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Section II (National Study): Indonesia 1942-2005
Quick questions on Indonesian Occupation of East Timor 1975-1999: HSC Modern History
12short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is origins?Show answer
Portuguese Timor had been a Portuguese colony since the sixteenth century. The Carnation Revolution in Lisbon on 25 April 1974 ended the Estado Novo dictatorship and opened decolonisation across the Portuguese empire. Three Timorese political parties emerged: the conservative UDT (Uniao Democratica Timorense), the left-nationalist FRETILIN (Frente Revolucionaria de Timor-Leste Independente), and the pro-integrationist APODETI (favoured by Indonesia).
What is operation Seroja, December 1975?Show answer
US President Gerald Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger visited Jakarta on 6 December 1975. Declassified State Department cables (released 2001) record Suharto raising the East Timor question and Ford and Kissinger giving tacit approval ("we will not press you on the issue ...
What is annexation and the early occupation?Show answer
A "People's Representative Assembly" of Indonesian-selected figures requested integration on 31 May 1976. President Suharto signed Law 7/1976 incorporating East Timor as Indonesia's 27th province (Timor Timur) on 17 July 1976.
What is resistance?Show answer
FALINTIL (the armed wing of FRETILIN), under Nicolau Lobato until his death in combat on 31 December 1978, then under Xanana Gusmao from 1981, maintained a guerrilla resistance in the mountains throughout the occupation. By the late 1980s FALINTIL had been reduced to a few hundred fighters, but the political resistance had broadened.
What is the Santa Cruz massacre, 12 November 1991?Show answer
A peaceful procession to the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili on 12 November 1991, marking the death of pro-independence youth Sebastiao Gomes, was fired on by Indonesian troops. Around 250 Timorese were killed (the army acknowledged 19). British journalist Max Stahl filmed the killings; American journalists Allan Nairn and Amy Goodman were among those beaten.
What is the 1999 referendum?Show answer
President B.J. Habibie, succeeding Suharto in May 1998, made a surprise announcement on 27 January 1999: East Timor would be offered a choice between "wide-ranging autonomy" within Indonesia or independence. The 5 May 1999 Agreement (Indonesia, Portugal, UN) set the referendum for 30 August 1999 with UNAMET (UN Assistance Mission in East Timor) administering.
What is iNTERFET and transition?Show answer
The UN Security Council authorised a multinational force on 15 September 1999. INTERFET, the International Force for East Timor under Australian Major General Peter Cosgrove, deployed at Dili airport on 20 September 1999. The force eventually reached around 11,000 troops from 22 nations, half of them Australian.
What is historiography?Show answer
James Dunn (East Timor: A Rough Passage to Independence, 2003) is the standard Australian account; Dunn was Australia's consul in Dili in 1962 to 1964 and a long-time advocate.
What is misdating the invasion?Show answer
Operation Seroja was 7 December 1975, not 1976 (annexation) or 1974 (Operasi Komodo).
What is conflating FRETILIN, FALINTIL, CNRM, CNRT?Show answer
FRETILIN is the political party. FALINTIL is the armed wing. CNRM (1988) and CNRT (1998) are progressively broader resistance fronts including former UDT and conservatives.
What is forgetting the Balibo Five?Show answer
Greg Shackleton, Tony Stewart, Gary Cunningham, Brian Peters and Malcolm Rennie were killed by Indonesian troops on 16 October 1975, before the invasion. Roger East was killed at Dili on 8 December 1975.
What is overstating INTERFET's pretext?Show answer
The UN authorised INTERFET on 15 September 1999 with Indonesian consent, not in opposition to Indonesia.