Panel
2. From Oceanic Crossroads: Empires, Networks and Histories
The period of the independence revolution was a very important period in Indonesian history, including in Aceh. As a region that had a long history of struggle against Dutch colonialism, the course of the independence revolution in Aceh has its own uniqueness. Even though the Dutch never returned to Aceh, the surge of revolution in Aceh was no less than in other regions in Indonesia. The Acehnese not only strengthened defense bases in Aceh itself, but also deployed fighters to the Medan Area Front in East Sumatra. Both strategies proved quite successful in defending their territory from Dutch aggression. This article discusses the connection between the struggle of the Acehnese people in the Medan Area Front with the course of the revolution the Indonesian independence revolution as a whole. This study is interesting because so far there has not been a single academic study that examines this matter, so this study can make a valuable contribution to the historiography of the revolution in Aceh. After analyzing of various sources, such as NEFIS documents in the National Archives in Jakarta and Algemene Rijks Archief (ARA) Den Haag, official documents of the government, newspaper documents, as well as local documents collected by the Aceh Documentation and Information Center (PDIA), it can be concluded that the involvement of the Acehnese fighters in the Medan Area Front was a defensive strategy to prevent Dutch aggression against Aceh. This success also provided many benefits for the continuation of the Indonesian revolution as a whole.
Mawardi Umar
Universitas Syiah Kuala, Indonesia