31 January 1946

General Spoor Appointed Commander of KNIL

VIVAnews - 63 year ago today, on 31 January 1946, General Simon Hendrik Spoor was appointed Supreme Commander of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL).

General Simon Spoor was born in Amsterdam on 12 January 1902. Twenty one years later, Spoor graduated from the Dutch military academy (Koninklijke Militaire Academie) and joined the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army. In 1943, Spoor, who was also a lecturer in his alma mater, was appointed director of the Dutch Military Information Service (NEFIS) in Australia.

Three years later, in 1946, Spoor was transferred to Batavia and took over command of the KNIL. At the time, the Netherlands Indies was at war with the new Republic of Indonesia which six month earlier had declared its independence. Under Spoor’s command, the conflict between the Dutch and Indonesia escalated and became even more violent.

On 21 July 1947, after both parties failed to implement the terms of Linggardjati Agreement, Spoor led the Netherlands army in a large-scale offensive against the Republic (Operation Product). His military operation was successful, and the Dutch was able to occupy parts of Indonesia including West Java, Madura, parts of East Java, and parts of Sumatra.

On 19 December 1948, Spoor commanded the second Dutch invasion (Operation Crow) which proved to be more successful than the last one. In less than one day, the Dutch army managed to occupy Yogyakarta, then capital of Indonesia, and arrested nearly all of its leaders, including President Soekarno and Vice President Hatta.

Unfortunately, Spoor's military successes were undermined by his country's political failures. In the end, his two successful military operations against Indonesia gained almost nothing since over time the Dutch had to return all of its hard-won territories back to Indonesia through the Renville Agreement in 1948 and the Round Table Agreement in 1949.

General Spoor died unexpectedly on 26 May 1949. Seven months later, the Dutch acknowledged Indonesia's independence and the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army were withdrawn from Indonesia.

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