiles to Java. The triumphal return of Soekarno to Batavia on the Christmas 1944 would galvanize the nationalist movement even further - it was hailed as the "*Indonesian Messiah entering Jerusalem*" by a foreign newspaper, albeit in truth the arrival was probably less spectacular to minimize PID knowledge about it.

As Soekarno and Hatta arrived in Batavia, they immediately travelled to Jogjakarta to form a provisional government there, away from the prying eyes of the PID. Accepted and disguised as "the Sultan's personal guest" by the Keraton, they set to work on creating a constitution for Indonesia with the support of seven other figures including barristers Soepomo and Mohammad Yamin - experts of Japanese and Dutch law respectively. The constitution was mainly based around the Constitution of the United States of America as a model. They also incorporated Dutch and Japanese law to supplement it, this led to the creation of the Pancasila as the National Ideology (lit: *Foundation of the Nation*, Bahasa: *Dasar Negara*) on the 1st of June 1945. Eventually, as Dutch pressure and weakness grows, Soekarno entered Batavia on the 9th of August 1945 and proclaimed Insulindian Independence.

As he returned to Jogjakarta on the 17th of August, he announced the creation of the provisional government. This was considered as the National Independence Day ever since, as it represented the emergence of Insulindia as a functional and legitimate, independent nation.