This book examines the role of the international community in the handover of the Dutch colony of West Papua/Irian Jaya to Indonesia in the 1960s and questions whether or not the West Papuan people ever genuinely exercised the right to self-determination guaranteed to them in the UN-brokered Dutch/Indonesian agreement of 1962. Indonesian, Dutch, US, Soviet, Australian and British involvement is discussed, but particular emphasis is given to the central part played by the United Nations in the implementation of this agreement. As guarantor, the UN temporarily took over the territory's administration from the Dutch before transferring control to Indonesia in 1963. After five years of Indonesian rule, a UN team returned to West Papua to monitor and endorse a controversial act of self-determination that resulted in a unanimous vote by 1022 Papuan 'representatives' to reject independence. Despite this, the issue is still very much alive today as a crisis-hit Indonesia faces continued armed rebellion and growing calls for freedom in West Papua.

Australia's contribution to Indonesia's independence struggle is broadly well-known and this book explores an important part of the story: Australia's leading role in the 1947 UN Consular Commission and the monitoring of the first UN cease-fire order. The commission's military observers were pioneer peacekeepers, and an examination of the commission's activities is useful for understanding the Indonesian independence struggle in the following years. Australia's involvement also played a positive role in long-term Australian-Indonesian relations.

A revealing reassessment of the American government's position towards Indonesia's struggle for independence.

Scott (copy 1): From the John Holmes Library collection.

Introduction : the outskirts of the nation -- The golden bridge -- Buried guns -- Imagining independence -- Eager girls -- Sea of fire -- Letting loose the water buffaloes -- The memory artist -- Conclusion : the sense of an ending.

Revolusi! is the book accompanying the Rijksmuseum exhibition, in which the Indonesian struggle for independence is followed through the eyes of the people who were there. ‘Revolusi!’ explores the history of the Indonesian struggle for independence between 1945 and 1949. Central to this are the fighters, artists, diplomats, politicians, journalists, men, women and children who experienced the revolution first hand. Dutch and Indonesian authors show how the ideal of a free Indonesia was fervently pursued; how it was fought over, how negotiations took place, how propaganda was carried out and how the revolution changed people’s lives. In this way ‘Revolusi!’ presents a range of personal and collective experiences, told from multiple points of view: from Indonesian and Dutch perspectives as well as those of the groups and individuals in between, with an eye towards the international power arena. It is published in collaboration with the Rijksmuseum. The contemporary works of art, historical objects, propaganda posters, films, photographs and archival documents that accompany these stories testify to a turbulent past.