Regional tensions and World War II
The great interwar depression hit the Netherlands East Indies very badly. To protect Dutch exports to the colony, the import of Japanese goods was restricted. To maintain the prices of important Dutch products, such as rubber and tin, production and export were deliberately curtailed. These moves were resented by both Japan and the USA. Japan depended upon economic access to Indonesia, and the USA – a major importer of tin and rubber – resented Dutch ‘commodity control’ schemes. The USA also challenged Japanese claims to regional hegemony, and in this atmosphere there was an ever-growing likelihood of a war in the Pacific in which Indonesia would be embroiled.The Japanese overwhelmed Dutch resistance in 1942 with humiliating ease, taking the archipelago in a mere few days, and subjecting the former colonial masters to every