Forgotten battlegrounds of the Cold War: South Asia and Indonesia

“We the people of Indonesia hereby declare the independence of Indonesia. Matters which concern the transfer of power and other things will be executed by careful means and in the shortest possible time … In the name of the people of Indonesia …”

– Indonesian Declaration of Independence (from the Dutch Empire), Djakarta, 17 August 1945

Few parts of the Cold War are more forgotten than this …

Asia was one of the biggest battlegrounds of the Cold War. Two of the biggest of the aptly-named “hot wars” within the Cold War were both fought in East Asia, which were the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Many Cold War conflicts were likewise fought in the Middle East (which is part of Asia), and the Soviets fought their war in Afghanistan in central Asia. In addition, communist China was located in East Asia, and much of the Soviet Union was located in North Asia. But the Cold War events of South Asia are often forgotten, and were not covered in CNN's 18-hour television history of the Cold War (one of the few major omissions on CNN's part there). Thus, an examination of some of these events would seem to be in order here. Some would consider Indonesia to be a part of Southeast Asia, while others would instead consider it to be a part of the region known as Oceania. But since the Cold War events of Indonesia are often forgotten as well, I would like to cover some of them, and this actually seems a convenient place to do so. Like South Asia, Indonesia is a part of the Indian Ocean region, and was a major battleground in the Cold War. Thus, I will combine some of these things together into one post, and show how the Cold War affected the general Indian Ocean region (a forgotten battleground of the Cold War).

Bendera Pusaka, the first Indonesian flag, is raised on 17 August 1945

India, Pakistan, and Indonesia all gain their independence in the late 1940's …

India had been colonized by the British East India Company, as early as the 1757 Battle of Plassey. And after the so-called “Indian Mutiny” of 1857, it then fell under the rule of the British Crown, beginning the “British Raj.” But in 1947, the British Empire actually granted independence to both India and Pakistan, within the same sentence of an act of Parliament. Specifically, this sentence said that “As from the fifteenth day of August, nineteen hundred and forty-seven, two independent Dominions shall be set up in India, to be known respectively as India and Pakistan.” (Source: Indian Independence Act of 1947) The dominant religion of India was to be Hinduism, while the dominant religion of Pakistan was to be Islam. Indeed, this “religion issue” was probably the biggest reason that this act was creating two independent countries, rather than just the one. Across the Indian Ocean, Indonesia had been colonized by the Dutch East India Company as early as 1603. But Indonesia had fallen under the control of the Netherlands government back in Holland in 1800 (similarly to the story of India), creating the colony of the “Dutch East Indies.” This consisted of what is now Indonesia. Later, during World War II, the Dutch East Indies had been occupied by Imperial Japan. But two days after the Japanese surrendered in 1945, Indonesia declared its independence from the Dutch Empire. Thus began the Indonesian National Revolution, also known as the Indonesian War of Independence. The conflict involved armed struggle, internal upheaval within Indonesia, and British intervention on behalf of the Dutch. But the victory would eventually go to Indonesia, when the Netherlands officially recognized it as an independent country in 1949. (I should note that Indonesia was a Muslim-majority nation, which will later become relevant to our discussion here.)

The signing ceremony recognizing Indonesian sovereignty in the Hague, 1949

The “ANZUS” alliance, and the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (or “SEATO”)

In 1951, there was a major international alliance between Australia, New Zealand, and the United States (abbreviated “ANZUS”). In 1954, there was another major international alliance called the “Southeast Asia Treaty Organization” (or “SEATO”). It consisted of eight nations, which were Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Two other nations were also protected by the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, which were South Vietnam and the Kingdom of Laos. But this protection did not last long, because South Vietnam fell in 1975, when the Vietnam War ended. Thus, the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization was dissolved in 1977, and no longer exists. However, the “ANZUS” alliance still exists today, although New Zealand has partially suspended its involvement. This alliance may do for Australia and New Zealand what “NATO” does for the nations of the North Atlantic.

Australia, New Zealand, and United States at a military exercise, 1982

Indonesia becomes a battleground in the Cold War, with mass killings from 1965 to 1966 …

I mentioned earlier how the Netherlands had recognized the independence of Indonesia in 1949. But Indonesia did not become a battleground in the Cold War until 1965, more than a decade later. On the 30th of September that year, there was an attempted “coup d'état” known simply as the “30th of September movement.” The movement was a self-proclaimed organization of members of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. They assassinated six Indonesian Army generals, but the coup was soon crushed, with two more senior officers dead by the time it was over with. It is not clear whether the communists were actually involved in this coup, but it is clear that they were blamed for it. The Indonesian government thus engaged in mass killings from 1965 to 1966, mostly targeted at members of the Communist Party of Indonesia (abbreviated “PKI,” after its Indonesian spelling). They also killed those who sympathized with them. Other targets included atheists, non-Muslim “unbelievers,” ethnic Abangan Javanese (who were less orthodox), and many ethnic Chinese. Thus, it is also considered something of an ethnic genocide as well. The Javanese are the dominant ethnic group of Indonesia, but the Abangans were a minority within this Javanese ethnic group. This was part of the so-called “Transition to a New Order” in Indonesia. These mass killings received the support of a number of Western nations, including the United States. The Americans gave to the Indonesian death squads some extensive lists, with the names of many Communist Party members – thus participating actively in those parts of the campaign. (In fairness, though, we did not help them with the ethnic genocide part.) A top-secret CIA report from 1968 said that this was comparable to “the Soviet purges of the 1930s, the Nazi mass murders during the Second World War, and the Maoist bloodbath of the early 1950s.”

Major General Suharto attends a funeral for generals assassinated – Indonesia, 1965

Bangladesh declares independence from Pakistan, and receives help from both India …

Elsewhere in the Muslim world, another revolution was brewing in distant Pakistan. When Pakistan had been created in 1947, it was divided into two parts that did not have a border between them. Instead, they had the entire country of India between them, with a “West Pakistan” and an “East Pakistan” separated by many miles. When Pakistan had been created, these western and eastern zones had been created as convenient places for Indian Muslims to relocate to. Thus, they did not have to be a part of this new country with a large Hindu majority, but were instead part of the Muslim nation of “Pakistan.” The part to the east of India is today known as “Bangladesh,” and it declared its independence from larger Pakistan in 1971. Thus, after a war of independence, Bangladesh would soon become an independent country of its own. The part to the west of India is what constitutes the modern nation of “Pakistan,” and it could not easily send troops to the distant region of Bangladesh because of the lack of a land border with its own province. India was between them, and India was intervening on the side of Bangladesh. Thus, things were getting very complicated for Pakistan.

Allied Indian T-55 tanks on their way to Dacca

… and the United States, due to India's alliance with the Soviet Union

India had recently signed a treaty with the Soviet Union, known as the “Indo-Soviet Treaty.” India was worried about Chinese intervention on behalf of Pakistan, as it turned out, which may have been part of why they signed this treaty. Despite this, India professed to be a neutral in the “Cold War,” and tried to shore up support for their cause internationally. But American president Richard Nixon actually sent a naval task force to the Bay of Bengal, today known as “Task Force 74.” Its purpose was to back Pakistan against India. India was facing a major humanitarian crisis of refugees from nearby Bangladesh, who were coming across the border into Eastern India. To make a long story short, Bangladesh became independent despite these things. I will also mention briefly that India got nuclear weapons in 1974. This made them less reliant on foreign alliances than before. Pakistan also got nuclear weapons in later years, but they did not do so until 1998, after the Cold War had already ended. At the time that I write this, Pakistan is thus the only Muslim nation to have nuclear weapons.

Signing of Pakistani Instrument of Surrender at Dhaka, 1971

Indonesia invades Portuguese East Timor in 1975, and annexes it in 1976 …

I began this post by mentioning how India and Pakistan had been part of the British Empire, and how Indonesia had been part of the Dutch Empire. Another region that had once been part of the Dutch Empire – and still was at that time – was then called “West Irian,” which was in the west of New Guinea. To make a long story short, the Indonesians convinced the Dutch to “allow” them to annex West Irian in 1962. But the more significant annexation for the Cold War period was on a nearby island called “East Timor.” East Timor was still a part of the Portuguese Empire, when Indonesia sent troops to invade it in 1975. The Indonesians invaded under the convenient pretext of “ending colonial rule,” but it is clear that they were doing so for more self-serving reasons instead. The Indonesian invasion of Portuguese East Timor lasted from 1975 to 1976. Many Western nations, including the United States, supported this Indonesian invasion at the time. Soon after, the Indonesians annexed East Timor in 1976, and began a quarter-century of occupation there. East Timor did not become an independent country until 2002, near the start of the twenty-first century.

Gerald Ford and Suharto on 6 December 1975, one day before the invasion

Conclusion: These events might seem unrelated, but they are all interconnected

These events might seem to be unrelated to each other, but they are all a part of the Indian Ocean theater of the Cold War. These are some of the few major parts of this conflict that were not covered by CNN's 18-hour television history of the Cold War, as mentioned earlier. In fairness, CNN only had 24 episodes to work with, and presumably could not afford to dedicate any of them to the Indian Ocean theater of operations. But the events in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, West Irian, and East Timor were of vital importance for the worldwide Cold War. No true history of this period can afford to ignore them, and they may deserve more coverage from the “popular historians” than they have hitherto enjoyed in this country.

“We the elected representatives of the people of Bangladesh, as honour bound by the mandate given to us by the people of Bangladesh whose will is supreme[,] duly constituted ourselves into a Constituent Assembly, and having held mutual consultations, and in order to ensure for the people of Bangladesh equality, human dignity and social justice, declare and constitute Bangladesh to be sovereign People's Republic and thereby confirm the declaration of independence already made by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman … ”

– Proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence (from Pakistan), 26 March 1971

If you liked this post, you might also like:

A review of Michael Wood's “The Story of India”

A review of CNN's “The Cold War” (a television history)

Forgotten battlegrounds of the Cold War: Latin America

Forgotten battlegrounds of the Cold War: Angola

Forgotten battlegrounds of the Cold War: North Africa and the Middle East

Part of a series about

The Cold War

Berlin Blockade 1948-1949
Marshall Plan 1948-1951
Korean War 1950-1953
McCarthyism 1947-1956 (see “Espionage” post)
Cuban Revolution 1953-1959
Bay of Pigs 1961
Building of the Berlin Wall 1961-1962 (see “Eastern Europe” post)
Cuban Missile Crisis 1962
Nixon’s visit to China 1972
Vietnam War 1955-1975
Angolan Civil War 1975-2002
Soviet war in Afghanistan 1979-1989
“Able Archer 83” 1983
Reagan’s “Star Wars” program 1983-1993
Fall of the Berlin Wall 1989 (see “Star Wars” post)
Dissolution of the Soviet Union 1990-1991 (see “Star Wars” post)

Latin America in the Cold War

Eastern Europe in the Cold War
North Africa and the Middle East in the Cold War

South Asia and Indonesia in the Cold War
Nuclear weapons (1945 – the present)

Espionage (throughout the Cold War)
Space race (most of the Cold War)
Overview of the Cold War