South Moluccas (Republic of the South Moluccas) - The former Dutch colony, the Dutch East Indies, included the Moluccas islands, up until 1949, when massive pressure from the US forced the Netherlands to accept the independence of Indonesia, after a long and bloody struggle between the two countries. Indonesian leaders considered the South Moluccas as part of the new Republic of Indonesia, but in 1950, demobilized ex-members of the Royal Dutch East Indies Army (KNIL) - still loyal to the Dutch crown - staged a revolt and proclaimed what they termed the 'Republic of the South Moluccas', a totally independent state. They were defeated badly in late 1950, and the following year, 12,000 of those soldiers, along with their families, headed over to the Netherlands to form a government in exile. They then surprisingly went on a terrorist campaign against the Dutch, in the Netherlands, possibly due to their perceived lack of support from the Dutch for their cause. Nowadays the exiled government is asking for more autonomy for the region within Indonesia, but still expresses wishes of total independence, even if it is in the very distant future.

Related Dispute:
West Papua