Page 7 - E-BOOK SEJARAH DAN BUDAYA INDONESIA

BACKGROUND

On August 6, 1945 an atomic bomb was dropped over the Japanese city of Hiroshima by
the United States which began to demoralize Japanese soldiers around the world. A day later, the
Investigating Agency for Independence Preparation Efforts (abbreviated as BPUPK; Japanese: 独

立準備調査会, Dokuritsu Junbi Chōsa-kai), renamed the Indonesian Independence Preparatory
Committee (abbreviated as PPKI; Japanese: 独立準備委員会, Dokuritsu Junbi Iin-kai), to further
affirm the desire and goal of achieving Indonesian independence. On August 9, 1945, a second
atomic bomb was dropped over Nagasaki, which caused Japan to surrender to the United States
and its allies. This moment was also used by Indonesia to proclaim its independence.

Soekarno and Hatta as ppki leaders and Radjiman Wedyodiningrat as the former chairman
of BPUPKI were flown to Dalat, 250 km northeast of Saigon, Vietnam, to meet Marshal Hisaichi
Terauchi, Japan's highest leader in Southeast Asia and the son of former Prime Minister Terauchi
Masatake. The three of them reportedly that the Japanese forces were on the verge of defeat and
would grant independence to Indonesia. Meanwhile in Indonesia, on August 10, 1945, Sutan
Syahrir had heard the news over the radio that Japan had surrendered to the Allies. The
underground fighters were preparing to proclaim Indonesian independence, and rejected the form
of independence given as a Japanese gift.

On August 12, 1945, Japan through Marshal Terauchi in Dalat, Vietnam, told Soekarno,
Hatta, and Radjiman that the Japanese government would soon grant independence to Indonesia
and the proclamation of independence could be carried out in a few days, based on the PPKI
team. Nonetheless, Terauchi wanted the proclamation to be held on August 24, 1945. Two days
later, when Soekarno, Hatta, and Radjiman returned to their homeland from Dalat, Sutan Syahrir
urged Soekarno to immediately proclaim independence because he regarded the results of the
meeting in Dalat as a Japanese gimmick, because Japan had surrendered to the Allies and in order
to avoid divisions within the nationalist camp, between the anti-and-pro-Japanese. Hatta told
Syahrir about the results of the meeting in Dalat. Sukarno was not yet convinced that Japan had
indeed surrendered, and the proclamation of Indonesian independence at that time could cause
great bloodshed, and could be fatal if the Indonesian fighters were not ready. Soekarno reminded
Hatta that Syahrir had no right to proclaim independence because it was the right of the
PPKI. Meanwhile, Syahrir considered the PPKI to be a Japanese-made body and the proclamation
of independence by the PPKI was only a 'gift' from Japan.

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