Indonesian History for The Moslem Awakening in Indonesia

The beginning of the 20th century also saw the beginning of the Moslem awakening in Indonesia. The early Islamic movement was based pnmarily on the basic tenet that Clod wifl not change the destiny of a person or a nat ion, unless a conscious effort is made to change it. The poverty that plagued the masses of indigenous Indonesians and the dominance of the Chinese segment of the population in trade and economy, explains the emphasis which movement’s leaders placed on improvi ng the material well-beingof the people.
In 1911, the Islamic Trade Association (Serikat Dagang islam, or SDI) was founded in Surakarta at the initiative of H. Samanhudi. The following year it became the Islamic Association (Serikat Islam, or SI). The associat ion’s popularity grew significantly after Hail

Umar Said Cokroaminoto, a young Moslem int ellectual, joined its ranks and took over its leadership.
In 1912, at the initiative of another modern Moslem leader, Kiai Haji Achmad Dahian, the Muharnadiyah movement was established in Yogyakarta, dedicating itself primarily to the promotion of the social welfare and education of the people.
The end of Dutch colonialism
Only a few months after the outbreak of World War 11 in 1939, German forces occupied the Netherlands, forcing the queen and her government to flee to Britain. In Asia, the Netherlands East Indies government, realizing that war was impending in this part of the world, sought to placate the leaders of the ind ependence movement and offered them to cooperate in return for reforms in the future. The Indonesians did not respond. Even after the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor and the war in the Pacific was sparked off, the Dutch still came with promises for administrative changes. It was, however, too late and too litt le. The Japanese forces invaded Java the following year, and on March 9, 1942, after only a few weeks of sporadic fighting, the Dutch Governor-General, Tjarda van Starkenborgh-Stachouwer, surrendered.

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