Papuan War

The borders of Papua and the surrounding region in 1965

The **Papuan War** of 1965-67 was a conflict fought between the traditionalist Kingdom of Papua (known colloquially as East Papua) and the communist People's Republic of Papua (known colloquially as West Papua). It is considered to mark the entry of the Nesarian Empire into the Cold War, being the first Imperial overseas military action since the Second World War.

The Papuan War was not only a war between Papuans, but was also a proxy war between great powers. The People's Republic of Papua was supported by the People's Republic of China, and may have received some material support from the Soviet Union - though this is disputed. The United States and Nesarian Empire both claimed that the PRP was receiving Soviet support, whereas the only Soviet material proven to exist in the PRP is several hundred AKM rifles - which easily could have come to Papua through the Chinese rather than from the Soviets directly.

The Kingdom of Papua received material support from both the Americans and British, who supplied weapons, ammunition, food and other basic supplies through the neighbouring British-owned territory of Nagela - though what they needed most of all were planes and tanks, which the British and Americans could not spare and did not give. The most significant ally of the Kingdom was the Nesarian Empire, who sent the Papuan Expeditionary Force to assist the Kingdom. Historians generally agree that Imperial intervention saved the Kingdom, as it had been rapidly losing ground against the combined communist forces in the initial months of the war, largely due to communist air superiority.

The fate of the People's Republic of Papua was sealed when China pulled out their forces in November of 1966, since they no longer had confidence in victory and recognised that further military action was a waste of resources and manpower. The communist lines rapidly collapsed and the Kingdom was in control of the entire island by the end of the year, but the government of the People's Republic did not officially surrender until January of 1967.

## Background and Prelude

Following the 1919 Treaty of Haguun, Papua had been jointly conquered by the Portuguese and British, who split the island between them - the Portuguese taking the west, and the British taking the east. The British originally intended to take the whole island for themselves, but had to make concessions to the Portuguese after they rapidly invaded the western half of Papua in the final months of the First World War.

When the decolonisation process began in the wake of the Second World War, British Papua was given its independence in 1951 as the Kingdom of Papua. For all intents and purposes, the Kingdom of Papua was the same as the old Imperial Country of Papua; the British half of the island contained the old Imperial-era capital of Alefério, and the British kept the old Imperial institutions without change whereas the Portuguese introduced significant modifications. As soon as British Papua became independent, the people of Portuguese Papua began putting significant pressure on the Portuguese for their own independence.

The government of Portugal at the time, the Estado Novo regime, was utterly opposed to decolonisation and was determined to maintain its overseas possessions. Faced with no hope of a peaceful transition to independence, many of the locals joined forces with the region's most powerful and most well-organised militia; the Papuan People's Army. The PPA was a communist Chinese-backed militia which had largely formed out of discontent from the exploitative policies of the Portuguese regime, and which won widespread support through anti-Portuguese rhetoric. Even though few of the Papuans were actually communist, the PPA was their best chance for independence, and so the militia found itself with great enough support to launch a coup in 1954.

The Western Papuan Civil War followed over the course of the next year, as the PPA transformed from an organised militia to a fully-fledged military machine with Chinese support. They were completely in control of Portuguese Papua by October of 1955, and proclaimed the People's Republic of Papua, which came to be known colloquially as West Papua. Portugal sent an invasion force to try and take back the territory in November of 1956, but this was abandoned when they faced unexpectedly tough resistance and did not receive the support from the British and Americans that they were hoping for, as all their forces in the region were completely tied up in the ongoing Imperial War of Independence. Portugal never recognised the independence of the People's Republic of Papua, but ceased all attempts to take back the region after they were forced to retreat in 1956.

Both the Kingdom of Papua and People's Republic of Papua claimed themselves to be the sole legitimate governing authority of Papua. An uneasy truce existed between the two sides, as both developed their military capabilities and erected fortifications along the border in preparation for a war they both knew was inevitable. However, the foreign supporters of both sides were keen to keep the peace. The People's Republic of China consistently warned the People's Republic of Papua against offensive action, not only because they had no desire to become embroiled in such a conflict, but also because they wanted to portray communist expansion as defensive and retaliatory rather than aggressive, in an attempt to soften the image of communism and make the other peoples of Southeast Asia more receptive to it. The Americans and British also informed the Kingdom of Papua that they would not support an offensive war, and only had limited capabilities to support them if they were attacked.

### Inciting Incident

Despite the will of overseas great powers, war broke out in Papua in 1965 due to a border dispute in the north. An East Papuan border patrol encountered a West Papuan border patrol in one of the few areas where the two states were not separated by barbed wire, and a confrontation began. The two patrols disagreed about where exactly the border lay, and the East Papuans accused the West Papuans of illegally crossing the border. The West Papuans responded by claiming that since the Kingdom was an illegitimate rebel state, there was no border and all of Papua belonged to the People's Republic.

The argument eventually broke out into a fight, which left 5 West Papuans and 3 East Papuans dead, with another wounded East Papuan later dying of their wounds. The West Papuans claimed that the Easterners suddenly opened fire on them, whereas the East Papuans claimed that they only opened fire in response to a physical attack upon one of their soldiers. The People's Republic of Papua demanded an apology and compensation for the families of the deceased, which the Kingdom of Papua refused to give - and so the People's Republic declared war.