The Police Actions (Dutch: Politionele Acties, also Politiële Acties), were two major military offensives that the Netherlands carried out on Java and Sumatra against the Republic of Indonesia during its struggle for independence in the Indonesian National Revolution. In Indonesia they are collectively known as the Dutch Military Aggressions (Indonesian: Agresi Militer Belanda), although the direct translation Aksi Polisionil is also used. In Dutch historiography and discourse, the entire Indonesian War of Independence was euphemistically referred to for decades as "the police actions", as coined by the government at the time. In the Netherlands, the public impression prevailed that only these two short-term operations had been carried out, intended to protect the Dutch East Indies from a rebellion that required police action. This perspective ignores the fact that between the Indonesian declaration of independence in August 1945 and the cession of sovereignty in December 1949, a 52-month war had taken place.
Operation Product
Operation Product took place between 21 July and 5 August 1947. The Dutch greatly reduced and fragmented Indonesian-controlled territories, with a particular focus on the economic centre of Sumatra and the Port of Java. Lieutenant Governor-General Hubertus van Mook also advocated for the occupation of Yogyakarta, but the Dutch government decided against capturing the wartime seat of the Republican government at that time. The Mariniersbrigade (Marbrig) headquartered in Surabaya was tasked with securing territory in East Java containing 40 sugar factories, 70 coffee plantations, 72 rubber plantations, 5 tea plantations, and 3 cinchona plantations. It carried out amphibious landings at Pasir Putih in Situbondo (Product North) and north of Banyuwangi (Product East) to occupy the eastern salient of Java. An offensive from Porong (Product South) connected Surabaya to the eastern salient through Pasuruan, before the marines then pushed on to the Republican stronghold of Malang.
Operation Kraai
Operation Kraai (Crow) took place between 19 December 1948 and 5 January 1949. With the advantage of surprise, the Dutch captured Yogyakarta and arrested much of the Republican leadership, leading to the creation of an Indonesian government-in-exile in West Sumatra. The Marbrig's actions in northeastern Java until 11 January are referred to as Operation Zeemeeuw (Seagull). The unit landed at Glondong in Tuban with the ultimate goal of occupying Madiun, but its advance was soon halted by a sizable anti-tank ditch some 30 km (19 mi) inland, dating back to the Japanese invasion of Java in 1942. From then on, the motorized columns were further delayed by the conditions of the wet season, destroyed bridges, and reliance on roads that no longer existed and were overgrown with teak forests. Because the marines lacked a dedicated engineer regiment, they had to cover much of the distance on foot and reached Madiun only after the city had already been captured by the regular army.
Other operations Eclipsed by the scale and notoriety of Product and Kraai, other Dutch offensive operations of the Indonesian Revolution included:
Operation Trackman (Gresik, 10 August 1946) Operation Quantico (Gresik, 19 August 1946) Battle of Margarana (Marga, 20 November 1946) South Sulawesi campaign (10 December 1946–21 February 1947) Operation Ideaal (Mojokerto, 17 March 1947) Malang Operation (30 June 1947) Operation Carthago (Asembagus, 5 September 1947) Operation Albatros (Pacitan, 12 January 1949) Operation Otter (Prigi Bay, 7–18 April 1949) Paciran Operation (20–28 May 1949)
References
Further reading
Dutch language Heijboer, P. (1979). De politionele acties: de strijd om 'Indië', 1945/1949 (in Dutch). Haarlem: Fibula-van Dishoeck. ISBN 9022838722. van Doorn, J.A.A.; Hendrix, W.J. (1983). Het Nederlands/Indonesisch conflict: ontsporing van geweld (in Dutch). Amsterdam: De Bataafsche Leeuw. ISBN 9067070211. Teitler, G.; Groen, P.M.H. (1987). De politionele acties (in Dutch). Amsterdam: De Bataafsche Leeuw. ISBN 9067071390. de Jong, J.J.P. (1988). Diplomatie of strijd: een analyse van het Nederlands beleid tegenover de Indonesische Revolutie, 1945–1947 (in Dutch). Meppel: Boom. ISBN 9060098382. de Jong, L. (1988). Het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden in de Tweede Wereldoorlog, volume 12 (in Dutch). The Hague: Sdu. Groen, P.M.H. (1991). Marsroutes en dwaalsporen: het Nederlands militair-strategisch beleid in Indonesië, 1945–1950 (in Dutch). The Hague: Sdu. ISBN 9012068746. van Liempt, A. (1994). Een mooi woord voor oorlog: ruzie, roddel en achterdocht op weg naar de Indonesië-oorlog (in Dutch). The Hague: Sdu. ISBN 9012067014. de Jong, J.J.P. (2011). Avondschot: hoe Nederland zich terugtrok uit zijn Aziatisch imperium (in Dutch). Meppel: Boom. ISBN 978-9461052704. Limpach, R.P. (2016). De brandende kampongs van Generaal Spoor (in Dutch). Amsterdam: Boom. ISBN 978-9089539502. Netherlands Institute for Military History (2021). Krijgsgeweld en kolonie: opkomst en ondergang van Nederland als koloniale mogendheid, 1816-2010 (in Dutch). Amsterdam: Boom. ISBN 978-9024438952.
English language Luttikhuis, Bart; Moses, A. Dirk (2014). Colonial Counterinsurgency and Mass Violence: The Dutch Empire in Indonesia. Oxford/New York City: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415856836. Doolan, Paul M.M. (2021). Collective Memory and the Dutch East Indies: Unremembering Decolonization (PDF). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 978-9463728744. Retrieved 10 August 2026. KITLV; NIMH; NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies (2022). Beyond the Pale: Dutch Extreme Violence in the Indonesian War of Independence, 1945–1949. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 978-9463726481.
