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Starting in the early 1600s, the Dutch East India Company had grown to become the dominant power in the archipelago. After the company was liquidated in 1799, and after a British interregnum during the Napoleonic Wars, the Dutch government took over administration until the independence of Indonesia in 1949 following the Indonesian National Revolution.

During the 1920's Sukarno had actively encouraged the Japanese Empire to declare war upon the western powers of the Pacific, and was serving the second of two sentences for sedition when on January 11, 1942 JapanJapan (, Nippon/Nihon literally "the origin of the sun") is a country in East Asia situated on a chain of islands east of the Asian continent on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. The largest of these islands are, from north to south, Hokkaido , Honsh declared war on the Netherlands and invaded the Dutch East Indies. During the Pacific war Sukarno organised the supply of aviation fuel required for the Pacific WarThe Pacific War (1937 1945) is not to be confused with the War of the Pacific (1879 1884) in South America. The Pacific War which took place mostly in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in Asia, both preceded World War II and also included some of its ma, volunteer work brigades, a national self defence army ( PetaThis article describes the SI prefix peta . For other meanings, see Peta (disambiguation In physics and mathematics, peta (symbol: P is a prefix in the SI system of units denoting 1015, or 1,000,000,000,000,000. For example: 1 petametre 1015 metres 1 peta), a Vanguard Corps ( Barisan Pelopor ), was decorated by the Emperor in 19431943 is the common year starting on Friday. Events January January 4 End of term for Culbert Olson, 29th Governor of California. He is succeeded by Earl Warren. January 11 The United States and United Kingdom give up territorial rights in China. January 1 and in March 19431943 is the common year starting on Friday. Events January January 4 End of term for Culbert Olson, 29th Governor of California. He is succeeded by Earl Warren. January 11 The United States and United Kingdom give up territorial rights in China. January 1 was appointed by JapanJapan (, Nippon/Nihon literally "the origin of the sun") is a country in East Asia situated on a chain of islands east of the Asian continent on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. The largest of these islands are, from north to south, Hokkaido , Honsh to head a independence committee for JavaJava ( Indonesian: Jawa , area 132,000 square km, has 114 million inhabitants and is the most densely populated island in Indonesia, with 864 people per km². If it were a country it would be the second most densely populated country of the world, except f and Sumatra. Proclaiming himself leader of an independent East Indies in 1945, Sukarno had the military forces to eliminate the opposition independence movements and to thwart the Netherlands attempts to reclaim the islands. In March 1949 the Dutch Foreign Minister Stikker was informed the United States were considering economic sanctions if the Netherlands continued refusing to comply with Security Council directives. These wars were euphemistically called "police actions" in an eventually unsuccessful attempt to bypass UN restrictions.

The Dutch retained sovereignty over Dutch New Guinea, the west side of the island of New Guinea and took urgent steps to prepare it for independence; some five thousand teachers were flown to Dutch New Guinea; though Papuan workers were comparable to western workers in skills and duties, the Dutch put an emphesia upon political, business, and civic skills. The first Papuan naval cadets graduated in 1955 and the first Papuan army brigade become operational in 1956; elections were held across Dutch New Guinea in 1959 and an elected Papuan Council official took office on 5th April 1961 to prepare for full indpendence by the end of that decade. The Dutch endorsed the Papuan Council's selection of a new national name ('West Papua'), antheme, and the Morning Star as the new national flag for Dutch New Guinea upon 1st December 1961. As with the Moluccas (called Maluku by Indonesia) and East Timor, Indonesia invaded two weeks later on the 18th December 1961 to prevent any further independence efforts by the Papuan people.

The capital of the Dutch East Indies was Batavia, now known as Jakarta.