Sukarno

It was the culmination of years of struggle. The Indonesian nationalist movement had become active in the early 20th century, but the Dutch colonial government suppressed it. The day after the declaration, Sukarno and Mohamad Hatta were appointed president and vice-president of Indonesia, respectively. This marked the start of the Indonesian National Revolution. It wasn’t until 1949 that the Netherlands agreed to recognise the independence of Indonesia. Six years later Sukarno was the driving force behind the Bandung Conference, which laid the ground for solidarity between formerly colonised states. Sukarno is remembered to this day as ‘Bung Karno’, father of the Indonesians.