Sukarno: The founding father of Indonesian independence
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 14 August 2024
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On the morning of 17 August 1945, the Indonesian nationalist leader, Sukarno, read out a statement declaring independence.
It was broadcast to the country on radio and it came just two days after Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II.
The announcement marked the culmination of years of struggle against Dutch colonial rule, which had lasted for over three centuries.
Sukarno’s youngest daughter, Kartika Soekarno, speaks to Matt Pintus about the journey to independence.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Sukarno's proclamation of independence in 1945. Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I'm Rory Stewart and I want to talk about ignorance. I will die without having read everything that was written in classical Latin. |
| 0:11.6 | Because ignorance isn't simply the opposite of |
| 0:14.0 | knowledge. It's part of what it means to be human. Just about every game I can |
| 0:19.4 | think of involves ignorance. There's no adventure without ignorance. There's no there's no narrative. |
| 0:25.0 | The long history of ignorance from Confucius to Kianon |
| 0:29.0 | with me Rory Stewart, |
| 0:31.0 | listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:35.0 | Hello, you're listening to the Witness History Podcast from the BBC World Service, with me me Matt Pintus. |
| 0:44.0 | Today I'm taking you back to 1945 |
| 0:47.0 | when Indonesian nationalist leader Sukarno |
| 0:50.0 | declared independence after more than three centuries of Dutch colonial rule. |
| 0:55.0 | Sukarno is remembered by many as the founding father of Indonesia, |
| 1:00.0 | and I've been speaking to his youngest daughter, Kartika, about that momentous time in the country's history, |
| 1:07.0 | which all started with a Japanese surrender. |
| 1:10.0 | I have received this afternoon a message from the Japanese government in reply to the |
| 1:16.4 | message forwarded to that government by the Secretary of State on August 11th. |
| 1:21.6 | I deem this reply a full acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration which |
| 1:26.6 | specifies the unconditional surrender of Japan. It's the 15th of August 1945 and with the news of Japan's World War II surrender |
| 1:36.4 | reverberating all over the world a plan is afoot on the Japanese occupied |
| 1:41.3 | island of Java in Southeast Asia. |
| 1:44.0 | It was confusing because on one hand Japan was |
| 1:48.0 | forced to capitulate. They had lost the war, they were surrendering, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

