Modern Era · Southeast Asia · Politics

1945

Indonesia proclaims independence

August 17, 1945

Two days after Japan's surrender, Sukarno stood on a veranda in Jakarta and read a brief declaration of Indonesian independence. The Dutch, returning to reclaim their East Indies, refused to accept it. Four years of war followed before the Netherlands gave up. Asia's largest new nation had been born in a hurry.

More from 1945 Modern Era

In context

Also in 1945 (12 other events on record)

Liberation of the camps · Europe · War
Trinity test lights the New Mexico desert · North America · Science
Hiroshima bombed · East Asia · War
V-E Day · Europe · War
Hitler kills himself in the bunker · Europe · War
Nagasaki bombed · East Asia · War

Before and after in Southeast Asia

Before: October 23, 1944: Battle of Leyte Gulf
After: July 4, 1946: Philippine independence

Before and after in Politics

Before: July 1, 1944: Bretton Woods Conference begins
After: March 5, 1946: Iron Curtain speech

Era

Modern Era (1901–2000), one of 590 events from that era on Saeculum.

Sources

Wikipedia: Proclamation of Indonesian Independence