On August 17, 1945, political leaders Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta declared the independence of Indonesia. But this proclamation was only the beginning of a four-year armed conflict and the diplomatic struggle for Indonesian independence. For centuries, Indonesia had been colonized by the Dutch Empire. The Indonesian independence movement had begun at the turn of the 20th century in May 1908, which marked the beginning of many Indonesian nationalism movements. When Sukarno and Hatta first proclaim