The PETA revolt in Blitar () was an anti-occupation revolt in present-day Indonesia, which took place on 14 February 1945 by the PETA daidan (battalion) in Blitar. This revolt was widely known as the first major uprising of local armies in Indonesia during the Japanese occupation. The revolt ended unsuccessfully; most of the rebels abandoned the attack, or were captured or killed by the Japanese. Nevertheless, the government of Indonesia acknowledged the revolt as a meaningful revolution.
The rebels were led by Supriyadi, who disappeared after the revolt. In 1975, President Suharto issued Presidential Decree no.63 of 1975 officially acknowledging Supriyadi as a national hero of Indonesia.
Background
Arrival of the Japanese in Indonesia
Upon occupation by Nazi Germany, the Dutch had to hand over the Dutch East Indies, its colony, to Imperial Japan, only months after the first German attack. The arrival of the Japanese occupiers in March 1942 was celebrated by Indonesians who had suffered under the colonial Dutch. To many Indonesians Japan was a savior which would chase the Western colonials away, and bring independence for the Indonesian people.
Unlike its Dutch predecessors, or other Western colonials in South East Asia, the Japanese tried to encourage, if not boost, national sentiments of the local people from the very beginning of its arrival, so that they would support the Japanese occupation of Indonesia. The Japanese military forces did not suppress nor restrain the Indonesian people's desire for sovereignty. Instead, the national anthem Indonesia Raya was allowed to be played in the middle of city streets, and ‘Sang Merah Putih’, the national flag of Indonesia could be displayed everywhere.
Japanese propaganda painted imperial Japan as a friend which came to liberate Indonesia, rather than an enemy intent on exploiting the resources of the Archipelago. Numerous prominent figures of Indonesian politics who had taken a firm stand against the Dutch, such as Sukarno and Hatta, agreed to collaborate with the Japanese military in order to promote the independence of the nation and defend it from a return by Dutch colonizers.
The Formation of PETA
The kindness of Japan to Indonesia was not free of cost. Japan tried to conscript the young generation of Indonesia to supplement its own military forces. Adding more personnel was very critical for the Japanese military. However, Gatot Mangkupradja, a pro-Japanese nationalist figure, opposed Japan's idea of conscription. Instead, he proposed a volunteer-based military battalion to be known as the Volunteer Army of Homeland Defenders, or Tentara Sukarela Pembela Tanah Air in Indonesian, called PETA. Gatot argued that Indonesian men should have the right to freely choose whether to fight, and also take the consequences of their choice. It is said that Gatot wrote the petition with his blood; thus the heart of the Japanese commandant who received it was greatly touched.
The response from Indonesian youth was impressive. Thousands applied to join PETA, and the Japanese military forces felt satisfied as well. The spirit of voluntarism made many Indonesian believe that PETA was an indigenous army that was created to liberate the nation of Indonesia. In addition, most of the officers who voluntarily joined PETA were from the high strata of Indonesian society. This helped to obscure the fact that PETA was formed to serve the military purposes of colonial Japan, not to fight for independence. PETA's role was to protect the homeland from external threats such as the Dutch and the Allied Forces, but Japan was not seen as one of those threats. Later, many former PETA officers became the leaders of Indonesian military forces after independence, for instance, Sudirman and Soeharto.
Continuous suffering
Indonesia's huge population was not the only resource that imperial Japan coveted. Indonesia was a country with the largest territory and richest natural resources, valuable for imperial Japan, which was in the middle of the fierce struggles of World War II. Japan's policy in Indonesia, therefore, was very economically oriented as well.