Example research essay topic: 20 Th Century Allied Forces - 2,247 words

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Indonesia is the country that I have selected to conduct my research. I will research the following 5 topics all in the 20 th century. 1. The important aspects of the Indonesian culture Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago, that achieved independence from the Netherlands in 1949. The Indonesian archipelago despite rich historical and cultural heritage is extremely influenced by the XX century world issues. Indonesia is emerged in widespread poverty, ever-growing external debt to the USA, IMF, and other financial institutions.

The traditional monarchy and authoritarian rule in the country is currently being substituted by the elected government, while the great number of masterpieces of cultural importance are sold abroad because of the wide spread corruption (Thomas, 23). Another important cultural element attributable to Indonesia is the abundance of languages, thus making each inhabitant a polyglot, capable of speaking at least 3 languages (Johnson, 89). I should also note that Indonesia also is home to a rich tapestry of other ethnically distinct indigenous people. The Dani, Asmat, and dozens of other tribes of Irian Jaya (the Indonesian province on the island of New Guinea) are of Melanesian stock. The people of Nusa Tenggara (Lesser Sunda) islands... the Dayaks of Kalimantan (the Indonesian portion of Borneo)...

and the Batak of North Sumatra, each represent groups of distinct ethnic origins and customs (Donahue, 58). The lively arts, music and dance, are widespread throughout Indonesia. Traditional forms, especially gamelan music from Java and dance from Bali, have long been known beyond the borders of Indonesia. They are still being learned from childhood and performed actively to this day. Indonesia's graphic arts, most notably its fabled textiles, including Javanese batik and it weavings from Sumatra and the Nusa Tenggara islands have achieved high forms of expression an are prized by collectors the world over.

Many of Indonesia's smaller ethnic groups, particularly the Batak, Dayak, Nias and Asmat peoples have developed a strongly characteristic form of artistic expression, rendered prolifically in ceremonial objects, fashioned in unique design motifs from wood and stone (Schwarz, 293). In the face of such ethnic diversity, the newly-formed republic decided following independence that a single, standard, nationwide language was essential as amends of uniting Indonesia's people (Donald, 197). To this day, local dialects can still be heard in villages throughout the archipelago. But "Bahasa Indonesia" (which gained formal recognition in the 1920 s, founded on the traditional Malay language, which is also today's official language in neighboring Malaysia) has met with almost universal except ance -- - making it one of the most widely spoken languages in the world (Thomas, 27).

The patterns characterizing Indonesia's ethnic history can also be seen in the country's religious development. In successive phases, Indonesia was influenced bythe spread of Animism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity (Donahue, 59). Today, the country's dominant religion is Islam. Indeed, with over 85 percent of the population following the Islamic faith, Indonesia has more Moslem adherents than the entire Arab world. Today, the world's most magnificent Buddhist temple, Borobudur, can be found only a few miles from one of Hinduism's most important historic shrines, Prambanan, in Central Java and it presents a wonderful cultural heritage to the whole region. Meanwhile, in modern downtown Jakarta, the city's Roman Catholic cathedral and Istiqlal, the largest of its Islamic mosques, stand only a few hundred meters apart. 2.

The countrys relationship with the United States. Due to the fact that Indonesia faces severe economic development problems, stemming from secessionist movements and the low level of security in the regions the country actively cooperates with the USA. The USA is the third largest trading partner of Indonesia that accounts for 10. 3 % of total exports (China 14 %, Japan 12 %). Indonesia also is emerged in constant struggle for power among the former military leaders, politicians, and businessmen. The violent acts that are present in Indonesia certainly cause various problems in the area and that gives the USA the reason to get involved in the region. The Indonesian economy that is based on oil, and textile exports give the USA another incentive to get engage in the area that is abundant in natural resources (Donahue, 59).

The cheap labor and competent populace of Indonesia causes numerous companies (including Nike, Reebok, etc. ) to switch the manufacturing to Indonesia (Johnson, 93). Speaking about political relationships between the USA and Indonesia I would like to note that with political tension building in Indonesia over the United States military attacks on Afghanistan, US business groups are hoping to increase support for the government of Megawati Sukarnoputri by convincing Congress to lift the ban on military training for Jakarta (Schwarz, 294). The push to normalize military relations with Indonesia is coming from two influential business groups in Washington, the US-ASEAN Business Council, which represents over 400 US corporations doing business in Southeast Asia, and the US Indonesia Society, a private group whose membership includes top business and government officials from both countries (Thomas, 30). According to the US-ASEAN council, foreign direct investment in the ASEAN region last year dropped to half the level of 1997, from $ 32. 5 billion to $ 13. 8 billion. At the same time, the recession in the United States is reducing Southeast Asian exports. "The US won't be able to pull Southeast Asian exports like it did in 1998 and 1999, " Bower said. US still strives to remain an influential trading partner for Indonesia and the whole region. 3.

The revolution for independence 1940 's Prior to going into detail about the revolution, I should say that because Indonesia achieved national independence through revolution, the early years of the new republic were focused on forging a consensus of national unity and basic political orientation under the leadership of Soekarno, the nation's founding president. The first two decades following independence were marked by political and economic turbulence not uncommon among countries in the initial stages of nation building (Donahue, 61). After the attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941 the Japanese conquered most of Southeast Asia in a few months. In m March 1942 they had occupied Birma, Malakka and Indonesia, and only Luzon was still fighting. Well informed Indonesians like Sjahrir did preview the arrival of the Japanese, but for most Indonesians it was no more than disgorging the Dutch rule. The untouchable authorities were gone, with their language, culture and economical structure.

Indonesians were posted on high places and Bahasa Indonesia, not Japanese, replaced the Dutch language (Johnson, 97). At first the change seemed a positive one, but that changed as long as the war continued. Export crops were replaced by strategical important products like bauxite, rubber, oil and rice. Enormous inflation showed up and traffic over land and sea totally collapsed. The country was placed under military regime, the Kempetai (secret police) was feared very soon, and the horrible hom usha-system of forces labour like the Birma railroad was started. Claims over rice were so low that malnutrition rose so much that people died of it.

Many died of food shortage or became victim of epidemics (Thomas, 33). On the 6 th of August Hiroshima was bombed, on the 15 th Japan capitulated, and on the 17 th, Republik Indonesia was proclamated by Soekarno and Hatta. On this date, which is since then celebrated as Independence Day, the red-white flag first saw the daylight. The allied forces saw this 'independence' as a hoax of a few collaborators to maintain power without any form of law and recognition (Donald, 194). The allied forces that arrived on Sumatra and Java six weeks later, noticed that the Indonesian republic already had some kind of government, and that is could depend on support of mostly young people. There was a small republican army, collected from all kinds of smal fighting units, leftovers from teh by the Japanese lifted PETA (Schwarz, 297).

Also Japanese weapons were used by Indonesian people, despite an treaty forbade that. At the end of October British troops arrived in Surabaya, which were immediately attacked by soldiers and young troops. Soekarno and Hatta had to be flown over to protect the British, but a brigadier was killed anyway. After the meeting with Soekarno 600 interested Dutch were evacuated and Indian troops were put ashore, the British decided to attack Surabaya anyway, which meant a negative reaction of the Indonesian people (Donahue, 63). I should also note that the new republican leader of East-Java declared that the city would fight to the last straw, and the British were astonished of the fierce resistance. Despite air assault and shootings from sea, it took the British three days to take two third of the city (Thomas, 37).

From the fact that is took another three weeks to take the city for the full hundred per cent, was a clear way to show how intense the demand for independence was in Indonesia. The city became famous for it's pro-republican radio broadcast of K'tut Tantric ("Surabaya Sue"), a British woman which had lived on Bali before she decided to help the Indonesian. Since the battle for Surabaya, November 10, is remembered as Hari Pahlawan (Day of the Heroes). 4. The growth of tourism in the 20 th century. The capital of Indonesia, Jakarta offers few attractions for tourists. Lonely Planet's guide to Indonesia describes the capital as "the Big Durian, the foul-smelling exotic fruit that some can't stomach and others can't resist. " As the country's main centre for government and business, some 10 million people apparently can't resist living in the city, helping to make it crowded, traffic-bound and polluted (Johnson, 99).

Although Jakarta is somewhat lacking in special attractions, the city does boast of a rich history. Jakarta is unique, however, in boasting the largest collection of public statues in Asia, which provide a quick glimpse at Indonesia's more recent history of post-independence, achieved in 1945. The capital's many statues and monuments are the work of two men - Indonesia's first President Sukarno (1945 - 1965) and his long-lasting successor President Suharto (1966 - 1998) and they offer great attraction to the tourists (Schwarz, 298). Perhaps more interesting historically is the "Hero Statue", depicting a muscular young peasant shouldering a rifle and going off to war while his mother fondly passes him his lunch. The statue, made by Russian artists Matter Manager and his son Otto, was put up in 1963, a year when Indonesia was not going to war with anyone but the communist movement was gaining strength in the country, with tacit support from Sukarno. Sukarno met the two Russian Stalin-era artists during a visit to Moscow where he persuaded them to travel to Java for inspiration for the "revolutionary era" statue, said Nurhadi Sastrapraja, head of education and museum affairs at the Jakarta City Administration (Thomas, 41).

I should also note that one of Suharto's most remarkable statues is the "Youth Builds the Nation Monument, " nicknamed "Hot Hands Harry" or the "Angry Waiter" because it seems to show an angry young man carrying a flaming pizza (Donahue, 66). 5. The valuable natural resources in the islands and exploitation of them. For Indonesia, timber, rattan, fisheries, and other biological resources have made major contribution to the national economy, yet this has been achieved only under grossly unsustainable regimes of resources management. Losses are felt most keenly at the local level by the poorer communities, who are most dependent, directly or indirectly, on biological resources for their livelihoods and welfare (Schwarz, 299). The exploitation of Indonesia's natural resources since the 1960 s has brought economic benefits to the country, but it has often damaged the natural environment and society in resource-rich areas in a way that fosters social tensions and has led to violent conflict. Indonesia needs to manage its natural resources in a way that is fairer and more sustainable than in the past (Johnson, 102).

The exploitation of resources like timber and minerals during the rule of President Soeharto was dominated by companies connected to the regime elite. Though formally legal, this exploitation was often heedless of local communities and the environment and permeated by official corruption and rule-breaking (Donahue, 67). Indonesia now has an opportunity to develop a less damaging model of resource management, but instead there has been a rapid upsurge of illegal resource extraction across the country since 1998. The major forms of illegal extraction are logging, mining and fishing, and they can be organised by licensed companies who violate the law or by wild operators who act outside it.

All of these damage the environment, deprive the state of revenues and raise the spectre of future conflict. In the case of logging, the problem is so serious that it threatens to destroy some of Indonesia's largest forests within a decade (Thomas, 44). The illegal resource industry is protected and sometimes even organised by corrupt elements in the civil service, security forces and legislature. It plays on the resentments of poor people who feel they were excluded from natural wealth during the Soeharto era but, like the legalized exploitation of the past, it mainly benefits a small circle of businesspeople and corrupt officials. It is thus a problem of governance and crime, not only of the environment (Johnson, 120). Bibliography: Thomas, Blake, Indonesia Today, UCLA Press, 2002.

Donahue, Steven, the Asian Pearl, McGraw Hill, 2001. Schwarz, Mathias, US-Indonesian Relations, Penguin Books, 2001. Johnson, Christie, Indonesian history, Prentice hall, 2002. web web Donald, Peter, Indonesian culture, Oxford University press, 2000. web web web

Research essay sample on 20 Th Century Allied Forces