So I looked up the coat of arms of the Kingdom of France during the French Revolution. Back when it tried to be a constitutional monarchy. Wikipedia was the first place I looked in the digital trail. That is when I saw this in the infobox.

I opened another article about the French national arms to check its details. But there was nothing in the page about this particular arms. I tried reverse-image searching in Google, but only found another version of it on Wikipedia as only the shield.

I did manage to find another work of the artist/uploader behind the arms that was similar: Their recreation of the emblem used by the National Constituent Assembly. Unlike the arms, the author made the effort to include a link to prove it was used historically.

My search ended there. Is this a very obscure symbol or is this fake?

Cinemas, Komiks, and Lots of Skin

Censorship in the Dutch East Indies limited the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 1870, the East Indies Commission for Popular Literature, under the trade name Balai Pustaka, was created to supply school libraries and class textbooks. It tried to establish a monopoly on publishing in the archipelago, rejecting works that criticized the government, controversial to religion, or contained anything pornographic. This encouraged nationalist businessmen and writers to create their own publishing houses.

Private publications did not save nationalist writers who criticized Dutch rule from scrutiny. They were monitored, arrested, and any establishment that distributed or published their work was shuttered by the colonial government. Only select newspapers were tolerated, most of which were run by the government, European nationals, and the upper-class pribumi. The largest of which was Bataviaasch Nieuwsblad. Javasche Courant was the colonial gazette. In 1940, Regeerings Publiciteits Dienst was created to streamline government-approved film material.

Towards independence in the Dominion Period, Governor-General Sukarno used RPD to put up posters, distribute pamphlets, and produce documentaries promoting Pancasila, Nasakom, and introduce the newly-liberated Indonesians to their future state. He expanded this operation when he nationalized De Java-bode, a conservative pro-Dutch newspaper, to reallocate its assets and staff for RPD's new periodical, Suluh Indonesia.

The Haatzaai Artikelen Regulations in the old East Indies Penal Code were primarily used by the Governors-General to curb press freedom. Sukarno repurposed it to limit violence between political and racial groups. This was instrumental in controlling community violence caused by the student wings of the PNI and the Council of Indonesian Muslim Associations (Masyumi), intimidating people to vote along racial or religious lines. It heightened during campaign periods in every general election from 1951 to 1964. They took part in the Landhuis Raids of 1965-1966. In 1968, both youth organizations were banned by the President in accordance with the new Political Parties Act. The same treatment was promised to any publication that encouraged class warfare, race hatred, or religious intolerance. In 1972, the management and oversight of elections were delegated to a non-partisan, constitutional entity: The Election Commission of Indonesia.

The Volksraadgebouw in Central Jakarta was a favorite target of riots. The former meeting place of the East Indies legislature was bought by Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX for the Vorsten Club, a gentleman's society for the bupati class. They had to employ private security to keep outsiders away from the premises. In 1970, it opened its doors to the commoner, upper-class pribumi who owned the security agencies. Their increasing economic influence could no longer be ignored.

The 70s was a decade of growth. Although this process already started in the postwar reconstruction of the 50s, continuing through the 60s with the nationalizations and creation of basic heavy industries. The North provided capital and an industrial base hungry for the labor and commodities of the South. The rural population had just started moving into urban areas, filling in new jobs created by the expanding corporate, manufacturing, and service sectors. There was a growing appetite for modern entertainment, but most of it was filled in by American comics and Western films. In the State of Singapore, Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Jit Poh featured anti-colonial comics that criticized Western culture. They oppose what they perceived as "extreme individualism," "erosion of respect," and "liberal social mores." What was most troubling to the Singaporean government was how ordinary people interacted with these values.

It started all the way back in 1926, when Governor Hesketh Bell of British Mauritius visited Singapore. During a cinema show, he was appalled by how "young coolies" shouted cat-calls and indecent remarks at American actresses in the film during their intimate scenes. Cinema Vigilance Committees were formed in Singapore and Peninsular British Malaya to advocate for censorship. The Films Committee was formed in 1930 by the British Colonial Office to investigate the moral ramifications of film consumption in the colonies. They understood the importance of film as an effective tool to inform the masses. Powerful, even. They could not allow just any film to be shown. Masyumi, as the largest Indonesian Muslim party, held similar sentiments.

Back in the Dutch East Indies, there was an expectation by top Muslim clerics that the Islamic faith would have a special position in the future Indonesian state. As the faith of the majority, they believed its values should be supreme in the constitution. Sukarno convinced them to concede this demand to maintain national unity with Christian Indonesians. Islam did achieve a special place in the constitution, but they share this with five other religions as prescribed by Pancasila. They still insisted ordinary legislation must recognize its precedence. In the first postwar general election in 1951, Sukarno assured them that if the national electorate, most of whom are Muslim, all participated and voted for their representatives, the majority of lawmakers would be Muslim. Therefore, the laws would definitely be Muslim.

However, Masyumi co-founder Mohammad Natsir, found himself leading the question in the People's Consultative Assembly as to why the government has neither fully enforced colonial censorship laws nor introduced new rules to apply on more modern material. Popular films produced in the North found an even larger audience in the South. All of these films were not made to be intentionally explicit or provocative. But for Natsir, a cleric himself, it was already too much.

Natsir was critical of the superhero comics and films produced in what was then British Philippines. He particularly did not like how the superheroines were depicted. Sukarno, on the other hand, enjoyed them. He was a big fan of Indo-European actress Rose Stagner, who brought Darna to life on the big screen in 1953. It launched her to instant stardom across Southeast Asia. Serialized by Eurasian Publishing Co., Darna was the first major entry in the collection of Indonesian komiks. Its success was followed by another superheroine, Sri Asih, in its 1954 feature and historical legend Hang Tuah in 1955.

Despite her revealing attire, Darna was beloved by Indonesian moviegoers and comic-book readers at the time, including Muslims. Her alter ego is Mary, a little girl from the Central Lusong countryside. This meant romance with other adults was not possible. Her archnemesis was Nagina, a half-snake, half-woman born to an ancient mountain tribe. During the war, she fled after her entire family was massacred by the Imperial Japanese Army. When neighboring villages refused to help her, fearful of her looks, she trained a snake army to take over the land.

Comics and films like Darna became part of the last great campaign of the Indonesian nationalist movement. Minister of Education and Culture Sarino Mangunpranoto wanted Indonesians of the Dutch East Indies and British Malaya to become familiar with each other through mass media. He focused on cinema and approached businessman Djamaluddin Malik and filmmaker Usmar Ismail. With Malik's connections and Mangunpranoto's support, they inaugurated the Indonesian Film Producers Federation (IFPF) in 1954. It was joined by East Indies and Malayan territorial film producer associations. RPD had to be restructured to take on the colossal mission it was given. Under Ismail's management, the studios rapidly expanded, recruiting executives, writers, and talents from the pre-war film industry. They also invited Jewish refugees from the former Palestinian cinema.

In time for the first IFPF Film Festival, RPD negotiated an exclusive production-distribution deal with Darna's producers, Royal Picture Studios, to make a sequel film and a televised serial for the future state TV. On April 5, 1955, the festival was officially called the "Indonesian Film Appreciation Week." The multi-venue event, described as a "platform to showcase the cinema of the Malay Archipelago," was held in the three most high-end cinemas of the archipelago: Royal Picture Theatre of Manila, Capitol Theatre of Kuala Lumpur, and Bioscoop Metropool of Jakarta. Most of the entries were distributed in Indonesia by RPD.

In the early 1960s, book fairs were held by the PNI and its branches in Manila, New Manila, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Nu Surakarta, Nu Yogyakarta, and Jakarta. Each one had a dedicated section of booths on komiks. By then, British and Dutch censorship were relaxed in exchange for the continued cooperation of the nationalist, local elites. This did not change when Indonesia gained independence and when it confederated British Malaya. It created a lively environment for the Indonesian press to gain the reputation of "freest in Asia." American and British journalists who migrated to British Malaya founded publications built on combative and free enterprise principles. In a 1965 commencement speech at the University of Manila, Justice Minister J. B. L. King gave the press its favored epithet "The Fourth Branch" to symbolize its role as the government watchdog.

The Western press, namely The Times, hailed Indonesian press freedoms as "one of the true few gifts from European colonisation." But the lack of government censorship was abused. A culture of sensationalist irresponsibility was cultivated by Indonesian journalists. This was weaponized by the increasingly partisan division of newspapers. It started in the Political Parties Act when it ordered parties to shut down their official newspapers. National broadsheets lined up to offer their services to the big political donors behind PNI, Masyumi, the People's Liberal Party (Liberal), the United Malays National Organisation, and the Indonesian Christian Party.

The First Njoto Cabinet introduced the controversial Indonesian Penal Code of 1973. All parties welcomed the abolition of lèse-majesté, which formerly prohibited insulting the President and the Prime Minister. But the PNI nationalist faction opposed the removal of the prohibition on disinformation or any "exaggerated" or "incomplete" news that could likely cause "commotion." The PNI socialist faction and the Liberals believed it was a necessary step to secure press freedoms. Nasution argued the Disinformation Clauses should be used to regulate the press. Previously, it was used to target the PNI-Liberal coalition's two biggest enemies: Masyumi and their former newspaper, Abadi.

To gain Nasution's approval, flag desecration was criminalized in the penal code and the proposed Soldier Politics Ban was revised. The new law was designed to establish the political neutrality of the Armed Forces of the United States of Indonesia. But its original provision to disenfranchise all active-duty personnel was limited to running for office. They were allowed to keep their right to vote.

In the absence of regulations, media companies, institutions, and artists organized themselves into three movements with their own rules and standards: The pro-nationalist National Culture Institute (LKN), the Indonesian Muslim Cultural Arts Institute (Lesbumi), and the pro-socialist Institute for People's Culture (Lekra).

Click here for Part 6

The New President

Months before the 1971 general election, Sukarno announced his plans to retire. He hoped Prime Minister Mohammad Hatta would stay longer to ensure a peaceful, presidential transition. But Hatta also informed his intentions to stand down. On the future of the coalition government, Deputy PM Charles P. Orson declared the People's Liberal Party intentions to challenge the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI) for control of both the presidency and the People's Consultative Assembly.

The race was on for Merdeka Palace. 

In the Liberal leadership contest, Orson got easily re-elected. However, he broke expectations by refusing to nominate himself for prime minister. He chose the presidency. This started a trend for other party leaders to do the same.

During Sukarno’s eight-year reign, excluding his viceroyship, he was seen as the ruler of Indonesia. The position of PM, though designed to take precedence in executive power, evolved differently under Hatta into an office best described by the Borneo Bulletin as “half-vice president, half-executive secretary.” Sukarno, resistant to the idea of a ceremonial head of state, undermined Hatta’s authority over the cabinet, personally setting policy with Orson, in his role as foreign minister, and Minister of Defense Wilopo. Despite this, because they were fellow party members, they agreed on important decisions most of the time. It cemented the division of executive responsibility between the head of state, the “commander-in-chief and architect of foreign policy," and the head of government, the “formateur and first lord of the treasury." The president and the PM share office and living spaces in Merdeka Palace.

Together, they charted Indonesia’s place in the world. It started in Southeast Asia. Sukarno was primarily concerned about regional peace. Unlike Indonesia, its neighbors in French Indochina and Korea experienced a more violent separation from its former colonizers. At the same time, he did not like the Western-leaning orientation of Indonesian foreign policy, which was unavoidable. As part of the conditions for Indonesian statehood in British Malaya, Prime Minister Harold MacMillan required the retention of American bases in the Philippine Islands. It would have fallen through if the United States government did not agree to provide aid for the Indonesian armed forces. In the end, Sukarno actually wished it did.

The American military presence in Indonesia kept China, the Soviet Union, North Vietnam, and other communist countries at a distance. It became a glaring obstacle to Sukarno’s neutrality objective. He could not effectively interact with these countries without attracting the suspicion of the United States Embassy, whose building sat south of the National Monument. Merdeka Palace is directly on the opposite side.

However, neutrality was not impossible. Sukarno managed to persuade the Americans that the Indonesian communists were under control. After the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) merged with PNI, he introduced the concept of Nasakom in his 1956 Party Congress speech. It stood for "Nasionalisme, Agama, Komunisme” or nationalism, religion, and communism. Like what Pancasila did to unite Indonesia, he wanted it to unite the nationalist, Muslim, and socialist factions of PNI. Originally, the basis for unity was a common struggle against Western imperialism. This changed when the colonies of British Malaya were admitted to Indonesia. It was reinterpreted by Sukarno to oppose “blocism” or dividing the world between the “Capitalist West” and the “Communist East.”

Dipa Nusantara Aidit, the PNI socialist faction leader, led a minority exodus of disastified comrades to resurrect the PKI. They wanted to remove the American bases, pursue closer ties with China, and support North Vietnam. Njoto, an avowed communist, stayed with the rest of the PNI socialists. He believed it was possible for communists to participate in democracy, unite the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, and still achieve socialism. Although, he rejected the moniker “social democrat." Sukarno favored him as a potential future PM. 

Njoto, to avoid further factionalism in the Sino-Soviet Split, worked with Orson to expand Indonesia’s role in the Non-Aligned Movement. They started economic and social reform missions to assist newly independent countries in Africa and Asia. Former army chief, Abdul Haris Nasution, said it was a useful way to keep radical troublemakers out of the country. 

Nasution emerged as the PNI nationalist faction leader soon after he was elected to the House of Representatives in the 1967 general election. He did not like civilian control over the Indonesian National Armed Forces (ABRI). But he understood the principle behind it, wary of the dangers of military dictatorship. Despite this, he was distrusted by PNI principals, mostly from the socialist faction, due to his on-and-off conflict with Sukarno. On October 17, 1952, Nasution and the ABRI high command resigned en masse in protest to Hatta's plans to cut the military budget and restructure its organizational hierarchy. He was reinstated the following year. His reforms established a rotational tour of duty system, centralized military training, and modernized ABRI equipment with the help of the United States. This earned him a celebrated reputation in the nationalist faction, which was dominated by pro-military supporters and veterans.

In the 1970 PNI Party Congress, Sukarno used his farewell speech to endorse Njoto. But he did not specify which position he could inherit. In the ensuing negotiations between the socialist and nationalist factions, they agreed Nasution should run for president and Njoto could serve as prime minister. Meanwhile, its Muslim faction was almost non-existent. When PNI tried to negotiate a merger in 1949 with Masyumi, its leader, Mohammad Natsir, did not follow through due to his disapproval of Pancasila.

Masyumi, particularly its fundamentalists, was alarmed at the secular orientation of the Indonesian state. They felt the Islamic traditions of the Malay people were slowly eroding. Their faction leader, Sekarmadji Maridjan Kartosoewirjo, promoted Muslim Malay privileges in their 1971 election campaign. They used the term “Bangsa Melayu” for their reform package. It included a constitutional amendment proposal adopting Malay special status and Sharia family law. Mahathir Mohamad, a rising star in the party’s endangered moderate faction, while he did not agree enshrining Sharia Law, was convinced that the Malay people were marginalized despite comprising the majority. He argued the major population centers: Kuala Lumpur, Manila, New Manila, Singapore, and Jakarta; were each influenced by either Chinese or Christian business dominance. European in the case of New Manila and, when Dutch New Guinea is admitted, Hollandia.

However, in the weeks leading up to the 1971 general election, the disagreement on Sharia Law between the fundamentalist and moderate factions proved too great. After Kartosoewirjo became the official presidential candidate, Mahathir and other moderates left to join the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). Kartosoewirjo’s running mate, or prime minister candidate, was former Vice Governor Daud Beureueh of North Sumatra. His state, in order to accommodate both Muslim Acehnese and Batak Christian populations, established sectarian power-sharing system in the state constitution. It required the governor must be a Christian and the vice governor must be a Muslim.

UMNO leader, Tunku Abdul Rahman, and his running mate, Raymond Magsaysay, called their Malay privileges program “Bumiputera.” The difference between it and Masyumi’s Bangsa Melayu is that Bumiputera was presented as “affirmative action” for poor Indonesian pribumi, regardless of religion, and it explicitly included other aboriginal groups. It quickly became a popular idea that was co-opted by socialists and moderates in other parties. They used the opportunity to rebrand UMNO as the Alliance Party.

The Malay Indian Congress (MIC), after Indonesian confederation was achieved, found their existence no longer necessary and joined the Alliance Party.

Orson had a harder time uniting the Liberal Chinese, Malay, and other regionalist and minority factions. It was a more diverse, big-tent organization compared to the PNI. They were primarily united on secular and anti-sharia principles. The crux in their unity is the pro-Bumiputera and anti-Bumiputera factions, which threatened to split the party between its Malay and Non-Malay members. He enlisted Lee Kuan Yew, his running mate, to help him instill discipline.

The Indonesian Christian Party (Parkindo) had a brief crisis caused by a rift between the Northern and Southern factions. Christoffel Joseph Mooy, leader of the Southern faction, challenged Theodore Macapagal in a leadership election. The incumbent leader represented the Northern faction. Mooy claimed Macapagal was not acting in the multiracial interests of the party and Indonesian Christians. He cited Macapagal’s reckless remarks against Indonesian Muslims. But Mooy could not nominate himself as leader without the support of the Northern faction. His picked the charismatic Frederick E. Mark, a turncoat in Macapagal’s inner circle, as his running mate. Together, Mooy narrowly won the leadership challenge.

The legislation of the Basic Agrarian Law and the success of the Indonesian First Policy helped PNI and the Liberals maintain a large legislative plurality. The Alliance Party maintained its status as the third largest party in parliament since 1967, followed by Masyumi in fourth, Parkindo in fifth, and the PKI in sixth.

The newly-elected Nasution, in his first act as the second President of Indonesia, negotiated a renewed coalition with the Liberals. He agreed Orson could resume his post as PM. Njoto accepted the roles of First Deputy PM and foreign minister. Lee Kuan Yew became Second Deputy PM and finance minister. The new Minister of Trade, Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, was awarded this position as one of the planners behind the Indonesian First Policy. The new Minister of Defense, Subandrio, was a surprising choice due to his reputation as Sukarno’s alleged spy. Nasution, before the election, accused him of working for British intelligence. As Deputy Minister of Defense, he was said to inform the former president on the views of the Indonesian high command.

The first cabinet of Nasution's presidency did not last. Orson died of a heart attack on June 11, 1971. Njoto became the new PM. For his replacement as First Deputy PM, the new Liberal party leader LKY was the natural choice. But he retained the finance ministry. The roles of Second Deputy PM and foreign minister landed on a Liberal principal, Goh Hock Guan.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:
I was going to just delete Part 6 to re-upload the map because it needed corrections. But, I thought about my discussion with Rumor-Mill091234 in the original Part 6 comments section. I promised to flesh out the regional geopolitical scene. Especially the ITL Vietnam War. So I decided to re-publish the map with an entirely different post to kick it off.

Also, if you look at the edited map, it features ITL Southeast Asia in 1970 instead of 1975. Closer and you will see small, but very big changes.

Click here for Part 5

This is to answer PLMMJ's What-if question thread on "how European empires could integrate colonies" (not exact wording) before it was deleted. It also has a scenario.

Decolonization and some creative license is actually key to this. So, the way it happened OTL is because Europe is trying to leave as clean or as soon as possible. It is usually the latter.

But, you might ask, how are you going to integrate former colonies if they are decolonized? Well, integration isn't just political or dependent on settler colonization. It could be economic. Think of post-colonial, EU-esque organizations or trade blocs uniting the metropole with its former colonies as equal partners. The closest attempt to something like this was the British Commonwealth (imperial preference system; trade bloc) or the French Union (semi-federal; political integration).

The obstacle to this was, for the British Commonwealth, its lack of investment in the decolonized member states. The two world wars likely did a number on this possibility. The same for the French Union, and that it was too French.

Here's a brief Imperial Federation scenario: It's Postwar Britain. Hitler has been dead for a while now. The British Commonwealth takes serious steps towards a political and economic union. Let's say London was more open to the idea of not being the sole leader of the union. It could share leadership with the "White Dominions/Old Commonwealth" (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Newfoundland), work together to give the Commonwealth some muscle and stability while they establish the new order.

With their resources combined, their more advanced/downstream industries could invest and depend on the newly decolonized, member states from Africa and Asia. Develop resource extraction/upstream industries that is less exploitative. Eventually, this would also create new markets for the Old Commonwealth.

However, in the short term, all of this means benefitting the small, local elites (traditional, bureaucratic, or educated) more than the greater populace.

But, in the long term, as the "New Commonwealth" (African, Asian, Caribbean, and Pacific member states) developed, they would eventually industrialize. Their stable, upstream economies would give them access to services that would create a larger, educated populace. They would have their own downstream businesses that would also seek markets in the Old Commonwealth. The local elites would be supplanted. The new governing class, which is more broad and representative of their respective member states, would demand a more equal representation in the Commonwealth government in London, Ottawa, or Cape Town.

This is where the real challenge to the Commonwealth's integrity could emerge. For example, South Africa's membership in the Commonwealth would present a complex dilemma. Especially if it remains to have race-based policies that exclude much of its native population. If the New Commonwealth gets a seat at the table (Commonwealth Parliament), they would definitely scrutinize and attempt to sanction South Africa. It is likely that it would be expelled.

The Old Commonwealth, if they want this union to survive, they will have to accept the reality of the New Commonwealth dominating them in many ways apart from demographics. India, if it stays, will become the natural leader of the Commonwealth. If not, there are still the member states of Bangladesh/East Pakistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan. One or two of them might form the "Big Six" of the Commonwealth. I could see this arrangement to include the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Nigeria. Depending on which of the largest New Commonwealth states becomes developed first.

Weirdly enough, this might lead to less African and Asian immigration to the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Migration would still happen both ways. But if the New Commonwealth was more developed, most of their citizens would more likely go to other parts of the Commonwealth as tourists rather than as workers.

Mass migration could happen the other way around when the Old Commonwealth starts de-industrializing. The closure of coal mines in the UK or the decline of manufacturing in Canada might push businesses and some of their workers there to move to the New Commonwealth.

Et voilà! Now you have a Commonwealth of Nations that could be a third superpower in the Cold War. This process might take an entire century. Maybe even a century earlier to get better results by the 20th Century.

A map of Southeast Asia in 1975 from 2006 American book "Indonesia: A Country Study." It was a volume of that year's "Area Handbook Series," a publication supported by the United States Department of the Army and prepared by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress.

Click here for Part 5

Seeds of the Future

The Philippines, compared to the neighboring colonies in the greater Malayan Archipelago, had begun its land reform long before its integration in Indonesia. In the 1920s, the Land Revenue Commission found the results of the East India Company's land reforms only led to the concentration of wealth in a small elite. After the EIC was nationalized, their plantations were bought up by the principalía. It made them the largest landowners in the islands. To remedy the situation, the commission proposed tenant rights, the legislation of homesteading laws, and the breakup of principalía largeholdings. Accepted by the British government, it aimed to create a strong, landowning middle class. By 1960, more than 30% of arable land was owned by smallholding, middle class farmers.

The poor, lower class farmers owned 50% of the land. Due to limited funds, they had to organize farming collectives to gain access to modern farm equipment and infrastructure. Lewis Taruk, a socialist faction principal of the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI), represented them as leader of the National Peasants' Federation of Eastern Malaya. He was elected to replace the late Jacinto Manahan, the federation's founder. Taruk was a controversial figure due to his aggressive tactics to fight abuses committed by the principalía against their own tenants. His organization was involved in a number of high-profile murder cases, including the suspicious death of Tobacco magnate Andson Cowie.

During World War II, Taruk commanded the Malay People's Liberation Army in Central Lusong. It was the largest guerrilla force in Occupied Southeast Asia, followed by the Malayan Anti-Japanese Army in the Malayan Peninsula. The MPLA raided the Imperial Army, aided British and Malay guerillas, and barricaded towns to deter Japanaese visits. This was disputed by pro-Western historian Gregory F. Zaide. In his book, the “History of British Malaya,” he cited accounts detailing how the MPLA also fought with other guerillas for supplies, harrased towns under their protection to collect tributes, and attacked both upper and middle class farmers to plunder their property. The latter two groups were forced to form Citizen Militias.

In 1948, the MPLA’s dubious record kept them silent when the issue of wartime collaboration entered the public consciousness. It was raised among the indigenous members of the restored Legislative Assembly of the Philippine Islands. Speaker John Mercado made accusations against Bennett Hooker Sr., the Cabinet Secretary to President John P. Oak of the puppet Philippine Republic. He claimed Hooker, Oak, and other leaders who "cooperated for survival," were responsible for enabling the atrocities committed by Pembela Tanah Air, a pro-Japanese paramilitary organization led by anti-Indonesian nationalist Benton Bough. Behind closed doors, British and Malay officials already agreed to a general amnesty in exchange for the disarmament of MPLA and Citizen Militias. Mercado announced his retirement from politics as soon as the royal proclamation was published in Intramuros.

President Sukarno, in a 1949 speech celebrating the Indonesian Communist Party's (PKI) merger with PNI, said if the Europeans fully prosecuted all collaborators, there would be nobody in government left. He would later admit to his collaboration in his 1975 autobiography, "The President of Contradictions."

When Indonesia was liberated from Japanese occupation, Sukarno and the nationalists hastily accessed weapons stores to arm the People's Security Army. They anticipated a Dutch round-up of collaborators. He encouraged people in the provinces to arm themselves. In 1948, after a series of awkward negotiations, the Dutch and PKI resistance commanders in the East Indies convinced the Dutch government to pardon Sukarno and other senior collaborators. At that point, a large segment of the peasant population was armed.

In 1965-1966, in the southern Indonesian states, the Landhuis Raids were committed against largeholding, upper class farmers by angry tenants and displaced farmers. The Secretary-General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Duke Paku Alam VIII of Pakualaman, was killed while trying to defend his country mansion from his own tenants. The government negotiations to end the violence were led by Minister of Defense Iwa Koesoemasoemantri, State Minister Lukman Njoto, and Taruk. The militant farmers were represented by Asmu, the leader of former PNI affiliate Peasants Front of Indonesia (BTI).

There were hopes from the rural bupati, rich pribumi, and Indo-European victims that the 1967 general election would prevent the radical proposals agreed in the negotiations. Sukarno's only rival in his re-election campaign, Sutan Sjahrir, tried to capitalize on this. He called for caution in implementing the agreement with the BTI. They were disappointed when the returns revealed a bigger majority for the PNI-Liberal coalition. In 1968, after a lengthy, tenuous legislative process, the Land Reform Act was signed into law by Sukarno. It repealed the last of the Landheerenstelsel Laws that kept the bupati politically powerful in the countryside. Their territorial authority, administrative staff, and police forces was surrendered to their respective state governments.

The main provisions of the law gave maximum limits to land ownership, the state procurement of largeholdings for redistribution to poor farmers at cheap prices, and introduced the concept of "social function" as a state-private compromise in land ownership law. All lands are controlled by the federal and state governments. It reserves the right to regulate and manage land for the public good. Its use must benefit both the owner of the land rights and the needs of the local community. Otherwise, the land rights will be forfeit to the state, with final judgement made by court decision. The new law made it near impossible for old largeholders and absentee owners to maintain rural assets intact.

However, largeholding is still permitted to accommodate the emerging agribusiness industry. To accelerate industrialization, as well as to attract capital from the former landed aristocracy, Hatta and Orson introduced the Indonesian First Policy. It aimed to limit the foreign economic influence of American, British, and Dutch companies in the economy by forcing them to reduce ownership to below 49% and reserve the 51% for ownership by Indonesian partners.

The policy gave the Ministry of Economy the power to revoke import licenses and state credit to Indonesian entrepreneurs. But, in accordance with the policy's import-substitution goals, the ministry used it to restrict licenses to raise demands in strategic sectors of the local market. This sped up the shift away the economy's dependence on raw resource exports. Particularly, towards an economic base built on the manufacturing of non-durable, consumer goods.

By the end of 1974, there were significant increases in the production of textiles, apparel, and processed food. It sustained growth for industries related to agricultural processing, namely sugar, rice, rubber, and timber. Java, the South China coastal states, and South Sumatra were ahead in ISI development. The aforementioned areas produced 70% of textiles and more than 80% of steel in the country. At the beginning of 1960, Indonesia made 30% of its own textiles and 7.5% of its steel. In 1970, local textiles rose to 40% while steel rose to 14%.

The beginnings of a tourism industry emerged around the American bases established in the Philippines. They were able to entrench themselves there after liberating the islands. The 99-year lease negotiated between the United Kingdom and the United States of America was lowered to 25 in the Orson-Moyers Agreement of 1966. The State of Central Lusong subsidized heavily on new hotels, roads, and beaches near Cornish Bay Naval Base and Philips Air Field. It was estimated that tourist arrivals in Lusong reached 500,000 in 1968. The following year, the Philippines Promotion Association was founded by Governor Josephine B. Murphy-Cowie, the widow of the late Sir Andson Cowie. Its membership attracted all the other governors in the Philippine archipelago, with the exception of the Sultans of Maguindanao and Sulu.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Yes, this was deleted. I had to redo two images. Some of the information was rewritten. But the point each one originally made did not really change. So these edits are more cosmetic than technical.

I wish Reddit allowed users to edit the images on posts even if they were already published. There were actually two quick deletions before the first time I posted this.

Click here for Part 4

The Making of an Indonesian Economy

The Philippines, compared to the neighboring colonies in the greater Malayan Archipelago, had begun its land reform long before its integration in Indonesia. In the 1920s, the Land Revenue Commission found the East India Company's land reforms only led to the concentration of wealth in a small elite. After the EIC was nationalized, their plantations were bought up by the principalía. It made them the largest landowners in the islands. To remedy the situation, the commission proposed tenant rights, the legislation of homesteading laws, and the breakup of principalía largeholdings. Accepted by the British government, it aimed to create a strong, landowning middle class. By 1960, more than 30% of arable land was owned by smallholding, middle class farmers.

The poor, lower class farmers owned 50% of the land. Due to limited funds, they had to organize farming collectives to gain access to modern farm equipment and infrastructure. Lewis Taruc, a socialist faction principal of the Indonesian Nationalist Party, represented them as leader of the National Peasants' Federation of Eastern Malaya. He was elected to replace the late Jacinto Manahan, the federation's founder. Taruc was a controversial figure due to his aggressive tactics to fight abuses committed by the principalía against their own tenants. His organization was involved in a number of high-profile murder cases, including the suspicious death of Tobacco magnate Andson Cowie.

During World War II, Taruc commanded the Malay People's Liberation Army in Central Lusong. It was the largest guerrilla force in Occupied Southeast Asia, followed by the Malayan Anti-Japanese Army in the Malayan Peninsula. The MPLA raided the Imperial Army, aided remnants of the British Army fighting with other Malay guerillas, and established provisional government to protect locals from Japanaese abuses. This was disputed by pro-Western historian Gregory F. Zaide. In his book, the “History of British Malaya,” he cited accounts detailing how the MPLA also fought with other guerillas for supplies, harrased towns under their protection to collect tributes, and attacked both upper and middle class farmers to plunder their property. The latter two groups were forced to form Citizen Militias.

In 1948, the MPLA’s dubious record kept Taruc quiet. Especially when the issue of wartime collaboration was raised among the indigenous members of the restored Legislative Assembly of the Philippine Islands. Speaker John Mercado made accusations against Bennett Hooker Sr., the Cabinet Secretary to President John P. Oak of the puppet Philippine Republic. He claimed Hooker, Oak, and other leaders who "cooperated for survival," were responsible for enabling the atrocities committed by Pembela Tanah Air, founded by radical pseudo-nationalist Benton Bough. Behind closed doors, British and Malay officials already agreed to a general amnesty in exchange for the disarmament of MPLA and Citizen Militias. Mercado announced his retirement from politics as soon as the royal proclamation was published in Intramuros.

President Sukarno, in a 1949 speech celebrating PKI’s merger with PNI, said if the Europeans fully prosecuted all collaborators, there would be nobody in government left. He would later admit to his collaboration in his 1975 autobiography, "The President of Contradictions."

When Indonesia was liberated from Japanese occupation, Sukarno and the nationalists hastily accessed weapons stores to arm the People's Security Army. They anticipated a Dutch round-up of collaborators. He encouraged people in the provinces to arm themselves. In 1948, after a series of awkward negotiations, the Dutch and Indonesian resistance commanders in the East Indies convinced the Dutch government to pardon Sukarno and other senior collaborators. At that point, a large segment of the peasant population was armed. In 1965-1966, in the southern Indonesian states, the Landhuis Raids were committed against largeholding, upper class farmers by angry tenants and displaced farmers. The Secretary-General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Duke Paku Alam VIII of Pakualaman, was killed while trying to defend his country home from his own tenants. The government negotiations to end the violence were led by Minister of Defense Iwa Koesoemasoemantri, State Minister Lukman Njoto, and Taruc. The militant farmers were represented by Asmu, the leader of former PNI affiliate Peasants Front of Indonesia.

There were hopes from the rural bupati, rich pribumi, and Indo-European victims that the 1967 general election would prevent the radical proposals agreed in the negotiations. Sukarno's rival Sutan Sjahrir tried to capitalize on this, calling for caution as he announced his presidential candidacy. They were disappointed when the returns revealed a bigger majority for the PNI-Liberal coalition. In 1968, after a lengthy, tenuous legislative process, the Land Reform Act was signed into law by Sukarno. It repealed the last of the Landheerenstelsel Laws that kept the bupati politically powerful in the countryside. Their territorial authority, administrative staff, and police forces was surrendered to their respective state governments.

The main provisions of the law gave maximum limits to land ownership, state procurement of largeholdings for redistribution to poor farmers at cheap prices, and introduced the concept of "social function" as a state-private compromise in land ownership law. All lands are controlled by the federal and state governments. It reserves the right to regulate and manage land for the public good. Its use must benefit both the owner of the land rights and the needs of the local community. Otherwise, the land rights will be forfeit to the state, with final judgement made by court decision. The new law made it near impossible for old largeholders and absentee owners to maintain rural assets intact.

However, largeholding is still permitted to accommodate the growing agribusiness industry. To accelerate industrialization, as well as to attract capital from the former landed aristocracy, Hatta and Orson introduced the Indonesian First Policy. It aimed to limit the foreign economic influence of American, British, and Dutch companies in the economy by forcing them to reduce ownership to below 49% and ensure 51% are, at least, owned by Indonesian partners.

The policy gave the Ministry of Economy the power to revoke import licenses and state credit to Indonesian entrepreneurs. But, in accordance with the policy's import-substitution goals, the ministry used it to restrict licenses to raise demands in strategic sectors of the local market. This sped up the shift away the economy's dependence on raw resource exports. Particularly, towards an economic base built on the manufacturing of non-durable, consumer goods.

By the end of 1974, there were significant increases in the production of textiles, apparel, and processed food. It sustained growth for industries related to agricultural processing, namely sugar, rice, rubber, and timber. Java, the South China coastal states, and South Sumatra were ahead in ISI development. The aforementioned areas produced 70% of textiles and more than 80% of steel in the country. Overall, Indonesia made 90% of its own textiles and 60% of its steel.

The beginnings of a tourism industry emerged around the American bases established in the Philippines. They were able to entrench themselves there after liberating the islands. The 99-year lease negotiated between the United Kingdom and the United States of America was lowered to 25 in the Orson-Moyers Agreement of 1966. The State of Central Lusong subsidized heavily on new hotels, roads, and beaches near Cornish Bay Naval Base and Philips Air Field. It was estimated that tourist arrivals in Lusong reached 500,000 in 1968. The following year, the Philippines Promotion Association was founded by the widow of Sir Andson Cowie, Governor Lorna Oppen-Cowie. It was joined by other governors in the Philippine archipelago, with the exception of the Sultans of Maguindanao and Sulu.

Click here for Part 4

Diverse Political Competition

According to the rules of the Constitution of 1964, the executive branch is divided between a popularly-elected president and a prime minister elected by the People's Consultative Assembly. The President of Indonesia, like its vice-regal predecessor, retained powers over the military, legislation approval, dissolution of parliament, and negotiating treaties. The right to nominate a cabinet still belonged to the new prime minister, who became the president's number two. He gained control of budgetary, financial, and domestic affairs. The position of vice president was abolished.

The British principle of "responsible government" expanded Articles 69, 70, and 83 (2) of the 1950 Provisional Constitution. The old provisions only established ministerial responsibility and parliament's right to question the cabinet. It now required the cabinet to maintain parliamentary confidence, established collective cabinet responsibility, and necessitated the majority of cabinet to be simultaneous members of parliament.

The 1964 general election introduced new politicians from British Malaya that could challenge the established order by "Jakartan nationalists," as President Sukarno called his fellow nationalists to distinguish the newly-admitted northern Malays. Despite Sukarno's dislike of the Liberal People's Party, he disliked Masyumi more. He wanted to minimize political Islam and ensure the cabinet could command a working majority.

There was still a lot of racial tensions in the expanded political establishment. It was not long ago when the indigenous intelligentsia in the East Indies, from both British and Dutch colonies, united to form the Pan-Austronesian Movement. 84 years prior, it was first organized in the Philippine Islands. The colony had become a center for press freedom in Southeast Asia due to the more tolerant British authorities, who were more concerned about a well-regulated industry. Most notably, it was there where John Mercado, Lie Kim Hok, and Syed Sheikh al-Hadi started the Brave Indians Society for Malay writers in 1880. Historians claim that the British might have supported groups like this to undermine Dutch control of the East Indies.

Amsterdam attempted to censor indigenous writers, but due to their membership in the powerful, landowning bupati class, the colonial authorities had to be selective in suppressing certain writers. Duke Mangkunegara IV was one such high-ranking bupati who got away with his reformist publication, criticizing Dutch colonial officials, demanding an East Indies durbar, and calling for home rule. His son, Mangkunegara V, promoted books by the Brave Indians Society in the Dutch East Indies. He distributed their works in his publishing house.

Mercado’s 1890 magnum opus, Malaya: A Century Hence, introduced the future of a multiethnic republic that covers the entire Malay Archipelago. It included the Dutch East Indies. He joined British Orientalist Sir Richard Winstedt in co-authoring a school textbook, Ilmu Alam Melayu (Geography of the Malay World). It was the first indigenous work that used the name “Indonesia.” In the Dutch East Indies, it was translated by Karel Zaalberg to “Ilmu Bumi Dunia Melayu.” Later, in 1908,Zaalberg founded the Indo-Europeesch Verbond in 1890 to represent the local interests of the East Indies at the Volksraad.

In 1898, the Indische Vereeniging, the youth wing of the Indo-Europeesch Verbond, organized the First Indonesian Youth Congress. They formulated the Sumpah Pemuda:

>Firstly
We the sons and daughters of Indonesia, acknowledge one motherland, Indonesia.
Secondly
We the sons and daughters of Indonesia, acknowledge to be of one nation, the nation of Indonesia.
Thirdly
We the sons and daughters of Indonesia, uphold the language of unity, Malay.

Despite the northern English and southern Dutch language barriers, the Malay language was used by the then and future leaders of the new Indonesian nationalist movement to communicate with each other.

However, it was not yet formally standardized. It had diverged into Jakartan Malay, spoken by Prime Minister Mohammad Hatta, and Malayan Malay, spoken by Deputy PM Charles P. Orson. But both were mutually intelligible as the two leaders planned the PM's second cabinet. The former Deputy Governor-General led his first cabinet in the transitional government of 1961-1964 as its secretary. The foreign ministry, as the second highest-ranking cabinet position, went to Orson to compliment his role as Hatta's deputy. The PM created and assumed the role of civil service minister to directly oversee the federal bureaucracy.

The Indiefication of the government started a long time ago as a slow, but gradual process. Only a few hundred British and Dutch officials remained in high-ranking positions in Hatta's first year as prime minister. He wanted to wait for more competent Indonesian civil servants. The majority of the existing bureaucracy employed belonged to the intelligentsia. Historically, they were led by forward-thinking liberals. But when they became entrenched in power, they adopted a more moderate and even conservative mindset. They comprised of the Indonesian noble classes, the native-born Europeans, and the European mestizos.

Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX of Yogyakarta was the first Secretary-General of the new Civil Service ministry. During his tenure, the position became the de facto top civil servant. The office coordinates all the executive bureaucrats in the federal departments, agencies, and other key organizations. The Indonesian bureaucracy was streamlined, but criticized for its exclusivity. Nearly all of the secretaries-general of the departments were Indonesian nobles. Although, socialist historian Ronald Constantine credit the sultan's deputy secretary-general, Maarten de Niet Gerritzoon, for the reorganization of the home civil service.

In the upper house Council of States, Hamengkubuwono argued in a debate on civil service reform that it was better for the ancient princes of Indonesian society to administer the government because they owed no allegiance to any mob, party, or business. Frederick E. Mark, an Indonesian Christian Party (Parkindo) Anggota DN from the State of Northern Luzon, spoke against the sultan's views on the matter by extolling the meritocratic bureaucracy of British Philippines. While he admitted that he belonged to the landowning middle class, he celebrated the employment of qualified bureaucrats from the lower class who should have an equal share in building the nation’s future.

Hatta's choice to appoint civil libertarian J. B. L. King as the justice minister proved difficult. In cabinet meetings, King openly fought with State Minister (without portfolio) Francis "Frank" Roderick. He led the Christian faction of the Liberals. King succeeded retired Clarence M. Recto in leading the party's secular Christian faction. Frank wanted to repeal men's right to unilateral divorce and restore religious jurisdiction over marriage. King insisted the existing divorce law should be expanded to women. It came to the point that it was included in every cabinet agenda until Sukarno sarcastically threatened to kill them if they could not give the issue a rest. 

From the opposition benches of the House of Representatives, there was growing skepticism about the federation. Sekarmadji Maridjan Kartosoewirjo, the leader of the fundamentalist faction of Masyumi, feared the liberal mindset of the northern Malays might lead to cultural Westernization, immoral decadence, and the denial of Malay special rights. Theodore Macapagal spent most of the time fearmongering against Political Islam, citing existing plans from the states of Aceh, Maguindanao, and Sulu at adopt parts of Sharia Law. Between the Christian and Muslim nationalists, Muslim moderate Tunku Abdul Rahman was optimistic. He said “if we could unite the whole Malay Archipelago, anything is possible."

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

If you think you've seen this post before... >!You are correct! But there were a number of changes since then, so I suggest re-reading it. This was originally in Part 3, which was very long and it had a number of images that looked wrong. I decided to delete the original post and break it up into smaller parts.!<

Click here for Part 3

Delimitation Disputes

The booming extraction economy of the Dutch East Indies, jointly owned and managed by Dutch enterprise and Indonesian landlords, was expanding rapidly as the Amsterdam and Jakarta governments helped each other to solve short-term problems in reconstruction and unemployment.

When postwar recovery ceased to be a priority, the Netherlands became more than receptive to talks of separation. Especially as costs raised in modernizing colonial infrastructure and services to meet investment demands. The nationalist-controlled East Indies government found themselves asking for more Dutch subvention to lessen indigenous tax burdens. During Queen Juliana's visit to the Dutch East Indies in October 1960, Governor-General Sukarno joked about extending the dominion to 10 more years, to which she replied "the government might have to abolish me to economize."

The *Jakarta Agreement modified the terms set by the 1935 East Indies Independence Act. The original law already set a 10-year transition period to prepare the colony for independence. It was supposed to end in 1945. On September 3, 1961, the overdue United States of Indonesia was finally born. The date was chosen because it marked the surrender of Field Marshal Hisaichi Terauchi, the commander of all Japanese forces in Southeast Asia. He was delaying the Allied advance in Northern Borneo when he was surrounded by Dutch and Indonesian guerrillas.

While cooler heads prevailed in decolonization, it was the integration of neighboring Malay territories that proved to be complex. Not only because of British interests, but due to the situation in the Philippines. It had been separated into two colonies due to the religious differences between the northern Christian islands, Lusong and Bisayas, and Muslim Mindanaw. There were territorial disputes between them. This was replaced with hundreds of more disputes when the two colonies planned to carve up into smaller, constituent states.

For example, the Sultan of Sulu demanded the inclusion of certain territories in Samboangan and Northern Borneo. Despite the fact that the majority of their population were Christian and, in the cities, were demographically Chinese, European, Indian, mestizos, or a mix of all three. This was obviously rejected by the newly-established States of Sabah and Northern Mindanaw. The latter state also had to deal with an insurgency led by Lanaw sultans, who held more dubious claims, until the Indonesian Army intervened with the aid of the Sultan of Maguindanao's forces. Only a few Lanaw sultans whose legitimacy could be confirmed by local acclaim were allowed to retain their positions. Based on the Dutch regency system, they became cultural, hereditary leaders of special districts within Northern Mindanaw.

Even after British Malaya was formally admitted, the Crown Colony of Singapore remained de facto British territory. The negotiations to join Indonesia were prolonged due to fears of Malay domination. But it sent representatives to Jakarta and participated in the 1964 Indonesian general election. The success of the People's Liberal Party, co-led by Singaporean-born Lee Kuan Yew, reassured the islander leadership and the Indonesian Army crossed the Johor-Singapore Causeway on August 9, 1965.

In Dutch New Guinea, affairs were more complicated and somewhat tense. Indonesian concerns that the Dutch government would attempt to create a separate country were assuaged in Recognition of Sovereignty Act. Passed by the States General in 1968, both sides recognized Dutch administration over the Indonesian territory of Western New Guinea. The Netherlands wanted to protect its majority Indo-European population in the island. When Israel fell to Egyptian and Jordanian forces in 1948, the territory was used to process Jewish refugees before they settled in Oceania. 100,000 either settled in the island or migrated to more developed areas in Java, Lusong, Mindanaw, Northern Borneo, Southern Sumatra, and the Malayan Peninsula.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

*>!Originally, this was the "Linggadjati Agreement." I decided to retcon this from the timeline. I renamed it to emphasize it is different from the OTL terms. This is the change: The Jakarta Agreement scheduled a 10-year transition period to independence.!<

Also, if you think you've seen this post before... >!You are correct! I had to edit some images. I especially didn't like how the first one originally looked ("Queen Juliana Visits Indies"). Also, I'm breaking up the post since it's too long. I plan on doing that for future posts.!<

Click here for Part 2
Click here for Part 4

The First Decade after 1964

Delimitation Disputes: The booming extraction economy of the Dutch East Indies, jointly owned and managed by Dutch enterprise and Indonesian landlords, was expanding rapidly as the Amsterdam and Jakarta governments helped each other to solve short-term problems in reconstruction and unemployment.

When postwar recovery ceased to be a priority, the Netherlands became more than receptive to talks of separation. Especially as costs raised in modernizing colonial infrastructure and services to meet investment demands. The nationalist-controlled East Indies government found themselves asking for more Dutch subvention to lessen indigenous tax burdens. During Queen Juliana's visit to the Dutch East Indies in October 1960, Governor-General Sukarno joked about extending the dominion to 10 more years, to which she replied "the government might have to abolish me to economize."

The *Jakarta Agreement modified the terms set by the 1935 East Indies Independence Act. The original law already set a 10-year transition period to prepare the colony for independence. It was supposed to end in 1945. On September 3, 1961, the overdue, republican United States of Indonesia was finally born. The date was chosen because it marked the surrender of Field Marshal Hisaichi Terauchi, the commander of all Japanese forces in Southeast Asia. He was delaying the Allied advance in Northern Borneo when he was surrounded by Dutch and Indonesian guerrillas.

While cooler heads prevailed in decolonization, it was the integration of neighboring Malay territories that proved to be complex. Not only because of British interests, but due to the situation in the Philippines. It had been separated into two colonies due to the religious differences between the northern Christian islands, Lusong and Bisayas, and Muslim Mindanaw. There were territorial disputes between them. This was replaced with hundreds of more disputes when the two colonies planned to carve up into smaller, constituent states.

For example, the Sultan of Sulu demanded the inclusion of certain territories in Samboangan and Northern Borneo. Despite the fact that the majority of their population were Christian and, in the cities, were demographically Chineses, European, Indian, mestizos, or a mix of all three. This was obviously rejected by the newly-established States of Sabah and Northern Mindanaw. The latter state also had to deal with an insurgency led by Lanaw sultans, who held more dubious claims, until the Indonesian Army intervened with the aid of the Sultan of Maguindanao's forces. Only a few Lanaw sultans whose legitimacy could be confirmed by local acclaim were allowed to retain their positions. Based on the Dutch regency system, they became cultural, hereditary leaders of special districts within Northern Mindanaw.

Even after British Malaya was formally admitted, the Crown Colony of Singapore remained de facto British territory. The negotiations to join Indonesia were prolonged due to fears of Malay domination. But it sent representatives to Jakarta and participated in the 1964 Indonesian general election. The success of the People's Liberal Party, co-led by Singaporean-born Lee Kuan Yew, reassured the islander leadership and the Indonesian Army crossed the Johor-Singapore Causeway on August 9, 1965.

In Dutch New Guinea, affairs were more complicated and somewhat tense. Indonesian concerns that the Dutch would attempt to create a separate country were assuaged in the Recognition of Sovereignty Act in 1968. Both sides recognized Dutch administration over the Indonesian territory of Western New Guinea. The Netherlands wanted to protect its majority Indo-European population in the island. When Israel fell to Egyptian and Jordanian forces in 1948, the territory was used to process Jewish refugees before they settled in Oceania. 100,000 either settled in the island or migrated to more developed areas in Java, Lusong, Mindanaw, Northern Borneo, Southern Sumatra, and the Malayan Peninsula.

Diverse Political Competition: According to the rules of the Constitution of 1964, the executive branch is divided between a popularly-elected president and a prime minister approved by the People's Consultative Assembly. The President of Indonesia, like its vice-regal predecessor, retained powers over the military, legislation approval, dissolution of parliament, and negotiating treaties. The right to nominate a cabinet still belonged to the new prime minister, who became the president's number two. He gained control of budgetary, financial, and domestic affairs. The position of vice president was abolished.

The British principle of "responsible government" expanded Articles 69, 70, and 83 (2) of the 1950 Provisional Constitution. The old provisions only established ministerial responsibility and parliament's right to question the cabinet. It now required the cabinet to maintain parliamentary confidence, established collective cabinet responsibility, and necessitated the majority of cabinet to be simultaneous members of parliament.

The 1964 general election introduced new politicians from British Malaya that could challenge the established order by "Jakartan nationalists," as President Sukarno called his fellow nationalists to distinguish the newly-admitted northern Malays. Despite Sukarno's dislike of Liberal People's Party, he did not like Masyumi more. He wanted to minimize political Islam and ensure the cabinet his prime minister appointed could actually do work.

There was still a lot of racial tensions in the expanded political establishment. It was not long ago when the indigenous intelligentsia in the East Indies, from both British and Dutch colonies, united to form the Pan-Austronesian Movement. 84 years prior, it was first organized in the Philippine Islands. The colony had become a center for press freedom in Southeast Asia due to the more tolerant British authorities, who were more concerned about a well-regulated industry. Most notably, it was there where John Mercado, Lie Kim Hok, and Syed Sheikh al-Hadi started the Brave Indians Society for Malay writers in 1880. Historians claim that the British might have supported groups like this to undermine Dutch control of the East Indies.

Amsterdam attempted to censor indigenous writers, but due to their membership in the powerful, landowning bupati class, the colonial authorities had to be selective in suppressing certain writers. Duke Mangkunegara IV was one such high-ranking bupati who got away with his reformist publication, criticizing Dutch colonial officials, demanding an East Indies durbar, and calling for indigenous-led home rule.

The basis of Indonesian identity was formulated in the Youth Pledge of 1898:

>Firstly
We the sons and daughters of Indonesia, acknowledge one motherland, Indonesia.
Secondly
We the sons and daughters of Indonesia, acknowledge to be of one nation, the nation of Indonesia.
Thirdly
We the sons and daughters of Indonesia, uphold the language of unity, Malay.

Even if the northern and southern Malays were divided by the English and Dutch languages, they were already united by the Malay language. This made it easier for Prime Minister Mohammad Hatta and Deputy PM Charles P. Orson to plan Hatta's second cabinet. The former Deputy Governor-General led his first cabinet in the transitional government of 1961-1964 as an unofficial PM and cabinet secretary. The foreign ministry, as the second highest-ranking cabinet position, went to Orson to compliment his role as Hatta's deputy. The PM created and assumed the role of civil service minister to directly oversee the federal bureaucracy.

The Indiefication of the government started a long time ago as a slow, but gradual process. Only a few hundred British and Dutch officials remained in high-ranking positions in Hatta's first year as prime minister. He wanted to wait for more competent Indonesian civil servants. The majority of the existing bureaucracy employed belonged to the intelligentsia. Historically, they were led by forward-thinking liberals. But when they became entrenched in power, they adopted a more moderate and even conservative mindset. They comprised of the Indonesian noble classes, the native-born Europeans, and the European mestizos.

Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX of Yogyakarta was the first Secretary-General of the new Civil Service ministry. During his tenure, he became the top civil servant. The office coordinates all the executive bureaucrats in the federal departments, agencies, and other key organizations. The Indonesian bureaucracy was streamlined, but criticized for its exclusivity. Nearly all of the secretaries-general of the departments were Indonesian nobles. Although, socialist historian Ronald Constantine credit the sultan's deputy secretary-general, Maarten de Niet Gerritzoon, for the reorganization of the home civil service.

In the Council of States, Hamengkubuwono argued in a debate on civil service reform that it was better for the ancient leaders of Indonesian society to administer the government because they owed no allegiance to any mob, party, or business. Frederick E. Mark, an Indonesian Christian Party (Parkindo) councillor from the State of Northern Luzon, spoke against the sultan's views on the matter by extolling the meritocratic bureaucracy of British Philippines. While he admitted that he belonged to the landowning middle class, he supported the employment of qualified bureaucrats from the lower class.

Hatta's choice to appoint civil libertarian J. B. L. King as the justice minister proved difficult. In cabinet meetings, King openly fought with State Minister (without portfolio) Francis "Frank" Roderick. He led the Christian faction of the Liberals. King succeeded retired Clarence M. Recto in leading the party's Christian secular faction. Frank wanted to repeal men's right to unilateral divorce and restore religious jurisdiction over marriage. King insisted the existing divorce law should be expanded to women. It came to the point that it was included in every cabinet agenda until Sukarno sarcastically threatened to kill them if they could not give the issue a rest.

Land Reform, Indonesian First, and Hotels: The Philippines, compared to neighboring colonies in the greater Malayan Archipelago, had begun its land reform long before independence. In the 1920s, the Land Revenue Commission found the EIC land reforms only led to the concentration of wealth in the principalía. Their recommendation for its reversal, which was accepted by the British government, aimed to create a strong, landowning middle class. By 1960, more than 30% of arable land was owned by smallholding, middle class farmers.

The poor, lower class farmers owned 50% of the land. Due to limited funds, they had to organize farming collectives to gain access to modern farm equipment and infrastructure. Lewis Taruc, a high-ranking member of the PNI socialist faction, represented them as leader of the National Peasants' Federation of the Philippine Islands. He was elected to replace the late Jacinto Manahan, the federation's founder. Taruc was a controversial figure due to his aggressive tactics to fight anti-peasant abuses committed by the principalía. His organization was involved in a number of high-profile murder cases, including the suspicious death of agribusiness mogul Sir Edward Kowangko, Sr..

The colonial police was the only armed force in British Malaya. Exceptions were granted to the local elite to equip their personal security and ceremonial guards. Gun regulations were in place but its enforcement was lax until the Malayan Emergency in 1948.

When Indonesia was liberated from Japanese occupation, Sukarno and the nationalists hastily accessed weapons stores to arm the People's Security Army in anticipation of a Dutch round-up of collaborators. He encouraged people in the provinces to arm themselves. In 1948, after a series of awkward negotiations, the Dutch and Indonesian resistance commanders in the East Indies were able to convince the Dutch government to pardon Sukarno and other senior collaborators. At that point, a large segment of the peasant population was armed. In 1965-1966, the Landhuis Raids were committed against largeholding, upper class farmers by angry tenants and displaced farmers. The government negotiations to end the violence were led by Deputy PM Orson, State Minister Lukman Njoto, and Taruc. The militant farmers were represented by Asmu, the leader of former PNI affiliate Peasants Front of Indonesia.

There were hopes from the rural bupati, rich pribumi, and Indo-European victims that the 1967 general election would prevent the radical proposals agreed in the negotiations. Sukarno's rival Sutan Sjahrir tried to capitalize on this, calling for caution as he announced his presidential candidacy. They were disappointed when the returns revealed a bigger majority for the PNI-Liberal coalition. In 1968, after a lengthy, tenuous legislative process, the Land Reform Act was signed into law by Sukarno. It repealed the last of the Landheerenstelsel Laws that kept the bupati politically powerful in the countryside. Their territorial authority, administrative staff, and police forces was surrendered to their respective state governments.

The main provisions of the law gave maximum limits to land ownership, state procurement of largeholdings for redistribution to poor farmers at cheap prices, and introduced the concept of "social function" as a state-private compromise in land ownership law. All lands in the union are controlled by the federal government. It reserves the right to regulate and manage land for the public good. Its use must benefit both the owner of the land rights and the needs of the local community. Otherwise, the land rights will be forfeit to the nation, with final judgement made by court decision. It made it near impossible for old largeholders and absentee owners to maintain rural assets.

However, largeholding is still permitted to accommodate the growing agribusiness industry. To accelerate industrialization, as well as to attract capital from the former landed aristocracy, Hatta and Orson introduced the Indonesian First Policy. It aimed to limit the foreign economic influence of American, British, and Dutch companies in the economy by forcing them to reduce ownership to 40% and ensure 60% are, at least, owned by Indonesian partners.

The policy gave the Ministry of Economy the power to revoke import licenses and state credit to Indonesian entrepreneurs. But, in accordance with the policy's import-substitution goals, the ministry used it to restrict licenses to raise demands in strategic sectors of the local market. This sped up the shift away the economy's dependence on raw resource exports. Particularly, towards an economic base built on the manufacturing of non-durable, consumer goods.

By the end of 1974, there were significant increases in the production of textiles, apparel, and processed food. It sustained growth for industries related to agricultural processing, namely sugar, rice, rubber, and timber. Java, the South China coastal states, and South Sumatra were ahead in ISI development. The aforementioned areas produced 70% of textiles and more than 40% of steel in the country. Overall, Indonesia made 90% of its own textiles and 60% of its steel.

The beginnings of a tourism industry emerged around the American bases established in the Philippines. They were able to entrench themselves there after liberating the islands. The 99-year lease negotiated between the United Kingdom and the United States of America was lowered to 25 in the Branch-Rusk Agreement of 1966. The State of Central Luzon subsidized heavily on new hotels, roads, and beaches near Cornish Bay Naval Base and Philips Air Field. It was estimated that tourist arrivals in Lusong reached 500,000 in 1968. The following year, the Philippines Promotion Association was founded by the widow of Sir Edward Kowangko, Governor Lorna Oppen. It was joined by other governors in the Philippine archipelago, with the exception of the Sultans of Maguindanao and Sulu.

*>!Originally, this was the "Linggadjati Agreement." I decided to retcon this from the timeline. I renamed it to emphasize it is different from the OTL terms. This is the change: The Jakarta Agreement scheduled a 10-year transition period to independence.!<

After World War II, the most stubborn of European powers still retained much of their colonial holdings in Southeast Asia. They believed these territories will help them rebuild their war-torn mainlands. Especially the Dutch, given the terms of the Linggadjati Agreement. Initially, unlike the docile political elite in British Malaya, the nationalist-dominated, indigenous East Indies establishment sought a speedy separation. This was until they realized that Dutch reliance on the East Indies Dominions for materials created a lucrative market that restarted their economy. It was better to co-exist with their colonial overlords for a short period and get as many benefits from it rather than breaking off too early that could start new, more expensive conflicts.

By the end of the 1950s, British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies achieved relative political and economic stability. The next thing they wanted was the creation of an Indonesian nation. A dream that started in the 19th Century, propagated by great men like John Mercado and Oswald Vinson in the Pan-Austronesian Movement. Between 1961-1964, the next generation of leaders negotiated with the British and the Dutch to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition. In 1963, a constitutional assembly worked to create a new framework for a federal union and replace the Indonesian Provisional Constitution of 1950.

For the constitution:

• A semi-presidential system was put in place to reconcile the northern preference for parliamentarism and the southern preference for presidentialism.
• Inspired by the United States, each constituent state shares sovereignty with the federal government of Indonesia.
• The remaining monarchs in former British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies will be preserved and granted limited sovereignty within the framework of the federation. They form a part of the Council of States, the upper house of the People's Consultative Assembly.
• The principles of Pancasila are enshrined: 1. "Belief in the one and only God" (State monotheism), 2. "A just and civilized humanity" (Internationalism), 3. "The unity of Indonesia" (Civic nationalism), 4. "Democracy guided by the inner wisdom in the unanimity arising out of deliberations among representatives," and 5. "social justice for all the people of Indonesia."

While an Indonesian constituent state was autonomous, the reality was very different on the ground based on the level of development. In the beginning, most states in Borneo, Sumatra, and the Moluccas, due to lack of funds and infrastructure, yielded their state independence on certain services to be supported by the federal government and their neighbors.

On 16 September 1964, the United States of Indonesia ratified its third and current constitution. Their democracy, freedom, and diversity were secured. But they still have their differences. Majority Islam versus the Christian minority, the English versus the Dutch language, and the insistence on Malay special rights versus embracing equality between races. Some of which might have proven to be too difficult to overcome.

British conquest of the Philippines

The 1763 Treaty of Paris ended the Seven Years' War. It ceded the Spanish East Indies, including the Philippines, to the British Empire. This eliminated the lucrative Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade, secured further expansion for the East India Company, and granted Britain a closer port to China for transshipments. To organize a better administration, the company split the islands of Luzon and Visayas into six settlements: Ilocos, Manila, Balayan, New Caceres, Panay, and Sibu.

Expansions into Mindanaw were limited to the northern coast, centered around Goldriver. During the war, the EIC gave aid to Filipino rebels during the war, and it enabled them to consolidate power easily. The company established an alliance with the deposed Sulu sultan Alimuddin I, who was imprisoned by the Spanish in Manila until the British occupation. Alimuddin assisted the British in starting diplomatic relations with the indigenous rulers of Mindanaw. Diego Silang, who led a successful revolt in northern Lusong, was appointed governor of the new Ilocos colony. However, he was controlled by EIC advisers.

Negotiations to settle the new colonial order were held between the EIC and the Spanish colonial elite, which comprised of the Catholic religious orders and the principalía, the largely-mestizo descendants of the assimilated Filipino rulers. The Spanish colonial legislature and tribunal Real Audiencia continued to function as they were, except it was now led by the British governor of Manila. But, in 1775, the religious orders started to oppose EIC agenda. The company started work to end the Spanish, semi-feudal landholding system.

Gradually, the EIC employed more principalía as officials to displace the Spanish ascendancy. The company wanted to maximize economic exploitation. The company bought and, if necessary, seized assets and estates of the religious orders. Polo y servicio was retained. Convict workers from India had to be brought in to expand ports and build new roads. More inland areas became accessible to development. This allowed new farms to increase cash crop exports, notably sugar, tobacco, indigo, and spices. Opium was introduced to sell it to Chinese consumers, offsetting the negative trade imbalance with China. This allowed the company to buy more tea, silk, and porcelain from China, and their transshipment port, Manila, became Britain's "gateway to Far East Asia."

In 1794, the last of the major landholdings of the religious orders were broken up. The land redistributions were divided between the company, the principalía to a lesser extent, and, in the form of smallholdings, European settlers.

Hogendorp reforms in the Dutch East Indies

In 1799, the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) dissolved. The Batavian Republic was interested in replicating the Permanent Settlement of British Bengal. They looked to former Lieutenant-Governor Dirk van Hogendorp of Java. His liberal proposals include the abolition of the indigenous bupati aristocracy, the abolition of the feudalistic agricultural system, redistributing lands to the Javanese pribumi peasantry, and a system to ensure the cultivation of both subsistence and cash crops, all to improve productivity and raise profits.

In 1803, the Staatsbewind, the governing body of the Republic, published a favorable report on Hogendorp's proposals. It rejected the abolition of the bupatis. But they agreed on land reforms and the equitable cultivation system. A cash-based land tenure system replaced the old feudal system. Land redistribution was limited to select areas in Java. The bupati class, who served as de facto middlemen for Dutch rule, formally became hereditary bureaucrats with local administration, policing, and revenue collection powers.

The agricultural reforms, later named the landheerenstelsel, created a new landowning elite dominated by largeholding bupatis, mestizo Indo-Europeans, and other rich pribumi who exploited Javanese tenant farmers, increased poor pribumi debt, and worsened land alienation.

After the Napoleonic Wars ended, the new government under the United Netherlands began its century-long campaign to conquer the entire Indonesian archipelago. To encourage indigenous divisions, steps were made in the Dutch East Indies to ensure each major expansion led to the creation of a separate colony. The Indies were transformed into a federation of colonies under a single Governor-General. The lieutenant-governors and the bupati monarchs gained more powers to rule the settlements and the vassal Vorstenlanden realms.

But, unlike the Dutch governors, the sultans only enjoyed nominal changes. While the bupatis regained authority in paper, they were more compelled to accept the advice of their respective Dutch residents. Their courts, though modernized, became a salaried bureaucracy who were more loyal to the Governor-General. The first major sultanates integrated in this new system were Yogyakarta, Surakarta, Banten, Cirebon, Ternate, Tidore, Gowa, and Banjar.

Educational reforms in the British and Dutch East Indies

By 1830, the principalía and landheerenstelsel elite became a sizable, influential minority in their respective colonies. Both the British and Dutch authorities, troubled by the lack of European settlers in their Asian territories, increasingly depended more on them to fill in skilled work, bureaucratic jobs, and even leadership roles requiring basic and higher education.

When the EIC took over Philippines, the Catholic religious orders already built colleges and schools to Christianize and Hispanicize the Filipinos. Despite the extensive curb on the orders, the Catholic Church maintained a leading authority in education. Its efforts were still supported by the EIC. The Church took over the schools previously run by the orders. But they still employed order priests and monks as teachers. The English language became the official lingua franca. Spanish was still permitted, but its use declined in all of the colonies.

Despite the EIC's limited interference in societal affairs, the principalía itself made great efforts to anglicanize by Protestant conversion, the adoption of English names, and, though rarely, intermarriages with British officials.

Outside of the principalía, well-off, liberated tenants and tenant farmers started sending children to Catholic schools. This privilege extended to the Muslim rulers of Mindanaw, who negotiated British residencies to deepen their alliances with the United Kingdom. Especially as the EIC moved inward. Ranch settlements were opened in Bukidnon and Lanaw. Plantations settlements spread throughout the southern coastline of Mindanaw.

In Java, the landheerenstelsel became prosperous. They gained access to schools previously reserved for the Dutch and Indos. Their demands to replace Dutch civil servants in the colonial bureaucracy were met by the creation of new schools for the rich pribumi. The most important institution, founded in Banten, was the Tangerang Regency School. It was one of the first few designed to prepare the rich pribumi for civil service careers.

Despite the Revolutions of 1848, neither British nor Dutch authorities considered suppressing the educated classes in the East Indies. But, ideas from Europe during this period inspired the young members of the growing middle class across the territories.

Rise of the East Indies intelligentsia

Due to the lack of established schools in the Straits Settlements, both its British and Malay subjects sought higher education in the Philippines. This reintroduced Filipinos to the Malay language, which became popular as Malay-Filipino interactions increased due to closer intercolonial trade and migration. In Manila, Malay overtook Spanish as the second language of the upper and middle classes.

Sir Louis Rodrick, an insular Spaniard turned Anglophile, was a celebrated writer who supported British rule. Influenced by the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, he called for reforms in the "newly-civilized colonies." He promoted and invested successful ventures that opened new colleges. These taught mathematics, medicine, and navigation. Although, he publicly spoke against the growing influence of Chinese merchants, including the local diaspora and mestizos. When he became the leader of the Philippine Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, he started a public campaign to ban the migration of Chinese workers.

In 1858, EIC rule ended when the British government nationalized the company. Up until that point, the governors of the Philippine colonies were subordinates of the Governor-General of India and the Straits Settlements were part of British Bengal. The Government of Malaya Act established direct rule throughout British Malaya. The Philippines, with the exception of the Mindanawan Settlements, united into one colony again and the Straits Settlements became a separate crown colony. In 1860, the Educational Despatch of 1854 in the British Raj made an impression on Philippine Governor John Farren. With funds raised by the Legislative Assembly, they passed the Public Education Act. Each city and province was tasked to operate non-denominational schools for both boys and girls. Catholic and Protestant schools received funding, under the condition that they would prioritize geography, history, and agriculture over religion and other demeaning forms of instruction for "suitable, native or female employment." The religious orders temporarily provided teachers until the new Manila Regular School was finished in 1864.

In the Dutch East Indies, proto-nationalist Sultan Diponegoro of Yogyakarta demanded appointing Malays in higher positions and the removal of the Chinese aristocratic Cabang Atas from the colonial bureaucracy. He promoted the acceptance of Western thinking to defend Islam to fellow Muslim bupatis, clerics, and educated pribumi commoners. Inspired by Syed Ahmad Khan of India, Diponegoro founded the Science School for the Muslims of the Java Islands. One of its first professors, Raja Ali Haji, advocated for the modernization of the role of Muslim women. He saw education as a better way to prepare them as nurturing mothers and virtuous citizens.

Duke Mangkunegara III of Mangkunegaran, an early product of the Regency School system, became the leader of the Kaum Terpelajar. A faction of the pro-Dutch bupatis who favored reformism over separatism. Rich gains from the landheerenstelsel reforms allowed them and their fathers to improve and expand their estates. Since 1828, when the Dutch secured more lands in Sumatra, the bupati and the rich pribumi played a more active role in the colonial enterprise by building agricultural settlements in newly acquired territories. They aimed for the peaceful Westernization of Indonesia. The painter Raden Saleh, while he was associated with pro-Dutch groups, used his European connections and wealth to support programs of reform from both radicals like Diponegoro and loyalists like Mangkunegara.

The heirs of the Cabang Atas were educated together with the Malay bupati. But, fearful of their anti-Chinese sympathies, many of them aligned with the Kaum Terpelajar and even pro-colonist Dutchmen like Pieter Mijer, who was Lieutenant-Governor of the Great East.