United States of Indonesia Republik Indonesia Serikat (Indonesian) Verenigde Staten van Indonesië (Dutch)
1949–1950
Flag National emblem
Anthem: Indonesia Raya
Capital	Djakarta
Common languages	Indonesian
Religion	Sunni Islam
Government	Federal parliamentary republic
President
• 1949–1950	Sukarno
Vice President & Prime Minister
• 1949–1950	Mohammad Hatta
Legislature
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	House of Representatives
History
• Independence from the Netherlands	27 December 1949
• Constitution adopted	27 December 1949
• Disestablished	17 August 1950
Currency	Rupiah (IDR)
ISO 3166 code	ID
Preceded by Succeeded by Indonesia Dutch East Indies Republic of Indonesia Netherlands-Indonesia Union

Part of a series on the
History of Indonesia
Timeline
Prehistory Paleolithic Java Man 1,000,000 BP Flores Man 94,000–12,000 BP Neolithic Toba catastrophe 75,000 BP Buni culture 400 BCE
Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms Kutai Kingdom 350–1605 Tarumanagara Kingdom 400s–500s Kantoli 400s-500s Kalingga Kingdom 500s–600s Melayu Kingdom 600s–1347 Srivijaya Empire 600s–1025 Shailendra dynasty 600s–900s Mataram Kingdom 716–1016 Bali Kingdom 914–1908 Sunda Kingdom 932–1579 Kahuripan Kingdom 1019–1045 Kediri Kingdom 1045–1221 Dharmasraya Kingdom 1183–1347 Pannai Kingdom 1000s–1300s Singhasari Empire 1222–1292 Majapahit Empire 1293–1527
Islamic sultanates Spread of Islam 800–1600 Peureulak Sultanate 840–1292 Aru Kingdom 1225–1613 Ternate Sultanate 1257–1914 Samudera Pasai Sultanate 1267–1521 Pagaruyung Kingdom 1347–1833 Brunei Sultanate 1368–1888 Malacca Sultanate 1400–1511 Sulu Sultanate 1405–1851 Cirebon Sultanate 1445–1677 Demak Sultanate 1475–1554 Aceh Sultanate 1496–1903 Sultanate of Ternate 1486–1914 Sultanate of Bacan 1515–1946 Sultanate of Tidore 1500s–1967 Sultanate of Jailolo 1496–1903 Banten Sultanate 1526–1813 Banjar Sultanate 1526–1863 Kalinyamat Sultanate 1527–1599 Mataram Sultanate 1500s–1700s Johor Sultanate 1528s–1877 Kingdom of Kaimana 1600s–1926 Palembang Sultanate 1659–1823 Siak Sultanate 1725–1946 Surakarta Sunanate 1745–1946 Yogyakarta Sultanate 1755–1945 Deli Sultanate 1814–1946 Riau-Lingga Sultanate 1824–1911
Christian kingdoms Larantuka Kingdom 1515–1904 Kingdom of Bolaang Mongondow 1670–1950
Chinese Kongsi federations Heshun Confederation 1776–1854 Lanfang Republic 1777–1884 Santiaogou Republic 1777–1853
European colonization Portuguese 1512–1850 Spanish 1521–1677 Dutch East India Company 1602–1799 British 1685–1824 French and British interregnum 1806–1816 Dutch East Indies 1800–1942 1945–1949
Emergence of Indonesia National Awakening 1908–1942 Japanese occupation 1942–1945 National Revolution 1945–1949 United States of Indonesia 1949–1950
Republic of Indonesia Liberal democracy 1950–1959 Guided Democracy 1959–1966 Transition 1966–1967 New Order 1967–1998 Reform era 1998–present
Regions Jakarta Bali Bogor Bandung
By topic Agriculture Archaeology Currency Economy Education Religion Buddhism Christianity Hinduism Islam Judaism Mass media Military Sport Women
Indonesia portal
v t e

The United States of Indonesia (Dutch: Verenigde Staten van Indonesië, Indonesian: Republik Indonesia Serikat, lit. 'Republic of the United States of Indonesia'; abbreviated as RIS or RUSI, also known as Federal Republic of Indonesia) was a short-lived federal state to which the Netherlands formally transferred sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies (except Netherlands New Guinea) on 27 December 1949 following the Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference. This transfer ended the four-year conflict between Indonesian nationalists and the Netherlands for control of Indonesia. It lasted less than a year, before being replaced by the unitary Republic of Indonesia.

Background

In January 1942, the Japanese invaded the Dutch East Indies, displacing the Dutch colonial government.^[1] On 17 August 1945, two days after the Japanese surrender, Indonesian nationalist leader Sukarno declared Indonesian independence.^[2] The Dutch, viewing Sukarno and the Indonesian leadership as having collaborated with the Japanese, decided to restore their authority.^[3] However, British South East Asia Command, under Lord Louis Mountbatten, who had responsibility for the Dutch East Indies, refused to allow Dutch troops to land in Java and Sumatra and recognised de facto Republican authority there. However, the Dutch were able to reassert control over most of the area previously occupied by the Japanese Navy, including Borneo and the Great East. Discussions between the British and the Dutch resulted in Acting Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies Hubertus van Mook proposing eventual self-determination for an Indonesian commonwealth.^[4][5] In July 1946, the Dutch organised the Malino Conference in Sulawesi at which representatives from Borneo and eastern Indonesia backed the proposal for the federal United States of Indonesia with links to the Netherlands. It would comprise four elements, Java, Sumatra, Dutch Borneo and the Great East.^[6][7] This was followed on 15 November by the Linggadjati Agreement, in which the Dutch recognised de facto republican control over Sumatra, Java and Madura, and the Republic of Indonesia agreed to the principle of a federal Indonesia in which it would be one state.^[8][9] The Dutch then organised the December 1946 Denpasar Conference, which led to the establishment of the State of East Indonesia, followed by a state in West Borneo in 1947.^[10]

Military action by the Dutch launched on 20 July 1947 against areas controlled by the Indonesian republicans, Operation Product, resulted in the Dutch regaining control of West and East Java, the areas around Medan, Palembang and Padang in Sumatra. The United Nations called for a ceasefire, and negotiations between the two sides led to the Renville Agreement of January 1948, with a ceasefire along the "Van Mook Line", which connected the most advanced Dutch positions. The Dutch then established states in the areas they had reoccupied, including East Sumatra (December 1947), Madura and West Java (February 1948), South Sumatra (September 1948) and East Java (November 1948). The leaders of these regions then established the Federal Consultative Assembly.^[11]

A second Dutch military action, Operation Kraai, aimed at destroying the Republic, was launched on 18 December 1948. Despite recapturing the major cities of Java, including the republican capital of Yogyakarta, and all of Sumatra except Aceh in the far north, it triggered the protest resignation of the cabinets of the State of East Indonesia and Pasundan (West Java) and the Sultan of Yogyakarta from his position as regional head. There was also pressure from the United States and the United Nations, in particular in the form of a Security Council resolution.^[12][13] The Dutch agreed to negotiations with Indonesia to arrange a transfer of sovereignty. The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference took place in The Hague from August to November 1949 and resulted in the Dutch agreeing to hand over sovereignty to the Dutch East Indies, except for Western New Guinea. However, many Indonesian nationalists believed that the Dutch had insisted on a federal state in an attempt to weaken or even break up the new nation, a manifestation of a "divide and conquer" strategy. Nevertheless, on 27 December 1949, sovereignty was transferred to the United States of Indonesia.^[14][15][16]

Governance

The RIS had a bicameral legislature. The People's Representative Council consisted of 50 representatives from the Republic of Indonesia and 100 from the various states according to their populations. The Senate had two members from each constituent part of the RIS regardless of population, making 32 members in total. The state was governed according to the Federal Constitution of 1949, which had been drawn up on the sidelines of the Round Table Conference. It had a cabinet of 16 members, led by Prime Minister Hatta.^[17][18][19]

Constituent entities

The RIS comprised sixteen main entities: seven states (negara), including the "Republic of Indonesia" consisting of parts of Java and Sumatra (a combined population of over 31 million); and the nine formerly directly-ruled territories (neo-lands, Dutch: neo-landschappen). Apart from the Republic of Indonesia, all these constituent entities, which had populations between 100,000 and 11 million, were established by the Dutch. Also included were some smaller entities not seen as viable as distinct political entities.^[17][20][21]

Dissolution

From the outset, the majority of Indonesians were opposed to the federal system resulting from the Round Table Agreement. The main reason was that the whole concept was associated with colonialism. However there were other reasons, including the feeling that a federal state lacked cohesion and would potentially lead to states seceding and that the Indonesian side had only accepted it as a short-term tactic. In addition, most of the non-republican areas were controlled by traditional rulers, who were seen as too pro-Dutch and anachronistic. Finally, there were insufficient ethnic or cultural ties between people in the individual states to overcome the dominance of Java. For example, although the population of the State of Madura was entirely ethnic Madurese, almost as many Madurese lived in the ethnically mixed State of East Java, forming a substantial minority.^[40][41][42]

Even those who supported the idea of a federal state wanted the form of it to be decided by the people of Indonesia through an elected Constitutional Assembly, rather by than the former colonial power. The Dutch also tried to convince Indonesians that a unitary state would mean Javanese domination, although without much success.^[40]

In March and April 1950, all the constituents of the RIS except East Sumatra and East Indonesia dissolved themselves into the Republic.^[30] From 3–5 May, a three-way conference between the State of East Indonesia, the State of East Sumatra and the Republic of Indonesia ended with a decision to merge the three entities into a single unitary state.^[43] On 19 May, an announcement was issued by the governments of the United States of Indonesia (representing the two remaining constituent states) and the Republic of Indonesia, which stated that all parties, "...have reached an agreement to jointly create a unitary state as the transformation of the Republic of Indonesia proclaimed on 17 August 1945".^[44] The United States of Indonesia was officially dissolved by President Sukarno on 17 August 1950 – the fifth anniversary of his proclamation of independence – and replaced by the unitary Republic of Indonesia.^[45]