| rdfs:comment
| - Indonesia is a country located in Southeast Asia. It has five major islands, such as Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes, and Papua. It appears in the Rise of Nations "conquer-the-world" campaign map, but it is an unclaimed territory which cannot be claimed by any nations. Its position around the equator makes it as the most fertile nation in Asia, which in turn provides various natural resources for the well-being of its brown-skinned, black-haired, virtuous, and benevolent people. As a natural bridge between Asia, Australia, the Pacific Ocean, and the Indian Ocean, it had attracted many European traders and conquerors to exploit its natural resources, primarily spice, and make it as a bastion to control the naval trade routes across the world.
|
| abstract
| - Indonesia is a country located in Southeast Asia. It has five major islands, such as Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes, and Papua. It appears in the Rise of Nations "conquer-the-world" campaign map, but it is an unclaimed territory which cannot be claimed by any nations. Its position around the equator makes it as the most fertile nation in Asia, which in turn provides various natural resources for the well-being of its brown-skinned, black-haired, virtuous, and benevolent people. As a natural bridge between Asia, Australia, the Pacific Ocean, and the Indian Ocean, it had attracted many European traders and conquerors to exploit its natural resources, primarily spice, and make it as a bastion to control the naval trade routes across the world. During the Ancient Age, many immigrants from Southern China came to the Southeast Asian archipelago of what is now known as Indonesia. They brought with them their faith of animism and dynamism - a kind of religion which emphasize on the worship of ancestors, trees, stones, and waters. The Classical Age witnessed a wave of immigrants from Eastern India arrived on the islands, along with Hinduism and Buddhism as their primary religions. The acculturation between Hinduism, Buddhism, and local religions of animism and dynamism created new kinds of religion known as Kejawen - which was worshipped by many Indonesians, primarily Javanese, who soon dominated the islands through various small kingdoms. One of these kingdoms, the Srivijaya, gained prominence and supremacy during the early Medieval Age, as it successfully conquered and united hundreds of city-states and small kingdoms across Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, and beyond to the Southeast Asian peninsula. It became known as the first kingdom to unify most part of what is now known as Indonesia. Its growing naval supremacy brought it to a disastrous war with Chola Kingdom from India, which slowly diminished its influence onwards. Another kingdom, the Majapahit, arose to take its place during the late Medieval Age. A group of elite soldiers known as the Bhayangkara was so crucial in its campaign to conquer and unify the other city-states and small kingdoms across Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes, and Papua. During the zenith of its power in the early Gunpowder Age, it successfully conquered and united about 4/5 of what is now known as Indonesia under a single imperial banner. Its naval supremacy was short-lived however, as a new emerging power arose across its western territories, crippling its political, economic, cultural, and religious unity. The late Gunpowder Age brought a pivotal and dramatic change on the course of the islands' history. Various Islamic sultanates chipped away the territories belong to the declining Majapahit Empire. However, even more dangerous threat loomed over the horizon as the Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch explorers began to colonize the islands and set up trades with local kingdoms. The Majapahit Empire finally collapsed, while the Islamic kingdoms emerged, and the European explorers attempted to find a way to control the islands. In the Enlightment Age, the Dutch managed to rid the islands from the Portuguese and Spanish presence, established the Dutch East Indies Company, and set up a monopoly of spice trade. The Company established alliances with some local kingdoms to conquer the others. In the end, the Company conquered all local kingdoms, eventually became a single ruler across the islands. The Company exploited every single natural resources for their own profit, enjoyed a golden age of prosperity, but also engulfed in corruption among its own leadership and with the local kingdoms. As the Industrial Age swept across Europe, the ongoing corruption within the body of the Dutch East Indies Company intensified, proceeded in its bankruptcy, and ended in its dissolution in 1800. A new era began when the Dutch government quickly took over the islands in order to maintain the monopoly of spice trade. The Dutch government ruled the islands with extremely harsh approach through a series of forced planting programmes which brought sporadic rebellions between the locals and the Dutch government. Entering the Modern Age, as World War II occured across the globe, Japan appeared as the Old Brother of Asia which claimed that they could set all Asian nations free from the Western tyranny and oppression. The Dutch Navy was defeated after the Battle of Java Sea against the Japanese Navy, and so Japan successfully took over Indonesia with relatively ease. Under the Japanese occupation, many Indonesian nationalists cooperated with Japan to gain independence, while at the same time, many Indonesians experienced an oppression not better than the Dutch had done to them for the last 350 years. On 17 August 1945, after the Japanese defeat in World War II, The first Indonesian president, Sukarno, declared the independence of Indonesia with the support of all Indonesians. However, the independence was short-lived as the Dutch, along with the British returned to Indonesia. Desperate to maintain their independence, the Indonesians struggled against the Dutch and British for about 4 years through military and diplomatic means, until the Dutch finally recognized the Indonesian independence on 27 December 1949. The post-independence era proved too much for the Indonesians. Extreme poverty and political fluctuation gripped the nation, while regional separatists, Islamic insurgents, and Communist rebels attempted to gain an upper hand against the weakened its government. In 1965, more than 100,000 people who were alledged as "communists" were obliterated by General Suharto as he attempted to quell the Communist rebellion. General Suharto's great success in destroying the communist power structure in Indonesia eventually led him to be appointed by President Sukarno to become the second president of Indonesia in 1966. For the next 32 years, Indonesia developed rapidly under the leadership of President Suharto, who also navigated the Cold War by supporting the United States of America in the Vietnam War and liberating East Timor from the communist government. Although his pro-Western regime was backed by the United States of America and its allies, his rule turned out to be an ironfist capitalist dictatorship. Without any oppositions, corruption ran rampant within the government and pushed the economy into fatal collapse in 1997. In 1998, the power of the Information Age eventually brought many students to held demonstrations in Jakarta to force President Suharto to abdicate the presidency and restore democracy in Indonesia. BJ Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid, Megawati Sukarnoputri, and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in turn became its next presidents who attempted to restore democracy, bit by bit. In 2002, the island of Bali was bombed by Islamic terrorists, but the Indonesian government quickly hunted down terrorists. Indonesia became one of the most important allies for the United States of America in the War on Terror. In 2014, a new chapter for Indonesia began when Joko Widodo was elected as the 7th president of Indonesia following his slight victory over Prabowo Subianto. His exemplary, modesty, humility, honesty, cleanliness, trustworthy, and friendliness to the people became his primary assets to reunite and redevelop Indonesia into a powerful and respected nation among the world's major powers. The Indonesian economy significantly flourished and the nation slowly caught up to become one of new emerging powers in the early 21st century.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)