Sjahrir

This chapter details the declaration of Indonesian independence on August 17, 1945. On November 11, Soetan Sjahrir, as the chairman of the Working Committee of the KNIP, “Central Indonesian National Council,” had been named a formator of the new cabinet, the second cabinet of the republic, and on November 14 he became the prime minister. Amir Sjarifoeddin, in the new Sjahrir cabinet, kept a portfolio of information from the first Buchó cabinet, and in addition became the minister of defense. The chapter then explores the composition of the first Sjahrir–Amir cabinet. It also considers how Sjahrir conducted the Indonesian negotiations with the Allies and the Dutch in Batavia/Djakarta. Finally, the chapter looks at the Linggadjati Agreement, which acknowledged the existence of the republic, but only de facto and only on Java, Sumatra, and Madura, not on the eastern islands, the huge remainder of the archipelago of the former Indies.