Seventy years ago, the seeds of a new world order were sown in Bandung, Indonesia. In the former colonial hall of Sociëteit Concordia, leaders from Asia and Africa gathered to unite against imperialism and domination. The building—with a sign at the entrance reading “No dogs or natives allowed”— where Dutch officers, businessmen, and dignitaries once celebrated their colonial power became the site of the Bandung Conference, a landmark event in the struggle for independence and self-determination. What began as a bastion of colonial arrogance became a symbol of liberation.
By Peter Mertens, General Secretary, PTB (Workers’ Party of Belgium)
On December 9, 1947, Dutch troops entered the settlement of Rawagede in West Java. The Dutch were determined to crush the independence movement in Indonesia and preserve the country as a Dutch colony. Early in the morning, the men of Rawagede received an order from the Dutch colonists: those who did not reveal the location of resistance leader Lukas Kustario would face the consequences. No one spoke. A bloodbath ensued: 431 men were executed, some by a volley of bullets, others beaten to death with rifle butts. The bodies were dumped in mass graves.
After the Rawagede massacre, the Dutch officers returned to Bandung, the city that served as the center of colonial power in West Java. There, in the imposing Sociëteit Concordia, the Dutch soldiers toasted their “police action.” According to Indonesian tradition, a toast that evening was raised to the “effectiveness” of the action at Rawagede. The Society, a grandiose venue with marble floors, chandeliers, and a well-stocked bar, was the officers’ favourite retreat after their field operations.
But history has a strange sense of irony. Who would have thought that this same building, renamed Gedung Merdeka in 1955, would become the global stage for the struggle against colonialism and imperialism? Who could have predicted that under the same chandeliers, where the future of the colony was mapped out, the leaders of the Third World would gather a few decades later to demand a new world order?
At the Sociëteit Concordia, Colonialism Revealed Its True Face
Let’s step back in history for a moment. In the heart of Bandung, a city whose beauty and strategic location have earned it the nickname “Paris of Java,” stands a building that embodies like no other the arrogance and obviousness of Dutch colonial rule: the Sociëteit Concordia. Founded in 1895 and rebuilt in the 1920s, this exclusive bastion served as a meeting place where the Dutch colonial elite—plantation owners, high-ranking civil servants, and military officers—decided the fate of millions of Indonesians.
Within the marble walls of Concordia, lucrative contracts were struck for tea, coffee, rubber, and quinine, commodities on which the Netherlands had built its economic power. If a rebellion broke out anywhere in Java or Sumatra, it was in this temple of colonial power that a strategic order was given to send troops and restore “order and stability.”
At the Sociëteit Concordia, not only were plans for new railway lines and plantations drawn up, but the foundations of a system of systematic oppression were also laid. It was in places like the Sociëteit Concordia that the cultivation system, which required Indonesian farmers to surrender a portion of their harvest to the colonial government, was refined and expanded. Networks of planters and colonial officials discussed how to regulate labour migration, maximise profits, and suppress growing Indonesian nationalism.
But Bandung was not to remain a colonial paradise forever.
The Resistance: Bandung, a Hotbed of Revolution
While within the walls of the Concordia, people toasted eternal Dutch domination, outside, rebellion was beginning to gain momentum. In the 1920s, Bandung became a hotbed of political consciousness. It was there that a young engineer named Sukarno and his comrades founded the Indonesian National Party (PNI). Bandung became the intellectual center of the resistance, a place where nationalist leaflets circulated and students at the Technische Hoogeschool te Bandoeng (THB, Technical Institute) conspired against the occupying forces.
The Second World War temporarily shifted the balance of power. The Japanese expelled the Dutch from Indonesia and, despite their harsh regime, allowed Indonesian nationalists to establish their political structures. When Japan surrendered in 1945, Sukarno and Mohammed Hatta declared independence. The Netherlands reacted furiously. In a last-ditch effort to retain the colony, the country sent tens of thousands of troops back to the archipelago.
In March 1946, Bandung witnessed a dramatic turning point in Indonesia’s struggle for independence. British soldiers, helping the Dutch reclaim their former colony, entered the city but faced fierce resistance. In a final act of sabotage, Indonesian fighters decided to evacuate and set fire to their own city. The resulting blaze became known as “Bandung Lautan Api”—the “Sea of Fire.” The British then allowed the Dutch soldiers to enter a dead city, a shattered illusion of colonial restoration. Three years later, they gave up the fight. Indonesia was free.
The Concordia Society, once a symbol of Western supremacy, was taken over by the Indonesian government and renamed Gedung Merdeka (Freedom Building).
The 1955 Bandung Conference
Six years after the Netherlands was forced to withdraw its troops and recognize Indonesia’s independence, leaders from 29 Asian and African countries gathered in Bandung for a historic conference. For the first time in modern history, former colonies met without a Western power present at the negotiating table.
The guest list was impressive. Participants included such iconic figures as Jawaharlal Nehru, the visionary Prime Minister of India; Gamal Abdel Nasser, the influential President of Egypt, whose nationalization of the Suez Canal would later inspire a wave of anti-colonial actions; and Chou En Lai, the pragmatic Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China. The guests represented countries that had thrown off the shackles of colonialism, as well as nations still struggling for their freedom.
The conference’s agenda was clear: to end colonialism, reject military alliances, and promote economic cooperation without Western interference. The final session adopted ten principles, including respect for sovereignty, non-interference in internal affairs, and peaceful coexistence among states.
These ten principles not only served as a moral compass for the nascent postcolonial world but also formed the basis of the future Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). The ideas that emerged in Bandung were further developed at the first Non-Aligned Conference in Belgrade in 1961 and ultimately led to the creation of the Group of 77 (G77) within the United Nations.
The “Spirit of Bandung”
In his memorable inaugural address, President Sukarno launched a powerful and enduring metaphor: the “Spirit of Bandung.” He emphasized the historical significance of this moment and the presence of “the undying, the indomitable, the invincible spirit of those who went before us. Their struggle and sacrifice paved the way for this meeting of the highest representatives of independent and sovereign nations from two of the biggest continents of the globe.”
The real impact of Bandung went beyond diplomatic pronouncements. In the corridors of the “Gedung Merdeka,” revolutionaries forged bonds that would change the course of the 20th century. African leaders found support for their struggle for freedom. And above all, in Bandung, a message was sent to the world: the era of colonial rule was over.
In Belgium, which still ruled the Congo with an iron fist at the time, the Bandung Conference was greeted with dismay. Colonial newspapers warned of “dangerous ideas” that could jeopardise stability in the Congo, and the conference was often portrayed as “anti-Western.” Other newspapers played the anti-communist card. “Bandung is the plaything of Moscow and Beijing,” wrote the Gazet van Antwerpen.
The influential colonial lobby, particularly within the Catholic Party, warned of the risk that Bandung would provoke “incitement to rebellion” in the Congo. Catholic Senator Pierre Wigny (Christian Social Party) called the conference “a threat to the work of Belgian civilization in Africa.” Socialist Foreign Minister Paul-Henri Spaak declared: “We are in favour of self-determination, but order and development must come first,” reflecting the colonial belief that the Congo was “not yet ripe” for independence. Only the Communist Party expressed explicit support for Bandung, which it considered a “historic step against imperialism.” The Belgian colonial attitude could not prevent the Spirit of Bandung from later inspiring Congolese nationalist Patrice Lumumba in his struggle for independence.
The Legacy of Bandung
Today, 70 years later, the structures that Bandung attempted to break remain largely in place. The global economy is still dominated by the former colonial powers. Multinational corporations and Western financial institutions keep the former colonies trapped in a spiral of debt and economic dependence. The IMF and the World Bank still dictate the terms of “development,” and the West continues to intervene militarily in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.
Yet, Bandung has not been forgotten. The debate continues within the G77, the BRICS, and within movements for climate justice, decolonisation, and fair trade. In every protest against economic exploitation, in every struggle for national sovereignty, in every call for a multipolar world order, there is an echo of that 1955 meeting.
At the time, Sukarno uttered these words: “There is no such thing as being half free, as there is no such thing as being half alive.” This is a truth that is just as relevant today as it was then. Bandung is not a footnote in history. It was the beginning of the Southern Revolt. And this fight is far from over.
Peter Mertens will be speaking at an event in Brussels, The Spirit of Bandung, April 30, 19-21.30 hours. More info: https://www.lai27.net/the-spirit-of-bandung-1
Translation by Liberation. Source: PTB Original
The views expressed in the articles published on this website do not necessarily represent those of Liberation.
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Photo: Bandung Conference 1955. Picryl /Public Domain Mark 1.0 Universal PDM 1.0 Deed / Creative Commons
