How Did the Dutch Create An Army After World War 2? | Indonesian War 1945 -1949

Following the German occupation of the Netherlands in 1940 and the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in 1942, the Netherlands was largely without an army as most of its soldiers surrendered or had been killed. However by 1945 when Indonesian independence was illegally declared, they were able to scramble together an effective fighting force that defeated the Nationalists in many engagements over the course of the next 4 years. But how did they do this? In this video I'll look at how the post-war Dutch military was able to draw on the help of escaped Dutch soldiers in both the Princes Irene Brigade serving in Britain and escaped KNIL soldiers in Australia, as well as Dutch ex-Waffen SS soldiers who had fought for the Germans on the East Front, members of the Dutch Resistance, and loyal Indonesians such as the Malukans to achieve this.
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Music Used:
Hiding Your Reality - Kevin MacLeod
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"Sunday Dub” - Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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#Nederland #Dutch #WW2

[@onlyfacts4999]

ex-Waffen SS troops vs Japanese-armed Indonesians, what a crossover battle between former allies lol

[@comradekenobi6908]

There’s also German U boat crews fighting on the side of the Indonesians, and some even trained local militias

[@comradekenobi6908]

@@alanahmed7144 the Kriegsmarine aren't that indoctrinated as the SS for example, and maybe because the Dutch Were Germany's enemy in that war and the German just want to piss them off one last time

[@pukingpanda1803]

@@comradekenobi6908 The only information I can find about that is a German U-Boat's typewriter being handed to the German consulate in Indonesia which was then given to the Indonesians who wrote the Indonesian Declaration of Independence on it. Also I strongly doubt Germans would fight with the Indonesians almost a year after their surrender. There is also no particular enmity the Germans had towards the Dutch (like they did have with the French or Poles for example) that would motivate them to do so.

[@comradekenobi6908]

@@pukingpanda1803 I have an instagram account with the German sailors's photos

[@ChrisCVW]

The bicycle vs bicycle engagements must have been epic

[@mhk1.]

When you’re a Dutch Officer and your soldiers clap their heels together: *CONFUSED SCREAMING*

[@robinderoos1166]

In the near future it may happen again, the way Europe is developing...

[@gta1kev]

@@robinderoos1166 wouldn't be surprised under this European leadership and a failing national leadership. With the covid rules now in Europe it is getting scary

[@xeon39688]

@@gta1kev one name, Merkel

[@gta1kev]

Partly true, but I believe more are there in the game.

[@theassasinboy13]

@@gta1kev yeah it’s so scary here right now 🙄

[@qwertyuiopzxcfgh]

My grandfather was there as well. He was dragged out of his house by the military police because he didn't want to go. He took his stories of his experiences there with him to his grave, going quiet whenever Indonesia was mentioned.

[@historywithhilbert146]

I think for many people, certainly who fought for the Dutch, and I imagine also for those fighting on the other, it was a very traumatising time when they were expected to and had things done to them that would stay with them for the rest of their lives.

[@jessedebruijn8310]

Mine too got drafted to the stoottroepen

[@hazanghideyoshi]

My grandfather also one of Indonesian army, he join a lot of battle at that time,since 1945-1949, but few month before Dutch accept Indonesia independent he got killed in battle of 1 march 1949, my grandmother know everything about him and his story,my grandmother always tell my grandfather story to their children,for me he doing amazing work for this country, but he not even feel the wind of independent, not even feel what is feel to be equal to another nation, because the Indonesian before independent is a low class citizen,and now thier children who feel it, im proud of him, i don't care what foreign people say about him at that time, a Rebel or exstremist or whatever,for me he is my Hero🙏✌️🇮🇩♥️

[@rizkyadiyanto7922]

@@hazanghideyoshi so proud of your grandfather. thank you.

[@napoleonibonaparte7198]

The lack of Wilhelmus is disturbing.

[@RedGurillia]

it is a page out of Dutch history that does not really deserve the national anthem... but that's my opinion

[@comradekenobi6908]

@@RedGurillia Did Napoleon stutter?

[@RedGurillia]

@@comradekenobi6908 no, why do you think that I did not understand him? He said that the absence of our anthem is disturbing. I believe it would be disrespectful to the anthem to include it as well as to all those that suffered

[@comradekenobi6908]

@@RedGurillia nah jk Hello from an Southeast Asian :)

[@LucasDimoveo]

Former SS and former resistance fighters in the same army? Talk about awkward

[@spicn00]

and former SS soldiers fighting against Japanese trained Indonesian fighters

[@Scott-tw2jn]

There is a really cool movie about it on amazon prime its called De Oost (the east) where you have recistance fighers, Commandos from the prinses irene brigade, nazi collaborators and native forces all fighting

[@Scott-tw2jn]

@Serg you can watch it on amazon prime but you need a vpn with the netherlands as location

[@rohielshah1779]

Its dutch people, not like they have any principal morality.

[@Sondergarden]

How to end the war in Europe: Export all the war to Asia

[@user-os2vu7nr6i]

And now to the middle east and Africa.

[@cat3784]

u can blame china, and japan

[@gre3nishsinx0Rgold4]

The Dutch soldiers evading capture reminded me of the stories of some ww2 American and british soldiers escaping to Australia by swimming or getting into small boats, raiding or joining resistance groups. After their last stand and fall of their respective colonies and commonwealth. Their stories are crazy but always pushed under the rug. It's sad really.

[@randomsapiens499]

Saying that Indonesian nationalist movement was mainly javanese is kinda oversimplification since a lot of people from sundanese and sumatrans, especially minangs origin were also very influential for the independence movemente. Some figures from minang descent might include people like Hatta, Yamin, Syahrir, etc. Still very good video 👍🏻

[@ansosboy8687]

Don't Forget Tan Malaka he's the first

[@historywithhilbert146]

Yep I think this was a poorly chosen way of phrasing this as you're absolutely right that it was not just the Javanese who rose up. What I meant to say was that some of the smaller minority areas and groups were active targets for the revolutionaries. At least from what I know many from the Chinese ethnic minority, as well as Molukkans, Timorese and others were not in favour of joining the revolution.

[@ansosboy8687]

@@historywithhilbert146 Bersiap Period is a dark story of Indonesian Revolution

[@MoskusMoskiferus1611]

The Majority is Javanese Peoples

[@comradekenobi6908]

@@MoskusMoskiferus1611 Ah yes the Javanese did put up a good fight in Surabaya /s

[@HistoryHustle]

Hey Hilbert, Thank you for the shout-out! It's great you explore this topic and hope to see more of it soon. Love to know more about your grandfather and his experiences. Maybe something for a future video? Anyway, took good care and have a great Summer!

[@NielsorNiek]

Held!

[@marcusantonius117]

To say that the national struggle for independence was a 'javanese struggle' is quite a misperception.

[@historywithhilbert146]

Yep I think this was a poorly chosen way of phrasing this as you're absolutely right that it was not just the Javanese who rose up. What I meant to say was that some of the smaller minority areas and groups were active targets for the revolutionaries.

[@Minecraft4Spam]

@@historywithhilbert146 Many ethnicities definitely did not want to be part of Indonesia, as mentioned by you the Mollucans, but also later on by different uprisings. But I wouldn't say it was a Javanese led movement. If it was, the founding fathers would have put Javanese as the national language instead of Indonesian, or strive for a Javanese identity in the new state.

[@comradekenobi6908]

@@Minecraft4Spam Idk I met some VERY patriotic Moluccas a while ago Hell even alot of our famous national heroes were Moluccas

[@michaeljoseph1707]

Because not every single mollucan was a separatist. For every Chris Soumokil there would be Johannes Latuharhary.

[@marcusantonius117]

@@historywithhilbert146 i like the fact u went to the trouble to actually reply.

[@guerrillaradio1]

You should do a collaboration with History Hustle

[@RobbinVenema]

Yes!

[@historywithhilbert146]

I would certainly love to!

[@thegrandlord2914]

We Indonesian calling that era of 1945-1949 as Dutch Agression Btw, after Nazi Germany loses in WW2, some of nazi soldier landed in indonesia and join indonesian forces to fight against dutch forces. After dutch recognize indonesian independence in 1949, this ex-nazi soldier then recruited as trainer for indoensian national army. These ex-nazi soldier then contributed to form military doctrine that uses by indonesian national army until today, which is the same military doctrine like those that used by nazi germany Imagine... Former nazi soldier in indoensian side against their fellow former nazi soldier in dutch side

[@matthiasmuller7677]

I love how the dutch language is basically just grunting sounds with friendly and chill vibes.

[@jareddebeast]

*boze Nederlandse geluiden*

[@JimmyStiffFingers]

Zeg, makker...

[@omega3556]

My grandfather volunteered to go to Indonesia aged just 16. He was so bored in the post-war Netherlands that he lied about his age. Thinking it would be a nice adventure and a opportunity to explore the world. Not expecting to find himself in an actual war again, he was scarred for life.

[@tilimcanihistoryman9405]

I always asked myself that question when it came to Indonesian independence, if it was France it would've been easy to assemble a new colonial army but the Netherlands? Never understood how they assembled more the 50 thousand troops there.

[@chowbownow]

We Indonesians tend to forget that we're a nation of nations (over 300 ethnic groups and 700 languages - most languages in a country only second to Papua New Guinea). With that in mind, it probably isn't surprising how we could be so divided that our own people were helping the Dutch to fight ourselves!

[@mauritsvanoranje6725]

@@chowbownow indonesia was always divided even before the dutch

[@drpepper3838]

100k* troops actually

[@naoyanaraharjo4693]

@@mauritsvanoranje6725 we are so divided Indonesia is one now, unlike what was USSR and Yugoslavia

[@historywithhilbert146]

Hope this sheds some light on the matter!

[@Lapdol]

Damn, imagine fighting a occupying force for years only to then immediately act as a occupier yourself.

[@nickysimi9866]

Was about to comment the same thing until I saw your comment

[@RedGurillia]

although i agree that we (the Dutch) were occupiers, don't forget, by this point in history, it (Indonesia) had been "under the crown" for more than 300 years... there were a LOT of Dutch people who simply did not even know Indonesia had once been without the Dutch, they did not see it as an occupation any more than they saw the Dutch ruling Amsterdam as an occupation

[@ghoul946]

Yeah then Indonesia having fought an imperial power became one it self in Papua , maluku , east timor and aceh

[@comradekenobi6908]

@@ghoul946 ffs why did KZbin delete my comment I was just writing a long essay to you :(

[@ghoul946]

@@comradekenobi6908 oh am i incorrect some how ?

[@jonathanwilliams1065]

There was almost no fighting in East Timor as the Japanese evacuated as soon as west Timor fell due to Portuguese neutrality

[@hkl2007]

The waffen SS was not a universally elite fighting force, the combat value of SS divisions varied greatly.

[@ArtjomKoslow]

It´s mostly just the low Number-Divisions who fought incredibly well. The Leibstandarte, Totenkopf, Das Reich and so on.

[@yannick245]

The _"Hitlerjugend"_ division consisted mainly troops born in 1926 and younger, straight from the, you know, Hitlerjugend.

[@hkl2007]

@@yannick245 Weren't the youngest born i 1926? They would've been 17/18 when the division was formed methinks

[@yannick245]

@@hkl2007 If you're interested, you can look up the details on Wikipedia. But no 1926 weren't the youngest. Except for officers and NCO's, the whole division was made up by former Hitler youth members born in 26/27.

[@alansmithee8831]

Hello Hilbert. Thank you for this video as I often wondered about this. My uncle was a British muleteer in Burma, who was shipped to Indonesia from Singapore the day before my dad sailed in as part of the Royal Navy efforts in the region. My dad was on an aircraft carrier that went to Australia, but as a sick birth attendant was sent out to inoculate locals in the jungle and then detoured on a ship collecting refugees from the similar situation to this in what was French Indo China. My dad talked of the varied local peoples from Chinese settlers to tribal "head hunters" like different worlds from island to island. My uncle was a tough northerner, who would no doubt have fit in with your Viking reenactment group. He could knock out one of his shire horses to stop it misbehaving in public. A friend asked "if his mule in Burma got stubborn, he chinned it?"

[@the4thindustrialrevolution225]

Kinda crazy how your grandfather was In the resistance and mine was a collaborater

[@ekmalsukarno2302]

Hilbert, can you please make a video on the Sri Lankan Civil War. Please accept my request.

[@century1goomba74]

The fact that i haven't heard of this means you really gotta do it

[@EdbertWeisly]

@@century1goomba74 if I am not wrong, it is the Buddhist vs Hindi

[@ekmalsukarno2302]

@@EdbertWeisly The Sri Lankan Civil War was fought between Sri Lanka's government, which was dominated by the Sinhalese ethnic majority, and separatists from the Tamil ethnic minority.

[@EdbertWeisly]

@@ekmalsukarno2302 cool

[@itsblitz4437]

Only if you donate to his patreon

[@thewayfarer8849]

I've found this channel really useful for gaps in my knowledge, great work

[@wenderis]

8:20 It wasnt a mainly Javanese struggle. The Indonesian who fought for the Dutch, like my greatgranfather, didnt think that as well. Remember, only one from 4 Indonesia's founding fathers was Javanese. If was more about religion rather than ethnicity/ethnolinguistic group.

[@ansosboy8687]

8:27 LOL In fact the First person make Idea to Liberate Indonesia from Colonialism is Minangnese person from West Sumatra named Tan Malaka he writes the Book "Naar De Republiek Indonesia" I can say he's suppose to be the Real Indonesian Founding Fathers instead of Soekarno but Tan Malaka it self he didn't want to get that title BTW Proud Being Half Javanese and Half Minangnese Indonesian 😁😁😁😁

[@saintkun2708]

Yea as a minang, it's irritating when he said it

[@saintkun2708]

@Theo Van Tazicno, before the kidnapping he was already famous and he's the right hand and son in law of hos cokroaminoto, and btw he was a noble too

[@rickyp6815]

Doesn't get much of a mention true. Not because of his ethnicity or modesty, but because of his politics. The left playing a part in the Independence movement doesn't really fit in well with the dominant narrative.

[@rizkyadiyanto7922]

some of our heroes story were erased or not mentioned much because theyaommunist. this happend in suharto presidency and you know why.

[@cuntontheweb2657]

My grandpa narrowly avoided being sent to fight in Indonesia when his father suddenly died so he had to take over the family bussines. I think it was only by a few weeks, he was already fully trained and everything.

[@mr_moustache]

Very interesting topic and nice video!

[@gamiezion]

my grandfather was there too. not long after he sadly passed. i think he had wanting to say something, but i had simply taken him by surprise.

[@sebbi9710]

WW2 begins Colonies: "I smell independence."

[@abcddef2112]

Tbh its much more deeper than that. In just 100 days, the Japanese ended ‘the white man’s burden’ in Asia. They upended 150 years of european colonial domination.

[@constantdrowsiness4458]

Thanks for talking about this, it is a very difficult topic to study. It's very difficult to find good material.

[@BattalionCommanderMK]

This is epic! Please make more.

[@garypulliam3740]

5:10 He actually served first in the Finnish army, THEN the Waffen SS, then the U.S. Army.

[@klaassiersma4892]

The waffen ss troops were eazy identified by they're ss serial number that was tatooed on they're arm by the way. My father who was there by the way for the duration got his training in Schotland before going there. Those waffen ss troops were active in they're own platoons by the way becous they were not tolerated by the regular Dutch troops.

[@comradekenobi6908]

He was trained in Scotland?

[@klaassiersma4892]

@ComradeKenobi, Yes Mary Hill Baracks Glassgow.

[@comradekenobi6908]

@@klaassiersma4892 ah nice hello from Scotland

[@klaassiersma4892]

@Comrade Kenobi, Yes he went to Schotland a lot after his time in the service, he always loved Scotland.

[@historywithhilbert146]

From what I know quite a few got rid of these tattoos toward the close of or after the war, and as I mentioned the Dutch government did also actively seek out the men with combat experience to go over there. My grandfather went to the Southern coast of England with his regiment before shipping out. I never heard anything from him about Waffen SS troops which I imagine he would not have been happy with as a member of the Resistance during the War.

[@blackorder7561]

@history with hilbert U ARE AWSOME :) geweldig vids man :)

[@davis3138]

6:45 "Keep the social order in check," that sounds rather dystopian. Surely there's a more positive way to spin that. "Keep the social order in check" sounds like it would belong in the same speech as "don't rise against your betters" and "don't upset the natural order of things."

[@RedGurillia]

if they were government sanctioned it was most likely to prevent people suspected of collaborating with the Germans from being lynched.... the problem is that other (former-)resistance fighters were doing the lynching half the time.... it was a bit of a mess between liberation and the regular police forces being re-established....

[@lastswordfighter]

Let me tell you something order and cohesion has broken down in the US. Police are told to do nothing while armed brigands, rioters, gangs, and anarchists loot, pillage, and burn down the cities.

[@lastswordfighter]

I do not want tyranny or Nazis but this complete lack of regard for life, limb, property, rights, etc. has to stop.

[@quentintin1]

it was really about keeping it in check, moment like liberations are high times of tensions as people will use of the event to conduct personal vendettas, lynching, pillages, etc

[@phasorthunder1157]

@@lastswordfighter That was over a year ago.

[@kayzeaza]

I can’t believe the Dutch were occupied for a whole ass war and then turned around and said “man I got to be in another war”

[@antoniobautista6718]

I really appreciate you covering more obscure topics to the West, especially those based in SE Asia. It helps teach me and others about the rich history here, both the good and bad.

[@kennethknoppik5408]

Do I sense a possible collaboration between Hilbert and history Hustle?

[@brandonk.4864]

Please make a video on the Carnation Revolution in Portugal! Thanks!

[@davidvanniekerk356]

Dankie HwH. So 20yrs ago I was Nijkerk,, Gelderland (31.12.1999AD). An elderly man was the head of house. We spoke, when he heard "Ik ben van Zuid-Afrika". He served in Indonesia during the War. About the "Mollukans" I've also heard from a different Dutch family in Nijkerk. BUT they was not interested this "Mollukans-Republic-thing" I thought they were speaking about Morocco, in North Africa. Thank you 4 your Grandfathers' service.

[@duncanread4442]

This.... video...... is...... ace! What a story some of there diary's must contain

[@SAVAGE-oe3fg]

Please do another video on Boer history

[@siegersproductions9067]

Could you please tel a bit more about the Maluku. It is a really interesting story and i would like if more people knew about it.

[@faithlesshound5621]

You mention in passing the British Indian Army's role in the Dutch Indonesian war. They were sent by Mountbatten to disarm the Japanese troops at the end of WWII there but ended up fighting the locals who had no wish to resume being a Dutch colony. Did they re-arm the Japanese soldiers like General Gracey did in Viet Nam? Douglas Rosie wrote a little book about "The British in Vietnam," but I have not heard of any similar account of their actions in Indonesia.

[@jankaas4504]

@historywithhilbert weren't the dutch marines trained in the us and formed in to the "mariniers brigade" profesionaly trained specificaly to fight the japanese in the pacific and indonesia?

[@LafayetteCCurtis]

"Indonesian independence was illegally declared" is probably not the best way to put it since the Netherlands Indies administration didn't really have any stronger legal claim -- all they had was some arcane phrasing in their formal surrender to the Japanese, which most Indonesians didn't even know about. The three years of Japanese occupation pretty much wiped out any sense of Dutch colonial legitimacy in the eyes of most locals (even minorities -- Chinese Indonesians might have given the Dutch the Poh An Tui but they also gave the Republic a Han Solo figure in Admiral John Lie and his blockade-running flotilla), and it didn't help that there was plenty of lingering resentment at how the pre-1942 Dutch colonial administration colluded with local kingdoms and principalities to keep the average citizen politically disenfranchised (this was actually worse outside Java -- none of the Javanese royal families were massacred like in the East Sumatra revolution).

[@BG_Low]

The war crimes that Netherland did on Indonesia not only because there are ex-SS soldier in their military. Take an example for one of the Netherland officer, Capt. Raymond Westerling. His unit alone killed around 1500 civilians, and he was trained under British commando and served in British Army.

[@faithlesshound5621]

A good point. Before the war, when Hitler was berated by foreigners for his brutal treatment of his opponents, he said, "But look at what the British do in their colonies!" The British themselves say little about their own colonial atrocities: their ex-colonists and soldiers are famously tight-lipped, and the civil service goes to great lengths to purge embarrassing records. You have to speak to the colonials themselves for the details, for example the Kenyans who recently spoke out about the British death camps of the 1950s. During the controversy about US military atrocities at My Lai, a British politician said their own troops would never do such a thing. A British newspaper managed to get details of a similar rampage by the Scots Guards in colonial Malaya in the 1950s. We have mostly forgotten the atrocites of the Belgian Congo in the 19th century, which were exposed by Sir Roger Casement in his earlier career as a diplomat.

[@BG_Low]

@@faithlesshound5621 I think most of the countries in Europe at that time still believed in the superior-minor race idea. Because of that, they justified the mass murder. During the Dutch colonial era, the common people of Indonesia were only 3rd class citizien, while the nobles are 2nd class, and the Europeans are 1st class. It is just shameful that allied power which consist of colonialist countries did 'holier than thou' act towards Germany...

[@smalltownfarmer4826]

Recently amazon released a movie about this war called The Oost (The East). It is about Westerling and his unit.

[@BG_Low]

@@smalltownfarmer4826 Thanks for the information. I looks the trailer, it looks good. But unfortunately the film is not released in the Amazon in my country.

[@olbradley]

I'd imagine that at least once a bunch of Dutch soldiers were lined up for salute or something, and then all the sudden one of them clapped their heels and everyone else immediately gave him an awkward stare and everyone would be suspicious of him from then on.

[@mrnecro3071]

Hilbert ik heb een suggestie voor een video over Gelre niet zo lang gelede zag ik dat er een boek zou komen over de geschiedenis van Gelderland het heet "het verhaal van Gelderland" denk ik en ik dacht waarom stel ik niet voor dat hilbert over Gelre gaat vertellen. (sorry voor mijn foute spelling als ik die heb ik heb Dyslexie)

[@tillieke238]

Hoi wilbert, Je vergeet een heel groot stuk informatie, namelijk het regiment stoottroepen. Deze bestond vooral uit Limburgers en Branbanders. Ook wel de OVW’ers (oorlogs vrijwilligers) genoemd. Dit is opgezet door prins Bernard in Maastricht.

[@bobmcbob9856]

Your grandpa sounds like a chad. All resistance fighters have unlimited respect from me, but I find it especially uplifting to see Germanic people, would have lived relatively well under the Nazis also resisting. For Slavs and to a lesser extent for the French it was a necessary struggle, a struggle for life, but for people like your grandfather, it was a choice to stand with us, those same people, and fight for the liberation of Europe and of the wider world, nice to see people who had a choice to just put their heads down and keep going decide to still fight, I guess is what I mean

[@hilmansudirman9857]

No wonder why during "Operation Krai", the KNIL were really keen on doing warcrime stuff in East Indies. There's some ex-Waffen SS squad in the army. Although the ex-PETA(Japanese Trained Militia) also has the same tendency against "the koneng", "Indo" and collaborators.

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

@3.142 No. People Eating Tasty Animals.

[@hilmansudirman9857]

@3.142 yes it is. Not the weird animal lover/abuser organization.

[@thatguy6789]

You have a slight north eastern/northumbrian twang to your accent. Consett or Alnwick?

[@miketacos9034]

“Bro, quit clicking your heels when you salute!”

[@apoptosine1598]

Dark Docs has a video devoted to Larry Thorne, made recently. He fought extensively in and for Finland before returning again to fight the Russians in a German Uniform.

[@xolang]

My 🇮🇩 grandfather's brother fought in I'm not even sure which war and we all (or they all, since I wasn't born yet then) thought he had fallen. Then sometime in the 1970s he showed up. Turns out he's been transported to the Netherlands and been living there. Married and have children.

[@pavellyfish5]

Damn good story

[@jonathanwilliams1065]

The French foreign legion is famous for not asking any questions And Thorm was an anticommunist, and only joined the SS because they were fighting the communists while Finland had switched sides

[@ROsteveification]

Same goes for a lot of the Dutch SS too, they fought against communism. Nevertheless there were plenty of anti-semites and I'm sure that a lot of them committed atrocities in the east. A black page in our history books, both the Indonesian war as WW2.

[@chinguunerdenebadrakh7022]

2:27, the Waffen SS were not the "elite" troops of German military. Their quality varied wildly from the elites of the Panzer divisions to divisions that could barely do rear area security duties. It was a 830,000 man military organization, you just can't maintain such a large "elite" unit of that size. The reason SS divisions are seen as elite is because the few elites, I think, there was like 8 of them like 12th Hitlerjugend, 1st Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler were the ones that western Allies fought against after D-Day and did not see extensive action against the lesser trained divisions which were mostly on the Eastern Front.

[@gingergoat7084]

Cool

[@jamesvandemark2086]

Very interesting to me as a former soldier......

[@jonathanwilliams1065]

Brother Andrew was in this army and was wounded in Indonesia. Doctors said he would never walk again, but he was later miraculously healed.

[@ancikamayzaputriy.1409]

The Dutch 'Police Actions' is *quite* an understatement. It was a full on military aggression, the Dutch were desperate on regaining control in their most valuable colony, and so were the Indonesians in finally setting themselves free from their suppressors. The Netherlands was in ruins after WW2, architecture were demolished, farms and crops were destroyed, cattle were scarce. And with the Netherlands in terrible condition, the Indonesians saw this as an opportunity to uprise for independence.

[@GraemeBray]

I live in Australia near a former KNIL base, Camp Victory. Many local people here developed a deep rapport with the Dutch and Indonesian soldiers there as fellow Allies. However this was shattered with the defeat of the Japanese, as the Dutch KNIL soldiers imprisoned their Indonesian comrades due to mistrust about independence. Other KNIL troops were also brought to be imprisoned there under deteriorating conditions. Now as a virtual POW camp, riots broke out with the death of some Indonesians, further angering local Australians who hated Dutch politics being played out in their backyard.

[@comradekenobi6908]

This is a story that more Dutch people should know more

[@GraemeBray]

@@comradekenobi6908 www.sea.museum/2015/11/04/when-the-indonesian-revolution-came-to-an-australian-country-town/

[@bobsjepanzerkampfwagen4150]

Dutch SS also fought in Korea maybe a interesting topic to?

[@dorian4646]

Our independence is hard earned and that what makes it worthwhile!

[@hafidfahrian5664]

I wish our independence struggle (Indonesian here) wasn't as bloody as it had happened. I imagine there would be much more Dutch legacy spread around this archipelago.

[@andriwahyudani1302]

There would be racism towards Pribumi in present days

[@rickyp6815]

The Dutch underdeveloped the place.

[@robinderoos1166]

I'd love to have served some WaffleSS, they go quite well together with jodekoeken

[@Finn-gw9hh]

Would love a video on the maluke!

[@pjbyrne1997]

I think Bernard B. Fall covered the use of German Waffen SS troops in Indochina. The reality is, that the majority of enlisted Foreign Legionaires were in fact to young to have served in the SS in any offical capcity, unless their HitlerJugend troop was pressed into service firing flak batteries and the pre/during WW2 experience of having so many German troops as part of the Foreign Legion (one of the reasons the Legion fractured during the second world war), made the French wary of having so many people of a single foreign ethnicty dominate their units. There were undoubedtly WW2 Veterans serving in Indochina, but by the time the French doubled their efforts in Indochina, men reaching adulthood would have been teens at the end of the second world war.

[@fritoss3437]

I still wait for my O.A.S video :(

[@walanafinishedna1911]

Try America's "First Vietnam"(Probably) Aka The Philippine-American War or the "The Philippine Insuriction" Like is the 2 wars the same?

[@ShinigamiInuyasha777]

Funnily enought there was a "Vietnam" before that. The Paraguayan war

[@walanafinishedna1911]

@@ShinigamiInuyasha777 that looks interesting I never heard that one before

[@ShinigamiInuyasha777]

@@walanafinishedna1911 You might heard it as the Triple Alliance war

[@kachel313]

I stand behind every deed my country did and would have helped them if I was alive at the time.

[@yashachatab2996]

when talking about Maluku, please also mention that the people of the Maluku islands have been subject to European colonialism (since the 1500s by the Portuguese), but not long after that the Dutch (as VOC) became the boss until.... the 1940s. The colonial forces also committed genocide and wiped out much of the population in those islands... those who survived worked in the fields (and most also converted into the religion of the ruler). That's just my knowledge (and perspective) as someone from Jakarta.

[@FOLIPE]

I mean almost all of Indonesia converted to the religion of one ruler or another

[@TheTryingDutchman]

Lol so there where literally Dutch ex-ss soldiers fighting with Dutch former resistance troops? Must have been tense among the troops, any data about fraggings or 'friendly fire'?

[@aliefalyansyah5996]

Do south mollucas next

[@tomviktorsson5052]

Lol the Germans were very nice to the Dutch . The Dutch to the colonial natives? No , it is a completely different story . The Dutch are technically Germans , their name came from the word" German " in German language lol .

[@Jack-Hands]

1st. the Germans weren't nice. The occupation was brutal. Just Google "hongerwinter" and you get the idea. 2nd. The word "Dutch" is only used in English. Dutchman call themselves "Nederlanders" with of course translate to Netherlanders. The Dutch were never German. They share a common ancestor.

[@FOLIPE]

​@@Jack-Hands The germans treated the dutch better than the dutch treated native Indonesians. It was a part of their racial ideology at the time

[@harveydixon7705]

Were there any soldiers from the Dutch colonies in the Caribbean or South America?

[@rc501st]

Yes, in the antilles

[@harryblack7323]

Yes, from Suriname.

[@Beaumont6]

Yes, Dutch soldiers are in the Antilles even to this day

[@tilenberanic]

Imagine beind dutch soldier fighting in ww2 then being send to Indonesia and then in 1950 being send to Korea

[@Centurion101B3C]

Hm, No mention of the 'Stoottroepen' ?

[@Jorn6460]

Thumps up for your grandfather

[@jamiehayn]

Do a video about how the Netherlands went from being catholic to protestant and now catholic again

[@choonbox]

The Netherlands consistently ranks among the least religious countries (non-affiliated) of Europe. Some may identify as protestant or catholic, but it does not mean much here and are often just a vague set of morals derived of protestantism or catholicism. Churches are empty and being rented out/sold. I have the feeling religion's much more commonplace in Belgium, our conservative brother down south, but I did not visit Belgium often enough to confirm or deny.

[@mauritsvanoranje6725]

@@choonbox ever been in limburg or the bible belt etc? you probably live under a rock somewhere

[@choonbox]

@@mauritsvanoranje6725 18 jaar in Staphorst gewoond. Die regio's zijn meer uitzondering dan regel.

[@choonbox]

For reference, the Central Bureau for Statistics of the Netherlands studied this many times. Only 24,7% of the Dutch consider themselves "christian" consistently making Netherlands one of the least religious countries in the EU (check out the full studies here: www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2018/43/over-half-of-the-dutch-population-are-not-religious )

[@mauritsvanoranje6725]

@@choonbox yes sure and you believe that nonsense?

[@ndorobei4391]

From South Maluku only. They wanted to form Republik Maluku Selatan or South Maluku Republic. Maluku has South and North province.

[@marcheijnen9475]

You only mentioned the dutch army what about the already formed mariniers brigade in the us

[@kgizzle92]

My step sister is half Black half Moluccan…her mother was born in Amsterdam!

[@oumaechamp3657]

Unbelievable, there was an entire video on the Dutch but no national anthem spamming? are you okay Hilbert?

[@gurjeetsingh-gd1wr]

At 0:25 you show east german soldats?

[@Jack-Hands]

No those are Dutch soldiers in there pre ww2 gear. Replaced during and after the war with British and American made gear.

[@josun4873]

Disaat perang dunia 2 di indonesia (berjuang kemerdekaan) Indonesia vs Belanda Jepang vs Belanda Jepang merayu indonesia & kena tusukan juga dari belakang, akhirnya Indonesia vs Jepang Dan saatnya tiba Indonesia vs Jepang Belanda & inggris

[@Gonboo]

Do you know if any of the foreign SS members were ever prosecuted or pursued by the Israelis later?

[@JimmyStiffFingers]

Probably not. Dutch troops in the German army were sent to fight the war in Eastern Europe against the Communist Soviet Union.

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

They may not have had a standing army, but they had standing water!

[@horseman1968]

U spreek nederlands?

[@khulhucthulhu9952]

I am so sorry for the Molukkers, how they were betrayed so many times...

[@comradekenobi6908]

Yet lot of Molucaans also supported the Independence struggle, it depends

[@shanewall4470]

Interestingly, a Dutch national was deported from Indonesia on 1st May 2023 for raising the Republic of South Maluku flag (the one shown in this video) in Aboru Village on Haruku Island in the Central Maluku Regency of Maluku Province a few days earlier. It should also be noted that there is an ongoing low-level insurrection being waged by the West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement (and other smaller entities) against Indonesian occupation and government sponsored migration of non-Melanesian Indonesians into neighboring Papua and West Papua Provinces.

[@jessiesargent7212]

I find the notion of their independence being "illegally declared" hilarious.

[@mok822]

From Bullied to Bullies

[@radithramadhan8488]

as Indonesian myself i always proud of my country whatever situation either a good time or bad time, long live our revolution! Merdeka! 🇮🇩

[@Cheezymuffin.]

I am here once again to divert your attention to cute puppy videos on the Internet, and to assure you nothing happenned in Indonesia between 1945 and 1949.

[@jslocker1154]

My last time also is Hilbert where you from

[@jslocker1154]

Typo my last name is

[@ZARUSI]

Respect your grandfather 🫡

[@akhsinilhami2418]

Dutch language sounds similar to deutch Just like indo and malay language

[@jasonj1161]

They clapped their heels huh

[@clousefe7013]

It was kinda irony most colonialized country actually someplace that can be called as paradise in the past. Before, it get invaded because how open and friendly they are to outsider yet its lack conflict cause their downfalls again malicious intent and now they the ones have that evil in the past become more prosperous in the future.