The text reads “Tjara Belanda berperang” (The Dutch way of fighting a war). The person on the left represents a colonial official (wearing clothes in the Dutch flag colours of red, white and blue). He represents the Dutch politicians, officials and financiers accused of being the masterminds behind the recolonization of Indonesia after 1945. They did not dare to fight directly themselves, but cowardly used Dutch soldiers and Indonesians in the Dutch colonial army. The person in army uniform might represent either Dutch soldiers, whose skin grew tanned from fighting in the tropics, or indigenous soldiers in the KNIL. The poster accuses the soldiers of being manipulated by Dutch officials into fighting the Indonesians for a meagre wage, as shown with the sack marked with a guilder symbol (“f...”) that is held out by the Dutch official.
‘Tjara Belanda berperang’. One of a set of 13 sheets of original Indonesian drawings, used as designs for propaganda posters. c. 1947. Watercolour on stiff paper. Or. 27.649.