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Indonesia

FIRST STAMPS ISSUED 17 August 1950.

CURRENCY
1950, 100 cents (or seu) = 1 gulden (or rupiah).

On 15 August 1950 a unitary Republic of Indonesia came into being which remained within the NetherlandsIndonesia Union until this was dissolved on 10 August 1954.

South Moluccas (Republik Maluku Selatan)

CURRENCY
As Indonesia.

Part of the ex-Dutch United States of Indonesia, the South Moluccas revolted against the unitary state in 1950 and declared independence. Some islands held out until 1955.

Stamps overprinted REPUBLIK MALVKU SELATAN were issued in 1950. (Pictorial stamps bearing a similar inscription were produced spuriously in the USA.

Riau-Lingga Archipelago

FIRST STAMPS 1 January 1954.

CURRENCY
1954, as Indonesia.

Stamps specially overprinted RIAU were necessitated owing to currency differences (the islands being off the Malayan coast). All stamps withdrawn after revaluation of the rupiah, December 1965.

Netherlands New Guinea

FIRST STAMPS ISSUED 1 January 1950.

CURRENCY
1950, as Netherlands.

A Dutch possession from 1828, with boundaries set at longitude 1410E in 1885, it was administered from the Moluccas until 1949. Indonesian claims were supported by the UN, which took over the territory on 1 October 1962 and transferred it to Indonesia on 1 May 1963.

West New Guinea

FIRST STAMPS ISSUED 1 October 1962.

CURRENCY
1962, as Holland.

Formerly Netherlands New Guinea, from 1 October 1962 - 1 May 1963 under United Nations Administration.

West Irian (Irian Barat)

FIRST STAMPS ISSUED 1 May 1963.

CURRENCY
1963, as Indonesia.

Formerly West New Guinea. A province of Indonesia from I May 1963. Has used stamps of Indonesia since1973.

Note: For Eastern New Guinea see under Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.

Netherlands Indies
(Nederlandsch-Indie)

FIRST STAMPS ISSUED 1 April 1864.

CURRENCY
1864, as Netherlands.

Six years after the first Dutch merchants landed in Java, the Dutch East India Company was founded in 1602. A British trading post at Amboina was eliminated by massacre in 1623. The Company was taken over in 1799 by the Batavian Republic. When Napoleon seized Holland, a British force took Java and Sir Stamford Raffles held it as governor in 1811-16. In 1816 Java was restored to the Netherlands and in 1824 a former British trading post in Sumatra was exchanged for Malacca. The Dutch subdued one island after another by force, but never changed the region's character or eliminated nationalism. The Japanese invaded Borneo and Celebes on 11 January 1942 and after winning the Battle of the Java Sea took Java (1-8 March 1942) and occupied the remaining islands. In 1945-8 some islands were restored to Dutch rule.

Postal History
Packets plied between Amsterdam and Batavia via the Cape from 1786. Hand-stamped postal markings are known from 1789 and datestamps from 1811 (British period). An airmail service of KLM started in 1928. Japanese occupation of 1941-5, see below. Stamps resumed 1945-8 (in those areas restored by US forces to Dutch rule or recaptured from the Indonesian Republic). Stamps inscribed INDONESIA 1948-9.

Japanese Occupation of Java

FIRST STAMPS 9 March 1943.

Japanese Occupation of Sumatra

FIRST STAMPS 1 August 1943.

Administered from Malaya until 1943.

Japanese Naval Control Area

FIRST STAMPS 1942.

This comprised all the eastern islands of the group.

Various available stamps were overprinted locally at island centres with an anchor and Japanese inscription (DAI NIPPON); many types exist.

Indonesian Republic (Repoeblik Indonesie)
Java, Madura and Sumatra were still in Japanese hands when the Japanese surrendered to Allied forces on 17 August 1945, marking the end of World War II. No Dutch troops were available to re-occupy their territory and before British Indian troops were landed to receive the surrender in September-October 1945, a local republic had been proclaimed. Fighting ensued. Dutch troops took over in 1946. On 27 March 1947 the Dutch recognized the Indonesian Republic as part of the United States of Indonesia under the Dutch Crown, but disagreements led to further fighting. UN intervention brought a temporary truce, but in 1948 a new Dutch offensive captured the capital and the president. After further UN intervention in 1949 the war ended.

There were no general issues, stamps being locally produced in each main island.

Java and Madura

FIRST STAMPS October 1945.

Sumatra

FIRST STAMPS 1945.

Many bogus propaganda stamps were produced in the USA.

United States of Indonesia
(Republik Indonesia Serikat)

FIRST STAMPS ISSUED 1950.

CURRENCY
1950, as Indonesia.

The former Netherlands East Indies except New Guinea became independent on 27 December 1949 within the Netherlands-Indonesian Union. In 1950 federation was the defacto Indonesian Republic (Jave and Sumatra) was accomplished and a unitary state proclaimed.

Indonesia & Philippines to 1945
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