Eighty years ago today, on August 17, 1945 (the tenth day of the seventh lunar month), the Indonesian August Revolution broke out.

On August 14, 1945, news of Japan's surrender reached Indonesia. The next night, the Indonesian Communist Party held a secret meeting and decided to send representatives to meet with the leaders of the nationalist movement Sukarno and Hada, urging them to declare independence in the name of the Indonesian people. On the 17th, Sukarno and Hada signed the Declaration of Independence, declaring the founding of the Republic of Indonesia.

On the 18th, the "Indonesian Independent Preparatory Committee" composed of various political parties and social groups held a meeting to adopt the constitution of the republic and elected Sukarno and Hada as the president and vice president respectively. A new situation emerged across the country in which the weapons of the Japanese army were confiscated and local power of the republic was established.

On September 29, British troops landed in Java and occupied cities such as Jakarta, Bandung, and Semarang. The British invasion was resolutely resisted by the Indonesian military and civilians, and severely injured the British army. In October 1946, the British army withdrew and handed over the occupied area to the Netherlands. The Netherlands, with the support of Britain and the United States, attempted to rebuild the colony. On November 15, the Indonesian government with Sharir as prime minister compromised and signed the "Limmoyeti Agreement" with the Netherlands. The Netherlands only recognized sovereignty in Java, Madura and Sumatra, and the rest of the territory was controlled by the Netherlands. Sharir resigned amid domestic opposition. Salifu became the successor as head of government and implemented reforms in the country to consolidate the republic's power.

On July 20, 1947, the Netherlands launched the "First Guards Operation", the colonial war. On January 12, 1948, under the "mediation" of Australia, the United States, and Belgium, the Indonesian government signed the "Renville Agreement" with the Netherlands. Two-thirds of Java Island, the entire Madura Island and part of Sumatra Island were occupied by the Netherlands. In September, the Indonesian government, with the support of Britain and the Netherlands, created an anti-communist "Jasmine Incident", massacring Communists and progressives. The leaders of the Indonesian Communist Party, Mousseau, Sharifuddin, and others, sacrificed themselves. Anti-Dutch, united front broke down.

On December 19, the Netherlands launched the "Second Guard Operation" to capture Yogyakarta, the temporary capital of the republic, and Soekarno and other leaders were captured. Indonesian military and civilian continued to wage guerrilla warfare. In August 1949, the Dutch-Indonesian "Garden Table Conference" was held in The Hague. On November 2, the "Hague Table Conference Agreement" was signed, which stipulated that the Republic of Indonesia and fifteen puppet states form the "Federal Republic of Indonesia", headed by the Queen of the Netherlands, and "permanent cooperation" with the Netherlands in foreign affairs, defense, finance, culture, and economy. West Irian continued to be occupied by the Netherlands. The agreement marked the end of the "August Revolution" in a compromise.