In 1942, the Dutch East Indies quickly fell to the Japanese, which swept across almost all of Asia. The defeat of the Dutch in Asia followed their defeat in Europe by Germany which forced the Dutch government to flee to London. The Netherlands, which was previously a colonizing country, turned into a colonized one.
Then for about 3.5 years Japan occupied Indonesia. When the Japanese position was getting more desperate in the Pacific War by the end of 1944, they began to promise independence to Indonesia in the hope that the Indonesian people would continue to help against the Allies.
After Japan surrendered due to atomic bombing in August 1945, Indonesian leaders quickly took advantage of the power vacuum in Indonesia to proclaim Indonesian independence.
Meanwhile, the Dutch, who felt they had won the war, did not accept the independence of their colonies. They wanted to return to power in Indonesia. So, piggybacking on the Allied troops who came to disarm the Japanese troops, the Dutch troops entered Indonesia.
However, the desire of the Indonesian people for independence could no longer be held back, the Dutch also faced fierce resistance from the people. As a result, war broke out in 1945-1949.
The photo above shows the Dutch army camp in Indonesia in 1948 during the war of independence. A military camp on the bank of a river with a bamboo bridge and army barracks. Unfortunately, we don't know where it was.
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