Chapter culture of Spain

Colonial era

Main article: Dutch East Indies
The submission of Prince Diponegoro to General De Kock at the end of the Java War in 1830
The first Europeans arrived in the archipelago in 1512, when Portuguese traders, led by Francisco Serrão, sought to monopolise the sources of nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in the Maluku Islands.[33] Dutch and British traders followed. In 1602, the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and became the dominant European power for almost 200 years. The VOC was dissolved in 1799 following bankruptcy, and the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies as a nationalised colony.[34]
For most of the colonial period, Dutch control over the archipelago was tenuous. Dutch forces were engaged continuously in quelling rebellions on and off Java. The influence of local leaders such as Prince Diponegoro in central Java, Imam Bonjol in central Sumatra, Pattimura in Maluku, and the bloody thirty-year Aceh War weakened the Dutch and tied up the colonial military forces.[35][36][37] Only in the early 20th century did Dutch dominance extend to what was to become Indonesia's current boundaries.[37][38][39][40]
The Japanese invasion and occupation during World War II ended Dutch rule[41][42][43] and encouraged the independence movement.[44] Two days after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta issued the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence. Then, Sukarno, Mohammad Hatta and Sutan Sjahrir, influential nationalist leaders, were appointed president, vice-president and prime minister respectively.[45][46][47][45]
The Netherlands attempted to re-establish their rule, beginning the Indonesian National Revolution which ended in December 1949 when the Dutch recognised Indonesian independence in the face of international pressure.[48][47] Despite extraordinary political, social, and sectarian divisions, Indonesians, on the whole, found unity in their fight for independence.[49][50]

Post-World War II

Sukarno (left) and Hatta (right), Indonesia's founding fathers and the first President and Vice President respectively
As president, Sukarno moved Indonesia from democracy towards authoritarianism and maintained power by balancing the opposing forces of the military, political Islam, and the increasingly powerful Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI).[51] Tensions between the military and the PKI culminated in an attempted coup in 1965. The army, led by Major General Suharto, countered by instigating a violent anti-communist purge that killed between 500,000 and one million people and incarcerated roughly a million more in concentration camps.[52][53][54][55] The PKI was blamed for the coup and effectively destroyed.[56][57][58] Suharto capitalised on Sukarno's weakened position, and following a drawn-out power play with Sukarno, Suharto was appointed president in March 1968. His "New Order" administration,[59] supported by the United States,[60][61][62] encouraged foreign direct investment,[63][64][65] which was a crucial factor in the subsequent three decades of substantial economic growth.
Indonesia was the country hardest hit by the 1997 Asian financial crisis.[66] It brought out popular discontent with the New Order's corruption and suppression of political opposition and ultimately ended Suharto's presidency.[41][67][68][69] In 1999, East Timor seceded from Indonesia, following its 1975 invasion by Indonesia[70] and a 25-year occupation marked by international condemnation of human rights abuses.[71]
Since 1998, democratic processes have been strengthened by enhancing regional autonomy and instituting the country's first direct presidential election in 2004.[72] Political, economic and social instability, corruption, and instances of terrorism remained problems in the 2000s; however, the economy has performed strongly since 2007. Although relations among the diverse population are mostly harmonious, acute sectarian discontent and violence remain problematic in some areas.[73] A political settlement to an armed separatist conflict in Aceh was achieved in 2005.[74]