Republic of South Maluku

The Republic of South Maluku (Indonesian: Republik Maluku Selatan, RMS), also known as the Republic of the South Moluccas, was a self-proclaimed republic in the Maluku Islands founded on 25 April 1950. The main islands were Seram, Ambon, and Buru. The RMS on Ambon was defeated by Indonesian forces in November 1950, however, armed struggle continued on the island of Seram until December 1963. The defeat on Ambon resulted in the flight of the self-declared RMS government to the island Seram, and later on the formation of a government in exile in the Netherlands in 1966. When resistance leader Christiaan Robbert Steven Soumokil was captured by Indonesian forces on Seram and executed in 1966, a president in exile was inaugurated. The government-in-exile continues to exist, with John Wattilete, a 55-year old lawyer, inaugurated as head of state in April 2010.

The Indonesian archipelago consists of over 15,000 islands. Dutch conquest exerted colonial control across the archipelago in the 19th century establishing a unitary administration. The borders of present day Indonesia were formed through colonial expansion finalised in the 20th century. After the occupation by the Japanese Empire during WWII ended in 1945, nationalist leaders unilaterally declared Indonesian independence. Not all regions and peoples of present day Indonesia immediately subscribed to the proclaimed Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. Early organised indigenous resistance to the newly declared Indonesian Republic came from the South Moluccas with support and aid from the Dutch Government and Military. The South Moluccan contra-revolutionaries initially clung on to an early post-colonial treaty prescribing a federal form of statehood. When that treaty, agreed between the Dutch government and the Indonesian government, was broken they in turn unilaterally declared a fully independent Republic of the South Moluccas hoping to achieve an autonomous state.