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Mohammad Hatta ( ; 12 August 1902 – 14 March 1980) was an Indonesian statesman, nationalist, and independence activist who served as the country's first vice president as well as the third prime minister. Known as "The Proclamator", he and a number of Indonesians, including the first president of Indonesia, Sukarno, fought for the independence of Indonesia from the Netherlands. Hatta was an important figure during the Indonesian national awakening and during the national revolution. As a youth he was politically active in both the Netherlands and the Indies, which led him to be imprisoned in the Boven Digoel concentration camp for his activism. He also played a crucial role in the proclamation of Indonesian independence, being the second person to sign the declaration besides Sukarno, thus making him one of the founders of Indonesia.
During his spare time, he worked part-time in a post office. Normally, MULO students were not allowed to work, but he was able to work there because of the HBS exam qualification. Hatta was interested in football; he joined his school's football team and was made its chairman. He broadened his sphere of contacts by using his position.
Hatta used to visit the office of the Sarikat Usaha (United Endeavor), led by Taher Marah Soetan. In the office, he read Dutch newspapers, particularly about political debates in the Volksraad (parliament) of the Dutch East Indies. It was at the age of sixteen that Hatta began to be interested in politics and national movements. He was chosen the treasurer of the branch of the Jong Sumatranen Bond (or youth association of Sumatra), which was first established in Padang in 1918.
To gain more support from other nations, Hatta attended congresses all over Europe, always as the chairman of the Indonesian delegation. In 1926, Hatta and Perhimpoenan Indonesia joined the (sixth) International Democratic Congress for Peace in Marc Sangnier's domaine de Bierville (Boissy-la-Rivière), France. In February 1927, Hatta went to Brussels to attend a congress held by the League Against Imperialism and Colonial Oppression. He met many other prominent nationalists there, including Jawaharlal Nehru from India, Muhammad Hafiz Ramadan Pasha from Egypt and Lamine Senghor from Senegal. Later in the year, Hatta attended another congress held by the International Women's League for Peace and Freedom in Switzerland. On that occasion, Hatta delivered a speech with the title of "Indonesia and her Independence Problem".
By the middle of 1927, Perhimpoenan Indonesias activities had alarmed the Dutch authorities. In June 1927, Dutch authorities raided the residence of the organization's leaders, searching through their rooms and putting Hatta and other four other Indonesian activists behind bars. After spending nearly six months in prison, they were taken to trial in the Hague. They were permitted to explain themselves during the hearing, and Hatta took to the opportunity to explain Indonesia's nationalist cause. He made a speech to the court explaining that Indonesia's interests were in conflict with those of the Dutch, and that was why they could not cooperate.
Hatta advocated cooperation between Indonesia and the Netherlands, but only if Indonesia was independent and treated as an equal partner, not unequally because of its status as a colony. The speech became famous and it is known as the Indonesia Vrij (Indonesia Merdeka) or Free Indonesia speech. In 1929, Hatta and other Perhimpoenan Indonesia activists were released. In July 1932, Hatta made his way home to Indonesia.
In December 1932, Sukarno was finally released from prison and the attention now turned to which party Sukarno would choose. Sukarno, who had wanted one united front to gain Indonesia's independence was uncertain, thinking that in choosing one over the other, he would encourage division. In this, he was criticized by Hatta, who was more pragmatic about differences, in this case the conflict between Partindo's radical and mass party approach versus the New PNI's moderate and cadre party approach. Sukarno insisted on negotiations to unify Partindo and New PNI but after failing, chose to join Partindo.
Between 1932 and 1933, Hatta wrote articles on politics and economics for the New PNI's newspaper Daulat Rakyat (The People's Authority). These articles were aimed at training new cadres for Indonesia's leadership.
Hatta seemed to be extremely critical of Sukarno at this point in time. In August 1933, with Sukarno once again arrested and facing trial, he wrote an article called "Sukarno Is Arrested". This was followed by articles entitled "The Tragedy of Sukarno" (November 1933) and "The Stance of a Leader" (December 1933).
In January 1935, it was decided that Hatta and his fellow New PNI leaders (including Syahrir) would be exiled to Boven Digoel in Papua. When Hatta arrived there, he was told by the local authorities that he had two options. The first option was to work for the Dutch Colonial Government as a civil servant for 40 cents a day with the hope of returning from exile, and the second option was being an exile, receiving food but having no hope of returning from exile. Hatta commented if he had decided to take a job as a civil servant in Jakarta, he would have earned a lot of money and knowing that, there was no need to go to Boven Digoel to be paid cheaply. In saying this, Hatta chose the second option. his exile, Hatta continued to write articles, this time for the Newspaper Pemandangan (The View). He earned enough money from that to make ends meet at Boven Digoel and to support his colleagues who had financial troubles. Hatta also used his books (which filled 16 chests when they were packed to leave Jakarta) to give his colleagues lessons on economics, history, and philosophy. Later on these lessons would be made into books entitled "An Introduction on the Way to Knowledge" and "The Nature of Greek Thought" (four volumes). In January 1936, Hatta and Syahrir were transferred to Banda Neira in Maluku Islands. There they joined more nationalists such as Iwa Kusumasumantri and Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo. Hatta and Syahrir were given more freedom and were able to interact with the locals. Hatta and Syahrir also gave lessons to the local children, teaching them about politics and history. Hatta adopted a local boy, Des Alwi, as his son while living in Bandaneira. Alwi would become a prominent Indonesian historian and diplomat. In February 1942, Hatta and Syahrir were transferred to Sukabumi in West Java.
In Jakarta, Hatta met with Major General , the interim head of government. Harada asked Hatta to become an advisor for the occupational Government. Hatta accepted the job and then asked Harada if Japan was here to colonize Indonesia. Harada assured Hatta that Japan would not do. In Hatta's eyes, an acknowledgement of an Indonesian independence by Japan was extremely important. If Japan, with its ultra-nationalistic ideology was able to recognize Indonesia's independence, it would put more pressure on the Allies (especially the United States and the United Kingdom) as representatives of democracy to do the same thing. In July 1942, Hatta was reunited with Sukarno who after Flores had been transferred to Sumatra before the Japanese arrived, and had also been asked for his services. Although they had left off on a bad note, Sukarno wanted to speak with Hatta before speaking with anyone else. In a secret meeting at Hatta's Jakarta home Sukarno, Hatta and Sjahrir agreed that Sjahrir would go underground to organise the revolutionary resistance while the other two would commence their cooperation with the Japanese occupier.
On 9 March 1943, the Japanese occupational government approved the formation of the Centre of People's Power (Putera) with Hatta and the other quattuorvirate as the co-chairmen of the association. Sukarno thought that this would be a way from which they could gain support for independence, instead the Japanese used this to their own cause and to start their romusha (forced labour) regime in Indonesia. On 4 October 1943, Hatta, along with Sukarno and other nationalist figures was appointed to the Javanese Central Advisory Council, which was by set up the occupation government. In November 1943, Hatta and Sukarno's efforts in cooperating with the Japanese occupational government was recognized by Emperor Hirohito who decorated them with awards in Tokyo.
As the tide of the war began to turn against the Japanese, the Japanese occupational government in Indonesia became desperate to maintain control. Putera was disbanded and replaced with Djawa Hokokai in March 1944. Although still chaired by Sukarno, the Indonesians had less freedom of movement than they had had in Putera. When defeat began looming on the horizon, Prime Minister Kuniaki Koiso announced in September 1944 that Japan would grant Indonesia its independence in the near future. From then on, momentum began to gather for the independence of Indonesia, fuelled by the nationalist sentiments of Indonesians and supported by sympathizers from Japan such as Rear Admiral Tadashi Maeda. In Maeda's case, he even set up a discussion forum called the Free Indonesia Centre and invited Hatta and Sukarno along to deliver lectures on nationalism. This was followed in April 1945, by the formation of the Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence (BPUPK), which would meet over the next three months and would decide on things such as the constitution and which territories would be part of Indonesia.
The next day, on 15 August 1945, Japan surrendered to the Allies. In Indonesia, the news was only a rumor and had not been confirmed. Hatta and Sukarno went to the office of the Japanese occupational government in Jakarta, only to find it empty. Hatta and Sukarno then went to Maeda who confirmed that Japan had surrendered to the Allies. Hatta and Sukarno seemed shocked that Japan had surrendered. During the afternoon, Hatta and Sukarno were confronted by Indonesian youths who wanted independence to be proclaimed as soon as possible. A heated exchange followed, with Sukarno telling the youths to have more patience. Hatta, who was aware of this and Sukarno's superiority in the exchange, sarcastically commented on the youths' inability to proclaim independence without Sukarno.
By the end of 1946, the diplomatic solution which Hatta and Sukarno had been looking for seemed to have been found. The Linggadjati Agreement, signed in November 1946, called for Dutch recognition of the Republic of Indonesia. However, territorial recognition would only be over Java, Sumatra, and Madura. In addition, this republic would be part of a United States of Indonesia with the Queen of the Netherlands acting as the Head of State. However, before the agreement was finally ratified by the Dutch House of Representatives, some compromises were made without the consent of the republic. In turn, Indonesia refused to implement its part of the deal, resulting in the first "Police Action" in July 1947.
During this time, Hatta was sent out of the country to look for support for Indonesia. One country that he went to was India, the homeland of his old friend, Jawaharlal Nehru whom he had first met at the Congress of Opressed Nationalities at Brussels in 1927. Disguised as an airplane co-pilot, Hatta sneaked out of the country to ask for assistance. There he asked Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi for help. Nehru assured him that India would support Indonesia and would make the support known at international forums such as the United Nations (UN).Louro, Michele L.. Comrades Against Imperialism: Nehru, India, and Interwar Internationalism. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
In December 1947, negotiations were held aboard and an agreement was signed in January 1948. This agreement was more favorable towards the Dutch and called for the republic to recognize the territories which the Dutch had taken during the first "Police Action". The agreement caused outrage and caused Amir Sjarifuddin to resign from his position as prime minister.
In December 1948, the Dutch launched their second "Police Action" and focused their attack on Yogyakarta. Hatta and Sukarno, instead of running away to fight guerrilla warfare chose to remain in the city and were arrested. Sukarno transferred authority to the Emergency Government of the Republic of Indonesia (PDRI), before going into exile with all the other Republican leaders. Hatta was sent to Bangka. in The Hague]] Resistance continued under General Sudirman and TNI troops who fought a guerrilla war against the Dutch. In March, Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX organized 1 March General Offensive, in which the city of Yogyakarta was held by Indonesian forces for six hours. This played an important role in causing international pressure to be put on the Netherlands. In May 1949, the Roem–Van Roijen Agreement was signed and the Netherlands promised to return the leaders of the Republican Government. In July 1949, Hatta and Sukarno made their return to Yogyakarta.
In August 1949, Hatta headed a delegation to the Hague for a Round Table conference. In November 1949, the formation of the United States of Indonesia was finally agreed. It was to be a federation consisting of the Republic and 15 States which the Dutch had created during the National Revolution. The Queen of the Netherlands would continue to become the symbolic head of state while Sukarno and Hatta would continue as president and vice president. On 27 December 1949, the Dutch authorities finally recognized Indonesian sovereignty. Hatta continued on as the Prime Minister of the United States of Indonesia and presided over the transition of the federal state to the unitary state, which was made official on 17 August 1950.
For his remaining time as vice president, Hatta was regularly invited to deliver lectures in universities. He also engaged in intellectual pursuits, writing essays and books about topics such as the economy and cooperatives. The idea of cooperatives being an integral part of economy would become a pet project for Hatta and he would become an enthusiastic promoter of the idea. In July 1951, on the occasion of Cooperatives Day, Hatta went on the radio to deliver a speech on cooperatives. In 1953, Hatta's contribution towards promoting cooperatives was recognized and he was given the title "Father of Indonesian Cooperatives" at the Indonesian Cooperative Congress.
On the surface, it seemed as if Hatta was retiring for practical reasons. Because the presidency was a ceremonial role, this made the office of vice president pointless, and Hatta thought that the country was wasting a lot of money paying his wages. There were also personal reasons, however. As a man who believed in democracy, Hatta was beginning to feel disillusioned with Sukarno's increasing autocracy and authoritarianism. Hatta had continued to advise Sukarno against taking this road but he was ignored. Hatta finally gave up and thought that he could no longer work with Sukarno. On 1 December 1956, Hatta officially resigned from the vice presidency.
In 1960, Hatta wrote a book called Our Democracy. In it, he criticized Sukarno's Guided Democracy as another form of dictatorship. Sukarno immediately banned the book. The same year Sjahrir's political party, the Socialist Party of Indonesia was banned and two years later he was imprisoned on conspiracy charges. Hatta wrote a personal letter to Sukarno calling the arrest 'colonial' and 'non-rational', but to no avail. The old revolutionary trinity had definitively broken down.
His daughter, Meutia Farida Hatta previously served as Minister for Women's Empowerment in Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Cabinet. She currently serves as President of the Indonesian Justice and Unity Party.
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