The exhibition destined for the Gedung Perundingan at Linggarjati.

The Linggajati Agreement

The Friends of Linggarjati Foundation commissioned the East-Indies Heritage Foundation at Apeldoorn to compile an exposition about the Linggajati Agreement. This exposition, titled "Bridge to the Future," highlights a number of subjects that were part of the formation process of the modern Indonesian nation and state between 1908 and 1950. The Netherlands, as the erstwhile colonial master, played an important role in this process. In the otherwise very violent process of de-colonization between 1945 and 1950, the negotiations at Linggarjati were a markedly bright moment.

The months following the Indonesian Proclamation of Independence on August 17, 1945 were chaotic and often violent. It can be said too, that there was vacuum of authority within the Republic of Indonesia. The Dutch meanwhile, had no clear idea of the actual situation in Indonesia.

In November 1945, the moderate socialist Sutan Sjahrir became Prime Minister of the Republic. It was he and Vice President Mohammad Hatta that saw to it that the budding republic got a parliamentary government based on democracy. The first serious negotiations between the Netherlands and the Republic began with the Hoge Veluwe Conference in April of 1946. This conference did not have much result; meanwhile the violence in Indonesia continued.

The first major breakthrough in the negotiations between the Netherlands and the Republic of Indonesia were the negotiations on November 11 and 12, 1946 at the West Java mountain village of Linggarjati. Linggarjati is situated halfway between Batavia (Jakarta) and Yogyakarta, the provisional capital of the Republic at the time. The Dutch delegation consisted of Lieutenant Governor-General Van Mook and a Commission General that had arrived from the Netherlands. The Commission General was led by erstwhile Dutch Premier Willem Schermerhorn, the Secretary was Piet Sanders and members were the politicians Van Poll and De Boer. They negotiated on behalf of the Dutch Government with a delegation of the Republic of Indonesia, led by Prime Minister Sjahrir. Between Sjahrir and Schermerhorn in particular, a relationship of mutual trust developed. In this spirit it was easier to break through political barriers that were previously considered taboo. President Soekarno and Vice President Hatta arrived later and joined in the conference as well.

In essence, two totally opposed positions had to be united: the interests of the Dutch and the interests of the Indonesians. The Indonesians were fighting for a completely independent Unified State which would subsequently, on a voluntary basis, develop ties with the Netherlands. The Dutch political world had different ideas about an independent Indonesia. Van Mook in particular wanted a federal country where the role of the Republic was not quite as evident. Such a federation would have close ties to the Netherlands.

After lengthy discussions, an agreement was reached, the Linggajati Agreement. In this Agreement, The Netherlands recognized the de facto sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia on Java and Sumatera. At a later stage, de jure sovereignty would be transferred to what was to be called the United States of Indonesia that would have close ties to the Netherlands through an Indonesia - Dutch Union. This agreement was a mighty hand reach between the two parties. It can be said that it was a truly great effort based on mutual respect and understanding of each other's difficult positions for the politicians to reach this peaceful solution to the impasse they faced. They did not negotiate from a position of political power but based themselves on the realization that a peaceful solution for the sake of a better future was to be preferred.

In fact though, both Sjahrir and Schermerhorn made concessions that went beyond what their respective home fronts were willing to accept. In Indonesia as well as in the Netherlands, the reactions to the Agreement were very much divided and the position of the negotiators was undermined by those who favored a hard line. Although the Agreement was officially signed on March 25, 1947, by then the mutual trust had already eroded badly. The Indonesians did not like the "dressed up" version of the Agreement and could not accept the sending of more troops. In addition, the proposed federal form of state was seen as a classic divide-and-conquer policy. For the Dutch, the constant violation of the cease fire and the agitation for a unified state was a thorn in their eyes. Sjahrir as well as Van Mook in the end had to resign. Soon, the Agreement drowned in blood baths as a result of two Police Actions. In the end, after two and a half years of war, sovereignty was transferred and it was still in the spirit of the Linggajati Agreement.

Friends of Linggarjati Foundation                                                 East Indies Heritage Foundation

Hand over of the Panels january 6th 2009 in den Haag.

The name of the exhibition: The Bridge to the future.

To His Excellence Mr F.E. Habibi at the Indonesian Embassy in den Haag .

Excellency. It is a great honor to be able to present the Indonesian people with this exhibition about the Linggajati Conference. An exhibition destined for the Gedung Perundingan ( the museum) at Linggarjati.

In all humbleness, is it really possible for us Dutch people to understand what the struggle for Independance, the fight of your Founding Fathers, really meant to the Indonesian People?

This exibition is just a modest token of shining another light on our colonial past. In particular for the Dutch, an effort to try to understand why it took us so long to digest our colonial past. To throw a light on the past not so much to assign blame, but to learn from the shadows and pitchfalls of the past to be able to make that bridge to the future.

This year it will be sixthy years since the Dutch officially handed over souvereignty to the Indonesians. By doing that the Dutch government implicitly acknowledged the value of the concept Linggajati agreement, reached at in november 1946 by Dutch and Indonesian negotiators at Linggajati. There the negotiators aimed at conflict prevention and conflict resolution by diplomatic means. Despite transformation of the agreement text by the Dutch, followed by three years of armed conflict, in the end the negotiation process at Linggajati appeared a succes story of conflict resolution by diplomacy.

Looking at the World today, we discover many potential "Linggajati's" Lessons learned from historic Linggajati are therefore extremely relevant in the course of conflict resolution by mediation and diplomacy.

The story of the birth and independence of your proud nation as presented on these panels is a remarkable story. It is a lesson and can be a guide for all the young men on our planet who are fighting for their ideals. The panels portray part of the history of your nation; they tell the story of the awakening of Indonesia in the first half of the 20th century.

It is about three statesmen, Soekarno, Hatta and Sjahrir. In the thirties of the former century each of them was not yet 30 years old, but vastly determined to build his nation..

With this in mind, what would happen to our world today, if all young men and women would decide to give the best of themselves, ready to sacrifice, and undergo hardships to rebuild our world.

The story of your Founding Fathers should be told to the teeming millions of young men and women in Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

But the exhibition is also about Dutch statesmen who had a vision far ahead of their time. What is needed for statesmen to get that insight in these changing times?

We have tried to do our little part in creating this exhibition. I am sure that in Indonesia, in this year of the 100th anniversary of your First Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir, many Indonesians can tell his story much better then we did. But accept this token from us, the Dutch Friends of the Gedung Perundingan as a token of our contribution to the great lifes of your Founding Fathers.

Joty ter Kulve, Wassenaar january 6, 2009 Foundation "Friends of Linggajati"

Persetujuan Linggajati

Yayasan Pusaka Hindia-Belanda di Apeldoorn, atas prakarsa Yayasan Teman-teman Linggarjati, telah menyusun sebuah pameran mengenai Perundingan Linggajati. Pameran ini diberi judul: "Linggajati, Jembatan Ke Masa Depan" ini, mempersembahkan sekilas pandang hal-ikhwal yang berkenaan dengan proses pembentukan Negara Indonesia dari tahun 1908 sampai tahun 1950. Sebagai penguasa kolonial, Negeri Belanda memainkan peranan yang sangat berarti dalam proses tersebut. Suatu saat gemilang dalam proses dekolonisasi yang berjalan sangat alot dari tahun 1945 sampai tahun 1950 itu adalah perundingan yang diselenggarakan di Linggarjati. Perundingan dan Persetujuan Linggajati tersebut mendapat perhatian khusus dalam materi pameran ini.

Bulan-bulan pertama setelah diproklamasikannya Republik Indonesia pada tanggal 17 Agustus 1945 berlangsung kacau-balau dan tidak jarang diiringi kekerasan. Republik Indonesiapun mengalami suatu keadaan hampa kekuasaan, sementara di Negeri Belanda belum disadari keadaan yang sebenarnya di Indonesia.

Sejak bulan Nopember 1945, Sutan Sjahrir yang berhaluan sosialis moderat menjabat sebagai Perdana Menteri. Bersama dengan Wakil Presiden Mohammad Hatta, beliaulah yang membentuk suatu sistim pemerintahan parlementer yang berdasarkan demokrasi bagi republik yang baru itu. Perundingan sungguh-sungguh yang pertama kalinya antara Kerajaan Belanda dan Republik itu berlangsung di Hoge Veluwe, Negeri Belanda, pada bulan April 1946. Perundingan tersebut tidak membuahkan hasil yang berarti, sementara kekerasan di Indonesia terus berlangsung.

Terobosan besar dalam perundingan Indonesia - Belanda terjadi pada tanggal 11-12 Nopember 1946 di Linggarjati, suatu desa pegunungan di Jawa Barat yang terletak dipertengahan jalan antara Batavia (Jakarta) dan Yogyakarta (ibu kota sementara Republik Indonesia pada saat itu). Disanalah Gubernur Jendral Van Mook dan Komisi Jendral yang diutus oleh Pemerintah Belanda berunding dengan pihak Republik. Komisi Jendral tersebut diketuai oleh mantan Perdana Menteri Belanda Willem Schermerhoorn, sekretarisnya adalah Piet Sanders dan dua anggota lainnya adalah dua orang politikus Van Poll dan De Boer. Delegasi Indonesia dipimpin oleh Perdana Menteri Sutan Sjahrir. Teristimewa diantara Sjahrir dan Schermerhoorn ternyata terjalin suatu kondisi saling percaya yang membuka jalan bagi terobosan-terobosan politik yang sebelumnya dianggap tabu. Presiden Soekarno dan Wakil Presiden Hatta menyusl hadir dan ikut mengambil bagian dalam perundingan tersebut.

Pada hakekatnya dua haluan yang pada dasarnya sangat berbeda harus dipersatukan, ialah kepentingan Republik Indonesia dan kepentingan Negeri Belanda.
Pihak Indonesia memperjuangkan kemerdekaan seutuhnya sebagai suatu negara kesatuan Republik Indonesia dan selanjutnya, atas dasar suka-rela, akan menjalin kerjasama dengan Negeri Belanda. Dunia politik Belanda berbeda-beda pendapat mengenai masa depan suatu Negara Indonesia yang merdeka. Van Mook khususnya, menghendaki suatu negeri federal dimana peranan Republik tidak terlalu menonjol. Federasi tersebut akan terkait erat dengan Negeri Belanda.

Perundingan berjalan alot, namun akhirnya tercapailah Persetujuan Linggajati. Dalam Kesepakatan tersebut, Negeri Belanda mengakui kekuasaan de facto Republik Indonesia di Jawa dan Sumatera. Langkah berikutnya adalah penyerahan kedaulatan secara de jure kepada suatu bentuk negara Indonesia Serikat yang bertalian erat dengan Kerajaan Belanda didalam suatu Uni Indonesia - Belanda. Persetujuan tersebut merupakan suatu uluran tangan antara kedua pihak yang teramat mulia. Secara tulus dapat dinyatakan bahwa usaha tersebut merupakan suatu maha-upaya oleh para politisi yang bersangkutan untuk meyelesaikan jalan buntu yang dihadapi dengan jalan damai berdasarkan saling respek dan saling pengertian untuk posisi masing-masing yang sulit. Mereka tidak berpijak pada politik kekuasaan tetapi berpijak pada kesadaran bahwa suatu kesepakatan damai adalah pilihan terbaik menuju masa depan yang lebih baik.

Sjahrir maupun Schermerhorn lancang memberikan konsesi yang sebenarnya melebihi konsesi yang dapat diterima barisan belakang mereka masing-masing. Di Indonesia maupun di Negeri Belanda, reaksi atas Persetujuan tersebut banyak yang saling bertentangan. Posisi para anggota delegasipun digoyahkan oleh pihak-pihak yang berhaluan keras. Persetujuan tersebut akhirnya memang ditandatangani pada tanggal 25 Maret 1947, namun saling percaya di kedua belah pihak sudah sangat surut. Pihak Indonesia tidak dapat menerima interpretasi yang ditambahkan oleh pihak Belanda ("Linggajati yang telah didandani") maupun rencana pengiriman pasukan baru. Lagi pula, sistim federal negara-negara bagian dianggap politik klasik memecah-belah dan menjajah. Bagi pihak Belanda, pelanggaran-pelanggaran atas genjatan senjata yang terus-menerus berlangsung dan agitasi pro negara kesatuan merupakan duri di mata. Akhirnya Sjahrir maupun Van Mook terpaksa harus mengundurkan diri. Tidak lama kemudianpun, Persetujuan tersebut terjerumus bermandikan darah sebagai akibat dua kali Aksi Polisi. Setelah peperangan berlangsung dua setengah tahun, akhirnya kedaulatan Republik Indonesia diserahkan juga sesuai dengan jiwa Persetujuan Linggajati.

Stichting Vrienden van Linggarjati                                                    Stichting Indisch Erfgoed