Nation-state and National Myths

On 17 August 1945, a few days after the Japanese Emperor unconditionally announced the surrender of Japan to the Allied Powers, Sukarno and Hatta, “on behalf of the Indonesian nation”, proclaimed the independence of Indonesia. The next day the provisional constitution was adopted. Sukarno and Hatta were unanimously elected by the members of the PPKI (Panitia Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia — Preparatory Committee for the Independence of Indonesia) as the President and Vice-President of the newly established nation-state. Within a few days the people of Jakarta, led by the radical youth who had been engaged in underground activities, held demonstrations to show their support of the proclamation. A few weeks later, similar demonstrations of support took place in several cities and towns in Java, and later, also in several towns in Sumatra and on some other islands. Before long the youth in many towns began to take action. They independently organized barisan perjuangan (struggle units), stole weapons from the still very much armed Japanese army, occupied government buildings, hoisted the red and white national flag, and persuaded or simply ordered the older leaders to take charge of the local administration and to form local national committees. The national revolution had begun.

In the nation's historical consciousness, the national revolution — the series of patriotic actions aimed at establishing a sovereign nation-state — has never been conceived as merely a history of past events. It has, from the time of its outbreak, become the most dominant myth of concern of the nation. Not a single event or series of events could match the magic of this episode in the people's historical consciousness. An historical fact that can be ascertained by available written texts, historic remnants, and personal and collective memories, the national revolution has also functioned as a kind of a national primeval myth, on the basis of which the mythologization of certain past events could be undertaken.