State, Society and Political Conflict in Bali, 1945-1946

f f i | shot.M oreover, after D ecem ber 1945, the fig h tin g took place p rim a rily in th e villa ges and the ru ral parts o f B a li.T h e re w ere no fo rw a rd lin es o f com bat, no safe areas nor im penetrable m ountain sanctuaries.It w as a w ar in w hich nobody could choose to rem ain n e u tra l.3 W hen th e D utch returned on M arch 2, 1946, B ali w as in a state o f tu rm o il, and the lines o f social and political d ivisio n had been dra w n .D utch m ilita ry and political stra teg ists discovered th a t th e y had been so re ly m istaken in th e ir assum ption th a t the Balinese had no in terest in p olitics and w ould w elcom e the restoration o f D utch a u th o rity .4A lth o u g h som e 2,000 K N IL tro o p s m anaged to land at S an ur beach and Benoa w ith o u t firin g a single shot, w ith in one week th e y w ere facing a fierce g uerrilla resistance.5A secret (N e th e rla n d s Forces Intelligence S e rvic e ) o ve rvie w o f the week March 2 2 -2 9 , 1946, reported th at "e ve ryw h e re anarchy p re va ils and te rro r is taking on serious p ro p o rtio n s ."6T h e re w ere, how ever, sign ifica nt va ria tio n s in the exten t and degree o f political con flict and resistance.T h e base areas o f resistance, and the m ajor centers o f open political con flict w ere w ith in the kingdom s o f T a b a n a n , 3. N yom an M antik, a Balinese pem uda leader w h o spent the R evolution in Ja v a and Bali as a liaison o ffice r, claim s th a t th e fig h tin g in B ali w a s m ore intense than th at in Ja v a .(In te rvie w : I N yom an M antik, A p ril 5, 1986.)D utch officers w h o took part in the occupation o f Bali and w h o later served in Ja v a and Sum atra described the fig h tin g in Bali as "m uch w orse than in J a v a ," "s e ve re and in ten sive g uerrilla c o m b a t," and "fa r w orse than e x p e c te d ."(In te rvie w s : fo rm e r o fficers o f the K N IL B ali/Lom bok B rigade, M ay 1987.) 4. D utch m ilita ry and political re p o rts fro m late 1945 and e a rly 1946 co n siste n tly predicted th at resistance to a D utch reoccupation o f B ali w ould be m inim al o r non exis te n t.A re port fro m D ecem ber 1945, fo r instance, claim ed th a t " ... if a landing o f N etherlan ds tro o p s w ithin a ve ry sh o rt period w ou ld take place, th e Balinese people and its chiefs w ould collaborate w ith the N e th e rla n d s." See "D a ta A b o u t Bali From S ch la g e r," D ecem ber 8, 1945, A lgem een S ecretarie B atavia l e Z endin g (hereafter A S -1 ) , X X II/ 1 9 , A lgem een R ijk sa rch ief, T h e Hague (h e reafter A R A ), In v. N o .2.10.14.A m ilita ry docum ent noted: "N o resistance expected at and after lan din gs. . . .C o oper ation o f Balinese is c e rta in ."In "S itu a tio n as o f D ecem ber 3, 1945," A S -l/ X X II/ 1 9 , A R A , In v. N o.2.10.14. 5.In th e firs t few m o n th s after th e D utch return to Bali (M arch 2, 1946), several hundred B alinese w ere killed by K N IL tro o p s and th e ir Balinese a u xilia ries, and th ousan ds w ere taken as "p ris o n e rs o f w a r." O v e r th e course o f the R evolution (1 9 4 5 -1 9 4 9 ), ro u g h ly 1,400 B alinese died on th e R epublican side alone, and a fu rth e r 700 died fig h tin g on th e side o f th e D u tc h .See the lis t in P e n d it, B a li B e rju a n g , p p. 3 6 8 -9 0 , fo r h is fig u re o f 1,371 death s on th e Republican side.T h e fig u re o f 700 B alinese is m y ow n estim ate o f th ose w h o died fig h tin g on th e side o f th e D utch o r th e ir allies, and th ose w h o w ere th e unrecorded (u n k n o w n ) vic tim s o f te rro r fro m both sides, and is based on th e w eekly and m o n th ly ca su alty sta tistic s from D utch m ilita ry and political re p o rts.T h e relevan t arch ives are: 1) "O v e rz ic h t en O n tw ik k e lin g van de T o e sta n d T ro e p e n c o B a li/ Lo m b o k " (h e reafter 0 0 7 ) in " R a pportage In donesie" (h e reafter R l), N o s 7 4 0 -4 1 (A R A ), In v. N o.2.10.29; 2 ) "W ekelijk sch (M ilita ire ) In lich tin g e n ra p p o rt" (h e reafter W IR ), in R l N o .737, A R A , In v. N o .2.10.29; 3 ) "P o litie k V e rs la g " (title v a rie s ), in A S -1 , A R A , In v .N o .2.10.14.A d d itio n a l copies o f the m o n th ly 0 0 7 s and th e w eekly W IR s fo r B a li/Lom b ok are held b y th e M in isterie van D efensie A rch ie ve n D e p o t [hereafter M vD ) in T h e H ague, In v .32/1, G G -5 , 1407.6

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