For a long time, the Republic of Indonesia was framed in the Netherlands as a creation of Japanese fascism. It was claimed that the Republic did not enjoy support among the Indonesian people and that independence had been proclaimed by a small group of fanatics who were collaborating with the Japanese. That is why Sukarno was described as the ‘Indonesian Mussert’, after the man who founded a Nazi party in the Netherlands in the 1930s.
The East Indies Emergency foundation (Stichting ‘Indië in Nood’) was fiercely opposed to Indonesian independence. The continued use of the name ‘Indië’ (East Indies) rather than ‘Indonesia’ in the foundation’s name also says a lot. The foundation deployed propaganda to call for the restoration of Dutch authority as soon as possible. The Japanese dragon and Indonesian fighter, united under the Indonesian flag, attack an Indonesian woman with her baby, illustrating the explosion of violence — symbolized by the volcano — that would overwhelm Indonesia unless the Netherlands took action. As the text at the top says, “Terror and poverty under the Red and White flag”. Only under the Dutch flag would there be order and prosperity (“Orde en Welvaart”), as portrayed by the peaceful scene with hardworking people in the paddy field.
‘Onder de Rood-Witte vlag Terreur en Armoede - Onder het Rood-Wit-Blauw Orde en Welvaart’. Poster. Publisher: Stichting ‘Indië in Nood’, c. 1945. Or. 27.011-4.