ABSTRACT

The Indonesian nationalist movement truly began in the first decades of the twentieth century. The Indonesian nationalist movement was initiated and led by the twin elites of the islands, the priyayi and the santri. The beginnings of the Indonesian nationalist movement can be traced to some new educational institutions started by the priyayi class in the early twentieth century. The membership of the Sarekat was principally drawn from the santri and the lower priyayi classes. The Republic of Indonesia encountered a host of problems during the period 1945–1949, some of them stemming from disunity among the nationalist ranks. No wonder Indonesian nationalists felt completely frustrated with the pace and content of political reforms. In the period of transition—amid the trials and tribulations, the differences and divisions in the nationalist ranks—there was one cementing force to hold the infant Indonesian republic together.