There has never been a specific investigation of the ideology of the Dutch colonial functionaries of the Binnenlandsch Bestuur, or the corps B.B., during the Indonesian Independence War. We do know...Show moreThere has never been a specific investigation of the ideology of the Dutch colonial functionaries of the Binnenlandsch Bestuur, or the corps B.B., during the Indonesian Independence War. We do know that the corps, just before 1942, largely mistrusted the Indonesian independence movement and had no great misgivings about the colonial relationship between Indonesia and Holland. We also know that in 1945 the Dutch policy was revised under the leadership of Governor General Van Mook-favoring the formation of a federal Indonesian state, and de facto acknowledging the Indonesian Republic in 1946 by signing the treaty of Lingaddjati. Given a large poll of B.B. officials’ ideological thinking in 1945, it is clear that a majority of these officials supported Van Mooks’ plans. However, we do not know why this ideological break with the pre-1942 period could have happened in the first place, or whether the B.B. even perceived there was a break at all. In this thesis, the ideological developments within the colonial state and B.B., c. 1900-1942, are first explained. This period was defined by the debates surrounding the Dutch ‘Ethical Policy’ and the formation of an Indonesian national movement. The period would define the thinking of B.B. officials leading into the Japanese Occupation and the subsequent Indonesian Independence War. Then, in the research chapter, I discuss the political opinions of roughly 10 B.B. officials (left in writing), working c. 1945-1949. I use memoirs, letters, memoranda, and (concept-versions of) publicized articles to do so. These B.B. officials largely agreed that explicit colonialism in Indonesia should end. When it came to important aspects of de-colonization, like formulating a policy towards the Indonesian Republic, and figuring out how to achieve rapid political emancipation for the Indonesians, their political opinions became complicated. There was no clear consensus on how to ‘deal’ with the Republic. When it came to emancipation, they continued to, in practice, rely on the Indonesian aristocracy, as they had done in the colonial epoch, while keeping the Republican-leaning intellectuals at arms’ length, a probable result of the desire to build an Indonesian state where the Dutch could feasibly maintain their influence.Show less
