On January 4, 1946 President Soekarno's entourage left Jakarta to Yogyakarta by a special steam train. President Soekarno's administration thought that Jakarta was no longer safe at that time after Allied forces came to disarm Japanese soldiers. Since then, Yogyakarta replaced Jakarta as the capital of Indonesia.
On July 21, 1947 the Dutch military started their first aggression to Indonesia's regions. Indonesia responded quickly by sending a protest note to the United Nations that instructed both parties to hold a truce on August 1947.
The photo by Hugo Wilmar above shows how people lived in Yogyakarta on December 1947, when the city was the capital of Indonesia.
The truce only lasted for about a year before the Dutch military launched their second aggression towards Indonesia's regions on December 1948. This time the Dutch military targeted Yogyakarta as the capital and captured Indonesia's leaders and sent them on exile to a remote island.
The second aggression failed miserably and the Dutch military finally left Indonesia by the end of 1949. Indonesia's government and capital then moved back to Jakarta since then. But, Yogyakarta remains an important part of Indonesian history as the capital in a dangerous time.
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