[Marxism] Timor/WW2

[Tom O'Lincoln <suarsos@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

A few remarks

In reply to Clinton and Phil: I don't claim to have documented anything
in detail about 1999. I did compile various materials (now very dated)
and they are here:
http://www.anu.edu.au/polsci/marx/archive/timor/menu2.htm

In reply to David:.

1. Yes the sentiment turned against Japan earlier than "late in the
war'; that was a sloppy formulation. The reason remains the same, in my
opinion: Japanese brutality reflected the desperate position they were
in. I know that sounds odd given they'd just conquered so much
territory, but that's precisely the point, they had seized a vast
portion of the globe without the resources to hold it. There were signs
of malnutrition appearing IN JAPAN around the time of Pearl Harbour.

2. (Of course point 1 above is over-simplified - there were other
factors. That would be a discussion in its own right.)

3. I agree there wasn't an anti-war movement in the US after Pearl
Harbour, and tactics had to be subtle, but does it follow that the two
trotskyist groups  (SWP and WP) actually supported the war effort? Happy
to be convinced, that just wasn't my recollection.

5. Regarding pro- and anti-Japanese sentiment in Asia, well we have each
quoted some useful facts. Let me just say a bit more about Indonesia.
There was an anti-Japanese underground, consisting (put simply) of the
Communists and the Social Democrats, both of whom leaned towards Dutch
imperialism. The Communists because of popular front politics, the
Social Democrats because of support for western social democracy.
However the main nationalist leader, Sukarno, collaborated with Japan
and in fact he read out the Declaration of Independence with the
acquiescence of Japan. One of my Indonesian textbooks has a picture of
crowds gathered for his speech just after the declaration, with Japanese
soldiers keeping order.  Later on, of course, the western allies
reasserted Dutch control. Here is some info from my rough manuscript on
that:

***

In Indonesia, where the Dutch were initially unable to assert much of a
presence, British and Japanese units fought together against Sukarno?s
republican forces around Bandung. The greatest atrocity, however, fell
to the British alone: the merciless shelling of Surabaya in November
1945. The intrepid expatriate K?tut Tantri (Vaneen Walker) who was
there, recorded: ?The streets ran with blood, women and children lay
dead in the gutters. Kampungs [neighbourhoods] were in flames ? but the
Indonesians did not surrender.?  (Quoted in Keay 1997: 257)

Further east, Australian troops did restore Dutch control. Not all of
the soldiers liked doing this. George Bliss of the 7th Division
recalled:

"About six weeks after the war ended we were told we were going into the
Celebes [Sulawesi] ?to supervise the rounding up of the Japanese?. We
realised later that it was to prevent the locals organising against the
return of the Dutch. We went by ship to Makasar. The feeling among the
troops was mostly against the Dutch. On arrival we were lined up on the
wharf, fully equipped in battle order, and marched through the town out
to the Dutch barracks about three miles out. That was the first act of
intimidation."

Later in Pare Pare, Bliss found the independence  movement was
stronger.  ?All along the road the Indonesian flag was flying and people
wore the red and white colours of the flag. The top brass gave orders
forbidding fraternisation. Most ignored that order.?  Bliss, a
Communist, worked actively with the Indonesian rebels and in that regard
he was unusual; but anti-colonial sentiment was widespread in the ranks.
Forty-five Australian servicemen on Balikpapan wrote to Chifley
supporting ?the proclamation of an Indonesian National Republic? and
deploring the use of Japanese forces ?to quell this democratic
movement?.  (Bliss 1980: 11; Day: 2001: 423)

Notwithstanding their personal sentiments, the Australian troops helped
restore Dutch power, with terrible consequences. Their intervention in
Sulawesi paved the way for Dutch captain Paul Westerling, who

"pioneered new methods in counter-insurgency. Whole villages were held
responsible for Republican atrocities in their areas, their inhabitants
being lined up and shot one after another until an informant spoke out.
Westerling?s reign of terror is reliably estimated to have cost as many
lives as the battle of Surabaya."

Emboldened by the success these methods brought, the Dutch ?revived the
idea of repressive tactics in Java?. (Keay 1997: 266)



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