The police actions (, also ), were two major military offensives that the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

carried out on

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

and

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

against the

Republic of Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

during its struggle for independence in the

Indonesian National Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution (), also known as the Indonesian War of Independence (, ), was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during A ...

. In Indonesia they are collectively known as the Dutch Military Aggressions (), although the less common translation is also used. In Dutch historiography and discourse, the entire Indonesian War of Independence was for a long time euphemistically referred to as 'the police actions', as coined by the government of the time. In the Netherlands, the impression prevailed that there had only been two separate, short-lived

police action In security studies and international relations, a police action is a military action undertaken without a formal declaration of war. In the 21st century, the term has been largely supplanted by " counter-insurgency". Since World War II, formal ...

s, intended to restore Dutch authority over a rebellious overseas territory. This perspective ignores the fact that between the arrival of Dutch troops in March 1946 and the cession of sovereignty in December 1949, there had been a full-scale military occupation and an ongoing

counterinsurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN, or NATO spelling counter-insurgency) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the ac ...

involving 120,000 conscripts.

Operation Product

Operation Product took place between 21 July and 5 August 1947. The Dutch greatly reduced and fragmented Indonesian-controlled territories, with a particular focus on the oil fields and rubber plantations of Sumatra, and the sugar plantations and economic infrastructure of Java. The offensive excluded an attack on the city of

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

, wartime seat of the Republican government, due to high expected costs of

urban warfare Urban warfare is warfare in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat differs from combat in the open at both Military operation, operational and the Military tactics, tactical levels. Complicating factors in urban warfare include the p ...

. The actions of the on Java were further divided into an amphibious landing on Pasir Putih,

East Java East Java (, , ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost third of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean border its northern ...

(Product North), amphibious operations in the Meneng Bay (Product East), and a southward offensive launched from

Porong Porong is a district in Sidoarjo Regency, East Java, Indonesia. It has a population of 70,170 as of 2023.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, ''Kabupaten Sidoarjo Dalam Angka 2024'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.3515) Located about south of t ...

(Product South).

Operation Kraai

Operation Kraai (Operation

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) took place between 19 December 1948 and 5 January 1949. It resulted in the Dutch capture of Yogyakarta, the arrests of much of the Indonesian leadership, and

the exile ''The eXile'' was a Moscow-based English-language biweekly free tabloid newspaper, aimed at the city's expatriate community, which combined outrageous, sometimes satirical, content with investigative reporting. In October 2006, co-editor Jake ...

of what remained of the

Republican government Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy or electoral democracy, is a types of democracy, type of democracy where elected delegates Representation (politics), represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearl ...

to Sumatra. Actions of the on East Java during this offensive are referred to as Operation Zeemeeuw (Operation

Seagull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...

Other operations

Eclipsed by the scale and notoriety of Product and Kraai, other Dutch offensive operations of the Indonesian Revolution included: * Operation Trackman ( Gresik, 10 August 1946) * Operation Quantico (Gresik, 19 August 1946) * Battle of Margarana ( Marga, 20 November 1946) * South Sulawesi campaign (10 December 1946–21 February 1947) * Operation Ideaal (

Mojokerto Mojokerto ( (''Måjåkěrtå'')) is a city in East Java Province of Indonesia. It is located 40 km southwest of Surabaya, the provincial capital, and constitutes one of the component units of the Surabaya metropolitan area (known as Gerbang ...

, 17 March 1947) *

Malang Malang (; , ), historically known as Tumapel, is an inland List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of East Java. It has a history dating back to the age of the Singhasari, Singhasari K ...

Operation (30 June 1947) * Operation Carthago ( Asembagus, 5 September 1947) * Operation Albatros ( Pacitan, 12 January 1949) * Operation Otter ( Prigi Bay, 7–18 April 1949) * Paciran Operation (20–28 May 1949)

Operation Product

Operation Kraai

Other operations

See also

References

Further reading