Children of the Revolution in Purwokerto, 1946 (John Florea/LIFE)
After Japan's defeat in World War II, the nation's founders cleverly and courageously took the opportunity to proclaim Indonesia's independence in the midst of a vacuum of power. The Dutch were shocked, their colonies liberated themselves at the end of the great war that devastated Europe, including the Netherlands.
When the Allied troops entered Indonesia to disarm the surrendered Japanese soldiers, the Republic of Indonesia was already established. The Dutch, who did not accept them, immediately prepared a plan for military aggression on the territory of the Republic of Indonesia.
In fact, the condition of the Netherlands was completely destroyed after the German occupation, but this actually strengthened the important role of Indonesia as a colony that contributed a lot to the Netherlands. Such an important asset would not just be given up.
However, the echoes of independence have already strengthened in Indonesia, all levels of society are already infatuated with independence. Even the young children had the freedom fever, they played role-playing games against the invaders.
The photo above shows how children in Purwokerto in 1946 played with toy gun in their hands. We can see graffiti with the words 'Indonesia Merdeka' on the wall behind them, which means 'Independent Indonesia'.
From this photo, we can see the economic difficulties experienced by the Indonesian people at that time due to the war. The children looked thin and wore modest clothes. The 3.5 years of Japanese occupation had worsened Indonesia's economic condition, which was actually still shaking after the Great Depression.