...Indonesia - 75000 Rupiah Dated 2020 75th Anniversary of Independence 17.08.1945

Republik Indonesia
(Republic of Indonesia)

Bank Indonesia

Currency - Rupiah (IDR)

This is a commemorative note issued on 17.08.2020, celebrating the 75th year of Independence. Indonesia independence day was proclaimed on 17/08/1945, two days after the end of the Second World War. This note is also issued as an offering of gratitude for the independence award and the achievement of development results during the 75 years of independence. According to the central bank, this is the fourth time that Bank Indonesia has issued commemorative banknotes to celebrate independence day. 

Indonesia is a country consisting of more than 17,000 islands. It has a population in excess of 267+ millions and is the fourth most populous country in the world.

Indonesia was once ruled by the Dutch. The Dutch influence on Indonesia started in 1602 when the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC). In 1800, VOC became bankrupt and dissolved, and the Dutch government established Indonesia as the Dutch East Indies, a nationalised colony. On 08/03/1942, the Imperial Japanese Army invaded the Dutch East Indies and occupied the country following the defeat of the Dutch army. During the occupation, Japan promised that they would grant independence to the Indonesians but progress for the promises were slow and also the Indonesian locals were not happy with the Japanese rules and influences. They felt that they were just replacing one occupier by another. Planning for the proclamation of independence started a few months before the end of the second world war in 1945 and was scheduled to take place on 24/08/1945. The Imperial Japanese government agreed to the proclamation because they knew that Japan was losing the war anyway. However on 15/08/1945, Japan surrendered unconditionally thus ending the war and because of this, both Sukarno/Soeksrno (leader of the Indonesia National Party, founded in 1927) and Mohammad Hatta inadvertently brought forward the proclamation declaration at 10.00 am on 17/08/1945 before the return of the Dutch. The proclamation was read as follows

In Bahasa Indonesia

PROKLAMASI

Kami, bangsa Indonesia, dengan ini menjatakan kemerdekaan Indonesia.

Hal-hal jang mengenai pemindahan kekoeasaan d.l.l., diselenggarakan dengan tjara saksama dan dalam tempo jang sesingkat-singkatnja.

Djakarta, hari 17 boelan 8 tahoen 45

Atas nama bangsa Indonesia,

(signed) Soekarno/Hatta.

English translation

Proclamation

We the people of Indonesia hereby declare the independence of Indonesia.

Matters which concern the transfer of power etc (and others). will be executed by careful means and in the shortest possible time.

Djakarta, 17 August 1945 

In the name of the people of Indonesia

(signed) Soekarno/Hatta
. . . .

If you look closely at the Indonesian 1999 polymer note of 100000 rupiah and 2004 series of the 100000 rupiah paper note, you will see this proclamation printed on the front of the note in Bahasa Indonesia between the portraits of Sukarno (born Kusno Sosrodihardjo) and Mohammad Hatta.

Because of the unconditional surrender of Japan on 15/08/1945, the draft for the proclamation was prepared a few hours before the proclamation, at the home occupied by the Japanese Rear-Admiral Tadashi Maeda at Jl. Imam Bonjol No. 1 in Jakarta. This property is now the Formulation of Proclamation Text Museum. The proclamation was read out by Sukarno at his residence at Pegangsaan Timur 56 Jakarta. The Japanese military initially prevented this from broadcasting to the outside world and it was also not allowed to be reported on the newspaper too. Somehow, the Indonesians managed to find a way to bypass these restrictions.

Both Sukarno (b.1901-1970) and Mohammad Hatta (b.1902-1980) were then appointed as President and Vice President respectively the following day.

Obviously as the story continues, like all European occupiers, the Dutch refused to accept this and returned to Indonesia thus starting the beginning of the Indonesian National Revolution war against the foreign occupier. It was not until December 1949, that the Dutch finally accepted this due to mounting international pressure and criticism.

And the story didn't end there either. Even after 1949, the Dutch retained the control of Irian Jaya (or Western New Guinea) under the name of Netherlands New Guinea until 1963 (first of May) when it was also handed over to the Indonesian government via the United Nations. 

This new commemorative note was launched by the bank governor Governor Perry Warjiyo and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati on the day of release.

Signatures

Governor - Perry Warjiyo

Finance Minister - (Ms) Sri Mulyani Indrawati
Quantity issued - 75,000,000 pieces
Dimension - 151.5mm x 65mm

Seventy Five Thousand Rupiah

Dated 2020, images of Sukarna and Hatta, train, bridge, flag raising ceremony

Reverse - Satellite hovering above the islands of Indonesia, 9 boys and girls in native traditional costumes

In my opinion➧
The above is what I understood about what happened without going into all other teeny weeny issues. I am sure many will disagree with me on this. History is always very subjective. You can either agree or disagree about an event and who are we to say who was right, who was not. 

This note was also available to purchase on the website of Bank Indonesia with the restriction of one note per application. Unfortunately it is only applied to those who are living in Indonesia as I understand that you will have to collect it at one of the banks in the country. Even with a population of 267+ million, there are plenty to go around with.

According to the Bank Indonesia, this is the fourth note issued to celebrate Indonesia's independence day. However I am unable to tell actually which are the first 3 commemorative notes. Do you know which of the other 3 commemorative notes are? Was the 100,000 rupiah polymer dated 1999 was also an Independence commemorative note as well? Please comment below if you know the answer. Thanks.

Update: 06/11/2020

This was reported on 21.08.2020, courtesy of financetwitter. This is about reporting saying that this was the fourth commemorative banknote issued in Indonesia. I read about this back in August on the central bank website but I am unable to locate that report now. This is what I found today. Please refer to the third paragraph of this report.