Indonesia and small wars in Southeast Asia-Post WWII?
Recently I've become interested in Indonesia and its role in small wars, particularly in the Post-Second World War. Which ranges from the nation’s independence through the conflicts of the Sukarno/ Suharto years like the Aceh insurgency, and the Indonesian-Malaysian Confrontation after the latter’s independence from Britain to the conflict in East Timor.
However beyond this, I was hoping to learn more about Indonesia’s involvement in small wars in the Post-WWII era? Aside from what I’ve read in David Kilcullen’s book about the Aceh insurgency and the East Timor Conflict
British Military Archives in re: Indonesian Independence
If anybody could please forward information regarding the military archives in London with respect to British involvement in Indonesia immediately following WW II, I would be most grateful.
Thanks
Jeff
I think I may have found my own answer
This
http://www.amazon.com/British-Occupa...9058975&sr=8-2
appears to be spot-on for what I'm looking for; perhaps others may find it interesting and/or useful, too.
Incidentally, Pete23 and others, I hate to sink to such a low common denominator :) but the Wikipedia page on Indonesia's "konfrontasi" or "confrontation" with Malaysia seems fairly comprehensive with respect to its bibliography.
Also, I've read a fair amount of this - http://www.amazon.com/Indonesias-War...9059864&sr=8-2 - and first, I'm guessing that it's the best English-language source on the topic, and second, it seems a good example of open source intelligence, for those who are interested in the topic.
Thanks
Jeff
Indonesia, a "domino stood"; and the Act of Killing
I'd suggest it's fair to say:
1. Indonesia was more important than Indochina (Vietnam) by an order or more of magnitude; and
2. What happened in Indonesia in 1965-1966 (extermination of the Indonesian Communist Party) was a material (if not the most important) factor in what happened to Southeast Asia after that.
See, this SWC post, They Never Fail To Hyperbolate .... , and its continuation; and Indonesian killings of 1965–66 (Wiki).
That leads to two questions in considering the Vietnam War's history, revisionist history, counter-revisionist history, revisionist-counter-revisionist history, etc. ad nauseum:
1. What (if any) causal effect did the actual US 1964-1965 Vietnam combat units intervention have with respect to the Indonesian killings of 1965–1966.
2. With respect to the sundry alternate COAs (counter-factual histories) offered for Vietnam at SWC and elsewhere (changing events during the period 1945-1965 would be most critical, but changed events after 1965 might also play), what would their effects have been on Indonesia in particular and Southeast Asia in general.
He or she who wants to revisit and revise history has some obligation to sketch the future altered by the pet revision - and consider higher order effects, albeit a difficult, wicked problem.
All of that has much to do with current affairs - the search for lessons learned in the aftermath of two failures in nation-building Iraq and Astan - whether also a general failure in Southwest Asia remains to be seen.
A second reason to look at the Indonesian killings of 1965–66 is to face up to the reality of a lot of killings - with the face up requiring us to take ourselves (in our minds) totally outside the kinder and gentler society in which most of us in the US live.
A recent documentary, The Act of Killing, presents the oral histories (and re-enactments) of over 40 of the 1965-1966 Indonesian killers. The DVD is listed on Amazon-UK as being available in Nov 2013 (region 2 only)
Indonesia- New documentary film on mass killings stirs memories (short trailer 2.5 min.)
101 East : Indonesia's Killing Fields (long trailer 25 min.)
Both interviews with the filmmaker Josh Oppenheimer are worth a look
Interview with The Act of Killing film maker: Joshua Oppenheimer (36 min.)
DP/30: The Act of Killing, documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer (42 min.)
Of obvious relevance to the just war theories (NB: plural usage) and command responsibility.
Regards
Mike
More on the 'Confrontation'
Ntut,
First of all welcome aboard SWC. As you can see this topic arouses some interest and keeps on appearing.
One of your listed 'small wars' is the 'Malaysian Confrontation', although in the UK I'm sure it is called the 'Indonesian Confrontation':wry: There is a relevant thread 'Borneo Special Branch', which has many links:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ead.php?t=8726
Cannot recall why, but the rebellion in Aceh "rang a bell" and there are a number of posts / sources in a larger thread 'Mainly terrorism in Indonesia: catch all':http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...read.php?t=737
Colonial atrocities explode myth of Dutch tolerance
A short report on a contentious issue in Holland; this sentence explains why:
Quote:
Both were charged with tarnishing the honour and good name of Dutch troops by comparing their actions to those of the Nazi SS.
Link:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...e-1439153.html
A small war for some, but 500k dead isn't
The Indonesian Confrontation returns via the blog Defence in Depth, with a short article by the author of a 2012 book:http://defenceindepth.co/2015/10/01/the-act-of-killing/
It ends with:
Quote:
Thus, wars may be ‘small’ in terms of the impact that they have on the British consciousness; but that doesn’t mean that their impact on others is limited similarly. The end of Confrontation was accompanied by events that had a profound impact on Indonesia. In the end, perhaps the biggest winner wasn’t Britain, but the Indonesian army.
The book, with no Amazon reviews and ouch expensive:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Confrontatio...+confrontation