Indonesia's independence was proclaimed on August 17, 1945, marked by the reading of the text of the proclamation by Ir Soekarno on Jalan Pegangsaan Timur, Central Jakarta. However, it is not an easy matter to proclaim this independence. There was a great sacrifice for the Indonesian people to be free from colonialism. Japan's defeat of the Allies On August 6, 1945, the city of Hiroshima, Japan, was devastated by the atomic bomb dropped by the United States. It didn't stop there, Nagasaki City, Japan, became the next bomb target on August 9, 1945, three days after the bomb in Hiroshima City. Within seconds, the two bombs killed hundreds of thousands of people. These two events forced Japan to surrender to the allies, marking the end of World War II. Knowing this, young Indonesians urged Soekarno and Hatta to immediately proclaim Indonesia's independence. Soekarno-Hatta kidnapping To urge Bung Karno to immediately proclaim Indonesia's independence, youth groups kidnapped Soekarno and Muhammad Hatta to Rengasdengklok, Karawang on August 16, 1945 in the early hours of the morning. At that event, it was agreed that the proclamation of independence was announced on Friday, August 17, 1945. After the agreement, Bung Karno and Bung Hatta were brought back to Jakarta and arrived at 02.00 WIB in the morning, eight hours before the proclamation. Arriving in Jakarta, they stopped at the house of Rear Admiral Tadashi Maeda, the Chief of Naval and Army Liaison of the Imperial Japanese Army. It was at Admiral Maeda's house that the three of them formulated the text of the proclamation. Proclamation text Kompas daily, August 16, 1975 reported that Bung Karno wrote an opening sentence on a piece of paper which read: We, the Indonesian people, hereby declare the independence of Indonesia. The sentence was taken from the draft of the preamble to the Constitution which was produced on June 22, 1945 by a Small Committee consisting of nine and formed by the Investigative Agency for Preparatory Work for Indonesian Independence (BPUPKI). Bung Hatta then added a second sentence to the text of the proclamation. According to him, the first sentence only tries to express the nation's will to determine its own destiny. Therefore, there must be a complement that emphasizes how to organize a national revolution. On the basis of this idea, he wrote: Matters concerning the transfer of power and others are carried out in a careful manner and in the shortest possible time. After the text of the proclamation was prepared, the meeting ended with an announcement from Bung Karno that the proclamation would be read out at 10.00 WIB in his yard, Jalan Pegangsaan Timur Number 56, Jakarta. Initially, the reading of the text of the proclamation of independence will be held at Ikada Square. However, Japanese troops who continued to patrol around Ikada Square raised fears of clashes.
Finally, Soekarno's house on Jalan Pegangsaan Timur 56 was chosen as the place where the text of the proclamation was read.
Thank you.
