Early years

With the outbreak of the war in the Far East, and the initial successes of Japan,
in early 1942, the Dutch authorities gave Amir Sjarifuddin money to establish an
underground resistance movement and sent Hatta and Sjahrir back to Java. In January
1942, the Japanese invaded the Dutch East Indies, and rapidly overran the
archipelago. The Dutch surrendered on 8 March. The Japanese banned the use of the
Dutch language as well as the Indonesian flag and anthem, and the Japanese calendar
was imposed.[18][19] The archipelago was administered as three separate regions:
Sumatra by the Twenty-Fifth Army, Java and Madura by the Sixteenth Army and
Kalimantan and the resource-rich eastern islands by the Imperial Japanese Navy. As
the area controlled by the Navy was the source of essential supplies, including
food, to the other areas, rear-admiral Tadashi Maeda was appointed to the liaison
office of the naval attaché in Batavia to expedite deliveries and to ensure the
maintenance of good relations with the Army. [20][21][22]

In April 1943, the Japanese established the Triple-A mass movement. Its name was
taken from the Japanese propaganda slogan portraying Japan as the leader, protector
and light of Asia. However it failed to gain support as no significant Indonesian
nationalists were involved, and the propaganda was too heavy-handed. The Japanese
then decided that it would be more effective to use pre-war nationalists to
mobilize the population in support of their war aims. In July, the 25th Army freed
Sukarno from exile in Sumatra, and he joined Hatta and Sjahrir in Jakarta, as
Batavia had been renamed. They agreed that Sjahrir would work underground, while
Sukarno and Hatta would cooperate with the Japanese, still with the ultimate goal
of Indonesian independence.[23][24] The two men urged the Japanese to establish a
popular political organization that they would lead, and this came about in March
1943 with the formation of Putera, the Centre of People's Power. Although it was
controlled by the Japanese, it was led by Sukarno, Hatta, Hajar Dewantara and pre-
war Islamic figure Mas Mansoer. Like the Triple A, it achieved very little. [25]