Development of western education in Java during the latter half of the nineteenth century

Abstract

The gradual upsurge of self-consciousness as a nation among educated Indonesians since the beginning of the twentieth century is a subject which has been drawing much attention of research scholars in the fields of socioloy, political science, history etc. Their interest in this particular period is certainly legitimate on two points. One is that the sign of this change in Javanese society parallels in time such major changes throughout Asia as the establishment of the National Congress in India in 1885, Japan's defeat of Russia in 1904-1905, and the fall of Ch'ing China in 1911. The other is the subsequent repercussion resulting from this change within Indonesian society. The Budi Utomo, the earliest of all the nationalist organizations, was established in 1908; the Sarekat Islam, the first mass movement in Indonesia, was founded in 1912; and the activities of the Socialists culminated in the establishment of the Indonesian Communist Party, which remained among the major Communist parties in Asia until its abortive coup in 1926-27.