Transcript How colonial exploitation and traditional culture and

How did
colonial exploitation
and
traditional culture and religion
contribute to the decolonization
of Indonesia?
Group members: Bethany Chan (4)
Karena Lai (17)
Ida Lau (20)
Carman Lee (22)
Michelle Mak (26)
What is decolonization?
• Decolonization refers to the process
during which a colonial power retreats
from and transfers political power to its
colonies
Background information of Indonesia:
- The Dutch colonized Indonesia in the early 17th century
- Consists of 17,000 islands
- 180 ethnic groups, and regional and local
-Imperial Japan occupied Indonesia during World War II from
March 1942 until after the end of War in 1945. The period was
one of the most critical in Indonesian history.
Colonial exploitation
Many who lived in areas considered
important to the war effort experienced...
- torture,
- sex slavery,
- arbitrary arrest and execution,
- other war crimes.
Colonial exploitation
• Many thousands of people were taken away from
Indonesia ...
- as unfreed labour (romusha) for Japanese military
projects, including the Burma-Siam Railway, and
suffered or died as a result of ill-treatment and
starvation.
Colonial exploitation
• During the World War II occupation..
- tens of thousands of Indonesians were to starve, work as slave
labourers, or be forced from their homes.
- tens, even hundreds, of thousands (including civilians), died in fighting
against the Japanese,
- four million people died in Indonesia as a result of famine and forced
labour during the Japanese occupation, including 30,000 European
civilian internees.
Colonial exploitation
• Materially...
- whole railway lines, railway rolling stock,
and industrial plants in Java were
appropriated and shipped back to Japan
and Manchuria.
Traditional culture and
religions
•acting as a unifying force
•as powerful elements in stimulating the
growth of nationalism and the rise of anti–
colonial feelings.
Sukarno (Nationalist leader): make use of the culture
and religions in his struggle for national
independence
Example (1)
• Introduced the Five principles
(Belief in one supreme God,
humanism, national unity,
consultative democracy and
social justice )
Example (2)
• instigated a number of
monuments celebrating
Indonesia's identity
Sukarno
The 5 concepts of Pancasila: (Five principles)
1. Belief in 1 Supreme God.
2. A just and civilized humanity.
3. Nationalism, the unity of Indonesia.
4. Democracy, guided by wisdom of unanimity arising from discussion
and mutual assisistance
5. Social justice, the equality of political rights and the rights of
citizenship, as well as social and cultural equality.
• Required Indonesians to adopt one religion
• Guaranteed freedom of religion
• Unified the nations in terms of religious and equal cultural
• Helped the growth of nationalism
Monas (built during the Sukarno era of fierce nationalism)
- stands for the people's determination to achieve freedom
- the crowning of their effort in the Proclamation of Independence (1945)
Religion
In Indonesia: a local girl’s school was founded by
R.A Kartini Budi Utomo won people’s support.
Succeeded in reviving Indonesia’s
traditional culture and religion.
R.A Kartini
Paved the way for the establishment of the nationwide Sarekat Islam(1912)
Sarekat Islam congress in 1913
Sought to bring all Indonesian Muslims together under the banner of
reformist Muslim ideas
- strove to fight for the national independence from the Netherlands
Culture
Example(1): Bahasa Indonesia
• National language of Indonesia
promoted by Sukarno
 overarching the vast cultural
differences of the heterogeneous
population
A book introducing the Indonesian
language and culture
Example(2): Archaeology that retold the history of
Indonesia
Antiquities and temples were recovered
due to modern archaeological work
• specialized in ancient Southeast Asian history
• People had a chance to learn the history of their countries
Conclusion of Colonial
exploitation
• Colonial exploitation was one of the causes leading to
decolonization.
• Imperial Japan occupied Indonesia during World War II from
March 1942 until after the end of War in 1945. Japan proposed to
lead the fight against the west and to establish the “Greater East
Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere” in order to rebuild Asia. However, the
Southeast Asian people including the Indonesians soon realized
that the rule of the Japanese was much more repressive than that
of the westerners.
• After that, Indonesia changed to view Japan as their new fighting
target and their nationalist feeling was further enhanced.
Conclusion (traditional culture and religious)
- Stimulating the growth of nationalism and the rise of anti–colonial
feelings -> achieved to be a unify force of Indonesia.
- The Nationalist leader ,Sukarno, made use of the culture and
religious in his struggle for national independence. The Five principles
and the building of monuments unified the nations in terms of religious.
With the establishment of Sarekat Islam(1912), intergration of
language and recovery of Antiquities and temples:
• Nurtured nationalism among Indonesians
• Enabled the peoples to be aware of their own tradition
and glorious past
People fought for national independence ->
decolonization