On 17 August 1945, Sukarno, leader of the Indonesian nationalist movement, proclaimed independence from the Dutch colonial empire. This momentous event was made possible by a combination of factors, including the Japanese military occupation of the Dutch East Indies during World War II, the determination of the Indonesian people, and the international political context.
The roots of Indonesian nationalism can be traced back to the early 19th century, when reformers such as Raffles and Marsden began to question the Dutch …