In the weeks following the Japanese capitulation, forces attached to Mountbatten's South East Asia Command (SEAC) arriving in Java under the terms of the Potsdam Conference confronted a perplexing situation—namely, militant nationalists defending the newly declared Republic. While officially committed to restoring Dutch sovereignty over its former colony, in the face of such intransigence, the British attitude turned to non-intervention in quarrels between the Dutch government and the Republic, provided law and order was preserved. Until the Allied withdrawal in early 1946 and the arrival of the main force of Dutch units, there was much slippage in this position, leading to major clashes and casualties in Surabaya, Semarang and elsewhere. As is well known, a shifting coalition of Republican and guerrilla forces raised the costs for both the Allies and the returning Dutch forces to the point where world opinion drew a line at the human cost suffered in the futile attempt to enforce the colonial status quo ante. In the wider sweep of history, the dates between the Proclamation of Independence on 17 August 1945 and Dutch recognition of the de jure sovereignty of the Republic in December 1949 define Indonesia's nationalist revolution.1

Several defining events underscore relations between the Republic and the Dutch. First was the Linggadjati Agreement, the political accord concluded on 15 November 1946 between the Dutch and Republican negotiators in which the Netherlands recognized the Republic as exercising de facto authority in Java, Madura and Sumatra.