South Sulawesi Campaign

Part of Indonesian National Revolution

Date	10 December 1946 – 21 February 1947
Location	Sulawesi
Result	Dutch victory

Belligerents

Tentara Republik Indonesia (TRI)
Kebaktian Rakyat Indonesia Sulawesi (KRIS)
Various local irregular fighting forces

Depot Special Forces (DST)
Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL)
Police units
Village guards

Commanders and leaders

Lieutenant Latief

Captain Westerling
Colonel De Vries

Strength

Unknown

123 DST troops

Casualties and losses

Approximately 5000 dead, among them an unknown number of non-combatants

3 DST troops dead
Unknown number of KNIL soldiers and members of village guards and police units killed

The South Sulawesi Campaign (10 December 1946 – 21 February 1947) was a campaign of the Indonesian National Revolution. It pitted local Indonesian Republicans on the island of Sulawesi against the returning Dutch who sought to re-assert their authority. The Dutch counter-insurgency offensive was masterminded by the controversial Raymond Westerling, a Captain in the KNIL (Royal Netherlands East Indies Army). Westerling's operation, which started in December 1946 and ended in February 1947, succeeded in eliminating the insurgency and undermining local support for the Republicans by instituting summary executions of suspected enemy fighters.

Between 1816 and 1905, the Dutch consolidated their control over the Bugis states of South Sulawesi. By 1911, the Dutch had integrated the entire region into the Dutch East Indies. Dutch rule was interrupted by the Japanese invasion of the East Indies during World War Two. During the Japanese occupation of Indonesia, Sulawesi along with much of eastern Indonesia was administrated by the Imperial Japanese Navy which sought to suppress local Republican and nationalist movements in contrast to the Army-dominated occupations of Java and Sumatra. Following the Japanese surrender in August 1945, the nationalist movement in Sulawesi established contact with Sukarno's Republican administration in Java.

However, due to the weak state of the nationalist forces in Sulawesi, they were unable to resist Australian and Dutch occupation forces which quickly occupied much of East Indonesia with little resistance. By 5 April 1946, most of the local Republican administration including Governor Sam Ratulangi were imprisoned by the returning Dutch authorities. The Dutch also interned the pro-Republican aristocracy and their supporters. Despite this, resistance continued in the form of pro-Republican intellectuals and guerrillas, surviving nobility and Java-based militants. The Dutch downplayed the local resistance as manifestations of international Communism and Javanese domination, portraying the native populations as contented and resistant to revolutionary change.

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