Article(electronic)#1May 15, 2006
Indonesia 1939–1942: Prelude to the Japanese Occupation
In: Journal of Southeast Asian studies, Volume 37, Issue 2, p. 225-248
ISSN: 1474-0680
In the conventional historiography of Indonesia, the Second World War is equated with the Japanese occupation, and 1942 is a year of sudden change. This article argues that there was a prelude to these conditions. Changes in the global economic structure due to the Second World War, and countermeasures by the state authorities, began well before the Japanese invasion. The fundamental problem was the gradually deepening economic isolation that necessitated state intervention.