Resonance of Violence

Bersiap and the Dynamics of Violence in the First Phase of the Indonesian Revolution, 1945-1946
Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-94-6372-089-2
Verlag: Amsterdam University Press

Buch, Englisch, 224 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

The battle cry ‘Bersiap!’ resounded in numerous cities and towns across Indonesia during the first months following the declaration of independence on August 17, 1945. Heard from all sides, this call to ‘stand by’ for the young nation’s fight for freedom marked the start of the Indonesian national revolution, heralding a period of extreme violence. These acts of violence were aimed primarily against civilians and served no military purpose. Resonance of Violence outlines the dynamics of this extreme violence in which Indonesian groups took up arms against Indo-Europeans, Moluccans, Dutch and Chinese, but also against Japanese civilians and both Japanese and British (or British Indian) soldiers.

The authors expressly situate this terrifying period within the wider context of mutual Indonesian violence and the use of violence by the Japanese, British and Dutch against Indonesian citizens. Java, Sumatra, and other islands are discussed in the book, as well as the complex issue of the number of victims. Finally, they discuss the development of the term "bersiap" over the past 75 years, which grew into a key concept in the Netherlands to describe the earliest phase of the Indonesian War of Independence.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Captain, Esther

Sinke, Onno

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Militärgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Postkoloniale Geschichte, Nationale Befreiung und Unabhängigkeit
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Gewalt Revolutionäre Gruppen und Bewegungen, Bewaffnete Konflikte

Über Autor(innen)

Captain, Esther
Esther Captain (1969) is a historian and senior researcher at the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV) in Leiden. She is a member of the committee overseeing independent research into the role of the House of Orange-Nassau in Dutch colonial history and an author/editor on this research team. She is specialized in late colonial Indonesia, the Indonesian revolution, and postcolonial Netherlands in relation to the Dutch Caribbean islands, Indonesia and Suriname.

Sinke, Onno
Onno Sinke is a historian and researcher at the Dutch Institute for Military History (NIMH).