The Special Region of Surakarta was a de-facto provincial-level autonomous region of Indonesia that existed between August 1945 and July 1946. The establishment of this special autonomy status during this period was never established by a separate law based on Article 18 of the original Constitution, but only by a Presidential Determination Charter on 19 August 1945 and Law No. 1 Year 1945 on the Position of the Regional National Committee.
Origin of the Special Region
The establishment of the Special Region was done by President Sukarno as a reward for the recognition of the kings of the Surakarta Sunanate and the Duchy of Mangkunegaran who declared their territory as part of the Republic of Indonesia on 19 August 1945.Furthermore, on 19 August 1945 at the PPKI meeting it was decided that the territory of the Republic of Indonesia was divided into nine provinces and two special regions, namely West Java, Central Java, East Java, Lesser Sunda, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, Special Region of Surakarta, Special Region of Yogyakarta. This opinion contradicts the PPKI Decision as contained in the book Risalah Sidang BPUPKI dan PPKI published by the state secretariat, both editions II (1993) and III (1995).
Then on 1 September 1945, the Surakarta Royal Court and the Mangkunegaran Duchy sent an edict to President Sukarno regarding a statement from Susuhunan Pakubuwono XII and Adipati Mangkunegara VIII stating that the royal State of Surakarta Hadiningrat was a Special Region of the Republic of Indonesia, where the relationship between the State of Surakarta and the Central Government of the Republic of Indonesia was direct. On this basis, President Sukarno gave official recognition to Susuhunan Pakubuwono XII and Adipati Mangkunegara VIII by granting a charter of official position, each as the head of a special region.as the Head of the Special Region of Surakarta, which was equivalent to the position of Governor and directly under the Central Government. This opinion contradicts Law 22/1948 on regional government and the historical facts in which R.P. Suroso was placed as the Indonesian High Commissioner for Kesunanan and Mangkunegaran. See A.H. Nasution's book Sekitar Perang Kemerdekaan Indonesia and Sudarisman Purwokusumo's Special Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta.
Four days later, on 5 September 1945, the Sultanate of Yogyakarta and the Duchy of Pakualaman issued a similar edict, which became the basis for the formation of the Special Region of Yogyakarta. Making the Special Province of Surakarta's autonomy older than Yogyakarta's, have it not been abolished.
Administrative divisions
There has never been a regulation that mentions the position of the Surakarta Special Region on the subdivision of Indonesia. Whether at the provincial level (such as the Special Region of Yogyakarta) or at the Regency level (such as Kutai, Berau, and Bulongan). Thus, it cannot be clearly known what the position of Surakarta was.The position of special regions at the level of provinces or at the level of regencies, or at the level of villages only existed in 1948 through Law 22/1948 (UU 22/1948), even though DIS had been frozen/dissolved smoothly in 1946 two years before the law was passed.
The Special Region of Surakarta includes:
The Kasunanan territory consisting of: (a) Surakarta Regency (current Surakarta City (minus Banjarsari district, Kerten district, Jajar district and Karangasem district in Laweyan district, Mojosongo district in Jebres district) plus Sukoharjo Regency), (b) Klaten Regency (including Kotagede and Imogiri exclaves), (c) Boyolali Regency, (d) Sragen Regency; Mangkunegaran territory consisting of: (a) Karanganyar Regency (minus Colomadu and Gondangrejo districts), (b) Wonogiri Regency (including Ngawen exclave),Since 1957, it has been the territory of DIY and (c) Mangkunegaran City Regency.
Governance The government in Surakarta was divided into two stages during the period of August 1945 to July 1946. Each stage shows a significant difference.
DIS Government August 1945 – October 1945 During this period there was a dual government between:
The (Japanese government) Government of the Surakarta Regional Indonesian National Committee Surakarta Sunanate Government Praja Mangkunegaran Government
Each of these governments had its own powers and apparatus. The Kooti Zimukyoku government was a status quo government that continued the government for the Allied Forces as the victors of the Second World War. This government did not last long because it was soon captured by the Surakarta Regional KNI government. The Surakarta Regional KNI Government was a government formed by the people as a reaction to welcome Indonesian independence. This government formed a three-man Governing Council to exercise day-to-day executive power.
The government of the Surakarta Sunanate was the government that continued the monarchy before the independence of Indonesia. It was led by the Pepatihdalem (Prime Minister) for and on behalf of His Majesty Pakubuwono XII. The government of Praja Mangkunegaran, which was a continuation of the monarchy before Indonesian independence, was led by the Patih for and on behalf of Mangkunegara VIII. With the existence of these various governments, there was an overlap of power and competition for the legitimacy of the people and the central government.
DIS Government October 1945 – July 1946
To overcome the chaos and overlapping governments in DIS, the Central Government sent the Governor of Central Java, Panji Soeroso, as the High Commissioner of Surakarta to mediate and to organise a new government. Since then the DIS government has consisted of:
High Commissioner of the Central Government KNI Surakarta Regional Working Committee Surakarta Regional Directorium
The High Commissioner of the Central Government was the representative of the Central government in Surakarta. This commissioner functions as the Head of the Special Region of Surakarta and oversees the work of the local legislature and the local executive. The KNI Surakarta Regional Working Committee was the local legislative body of the Surakarta Region. It was formed by and responsible to the Central Indonesian National Committee (KNIP) of the Surakarta Region. Members of the KNI Surakarta Regional Working Committee were elected by and from the members of the KNI Surakarta Region. The Surakarta Regional Directorium was the local executive body of the Surakarta Region. It consists of representatives from the KNI Surakarta, the Royal Government of Surakarta, and the Praja Mangkunegaran Government. The KNI of Surakarta Region has five representatives. The Royal Government of Surakarta had two representatives. The Mangkunegaran Royal Government had two representatives.
Politics A Directorate Government consisting of Kasunanan, Mangkunegaran and KND elements did not work, because the Kasunanan and Mangkunegaran wanted to have individual interests, leading to further instability. In its short span, the Special Region of Surakarta has not been free from various political upheavals. With the monarchical upheaval and the anti-swapraja (anti-monarchist) movement.
Monarchical upheaval The monarchical upheaval that occurred in the Surakarta Kingdom was the existence of the position of Patih. This position ruled for and on behalf of the susuhunan (ruler), causing Susuhan Pakubuwono XII to not freely move to accommodate the upheaval of the people. On 17 October 1945, the pepatihdalem (prime minister) of the Kesunanan and former BPUPK member, KRMH. Sasradiningrat V, was kidnapped by anti-swapraja mobs (he was later freed). This was followed by the removal of regents, many of whom were relatives of the king, and their replacement by pro-swapraja men. In March 1946, the new pepatihdalem, KRMT. Yudhanagara, was also kidnapped. And in April 1946, nine Kepatihan officials experienced the same thing. The reoccurring incidents did not serve as a lesson to Surakarta by continuing to appoint a temporary acting patih to exercise the power of the Susuhunan. The monarchical upheaval that occurred within Praja Mangkunegaran was the reluctance of the duke of Mangkunegaran to become Vice Governor of the Special Region to accompany the Susuhan Pakubuwono XII as Governor of the Special Region. Adipati Mangkunegara VIII, wanted Praja Mangkunegaran to be its own special region and not under Surakarta. This was because the area of the Praja was comparable in size to that of the Kingdom of Surakarta. In addition, the Praja was formed with the Treaty of Salatiga, which was almost the same weight as the Treaty of Giyanti. The upheaval of the monarchies of both the Kingdom of Surakarta and Praja Mangkunegaran was their defection by declaring to break away from Dutch rule and swearing its allegiance under the Indonesian government. Thus the monarchical rulers de-facto lost their territories and citizens. The police desertion of both the Kingdom of Surakarta and Praja Mangkunegaran was the defection of the monarchical police to join the police and armed forces of the Republic of Indonesia. Thus the monarchical rulers de-facto lost their government apparatus.
Anti-swapraja (anti-monarchist) agitation
The leftist anti-monarchist upheaval was a revolutionary socialist-communist agitation to seize lands controlled by the monarchy. The anti-monarchist upheaval of the Opposition group was the upheaval of the opposition group not in the Indonesian cabinet government who also took a distance and a stance opposite to Sukarno-Hatta, making political adventures to counterbalance the centre of power in Yogyakarta by making Surakarta the "wild-west" of Yogyakarta.
Economy Until now there has been no complete information about the economy of DIS between 1945–1946. However, it can be estimated that as usual, the economy after the war and in a state of revolution was in a deplorable state. This will be more pronounced when compared to the economy before the Second World War, especially during the reign of Pakubuwono X.
Socio-culture Until now, there is no complete information about the socio-cultural condition of DIS between 1945–1946. The last condition before the Second World War put Surakarta Sunanate and Mangkunegaran Praja in a position to develop the agrarian industry, especially sugar cane and tobacco. This led to the growth of the labour class and eventually the socialist ideology, which in its more extreme form was communism, flourished. After Indonesian independence, supported by the decline of economic life and political turmoil, the working class moved to form a revolution.
Suspension and abolition
The freezing and abolition of the special region status was inseparable from the emergence of a social revolution in the form of an anti-swapraja movement in Surakarta, which took place simultaneously with the East Sumatran Social Revolution. Like the East Sumatran Social Revolution, the Surakarta anti-swapraja movement wanted to abolish the royal system on the grounds of anti-feudalism. At the time of the establishment of the Special Region of Surakarta, Moewardi had a stronger influence than Pakubuwono XII, who was considered to have no experience in managing matters of public interest, lacked the seriousness and courage to make decisions and did not understand the forces of revolution that were moving towards western democracy and popular sovereignty. This was exacerbated by the disharmonious relationship between the Surakarta Sunanate and Mangkunegaran.