Police Actions (Indonesia)


The Police Actions, were two major military offensives that the Netherlands carried out on Java and Sumatra against the Republic of Indonesia during its struggle for independence in the Indonesian National Revolution. In Indonesia they are collectively known as the Dutch Military Aggressions, although the direct translation Aksi Polisionil is also used.
In Dutch historiography and discourse, the entire Indonesian War of Independence was euphemistically referred to for decades as "the police actions", as coined by the government at the time. In the Netherlands, the public impression prevailed that only these two short-term operations had been carried out, intended to protect the Dutch East Indies from a rebellion that required police action. This perspective ignores the fact that between the arrival of the first Dutch troops in March 1946 and the cession of sovereignty in December 1949, a full-scale military occupation and a continuous counterinsurgency involving 120,000 conscripts had taken place.

Operation Product

Operation Product took place between 21 July and 5 August 1947. The Dutch greatly reduced and fragmented Indonesian-controlled territories, with a particular focus on the oil fields and rubber plantations of Sumatra, and the sugar plantations and economic infrastructure of Java. The offensive excluded an attack on the city of Yogyakarta, wartime seat of the Republican government, due to high expected costs of urban warfare.
The Mariniersbrigade headquartered in Surabaya was tasked with securing territory in East Java containing 40 sugar factories, 70 coffee plantations, 72 rubber plantations, 5 tea plantations, and 3 cinchona plantations. It carried out amphibious landings at Pasir Putih in Situbondo and north of Banyuwangi to occupy the eastern salient of Java. An offensive from Porong connected Surabaya to the eastern salient through Pasuruan, before the marines pushed on to the Republican stronghold of Malang.

Operation Kraai

Operation Kraai took place between 19 December 1948 and 5 January 1949. It resulted in the Dutch capture of Yogyakarta, the arrests of much of the Indonesian leadership, and the exile of what remained of the Republican government to Sumatra.
The Marbrig's actions in northeastern Java during this offensive are referred to as Operation Zeemeeuw. This operation took place during the monsoon season and saw more amphibious and air support operations than Product, involving dozens of ships, aircraft, and landing craft. The unit made landfall at Glondong in Tuban with the end goal of occupying Madiun, but its advance was quickly halted by an enormous anti-tank ditch about inland. From that point on, the marines were significantly delayed by roadblocks, destroyed bridges, and reliance on roads that no longer existed and were overgrown with teak forests. As a result, they reached Madiun only after the city had already been captured by the regular army.

Other operations

Eclipsed by the scale and notoriety of Product and Kraai, other Dutch offensive operations of the Indonesian Revolution included:

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English language

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