The 1945 PETA Revolt in Blitar: The Historical Uprising Before Indonesia’s Independence
Six months before Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta read the proclamation of independence on August 17, 1945, the city of Blitar had already witnessed one of the most significant acts of armed resistance in Indonesia’s path toward nationhood. On February 14, 1945, soldiers of the PETA battalion stationed in Blitar rose up against the Japanese occupation forces controlling the region. Historians widely regard it as the first major uprising by a local Indonesian armed force during the Japanese occupation, and understanding it adds essential context for anyone visiting Blitar today, whether as a traveler tracing Indonesia’s independence history or as a researcher studying the roots of the Indonesian National Armed Forces.
Background: PETA and the Japanese Occupation
To understand the revolt, it helps to understand PETA itself. Pembela Tanah Air, meaning Defenders of the Homeland, was a volunteer military force established by Japanese occupation authorities in 1943 as Japan’s position in the Pacific War began to weaken. The Japanese trained and organized Indonesian recruits into local battalions, or daidan, intending to use them as an auxiliary defense force. What Japanese authorities may not have fully anticipated was that this same military training would eventually be turned against them, and would later form the institutional foundation for what became the Indonesian National Armed Forces, or TNI.
By 1944, conditions on the ground were deteriorating for ordinary Indonesians. The Japanese occupation relied heavily on romusha, a system of forced labor that conscripted local civilians, often under brutal conditions, to support Japanese military and infrastructure projects across the region. Combined with growing suppression of local autonomy and worsening economic hardship, resentment among PETA’s own Indonesian officers began to build well before any organized plan for rebellion took shape.
Planning the Revolt
According to detailed historical accounts, the idea for a coordinated uprising did not originate as a spontaneous outburst. Planning is documented as beginning as early as September 1944, when PETA officers began establishing contact between different daidan battalions across East Java, including forces based in Tulungagung, Kediri, Malang, Lumajang, Madiun, and Surabaya, with the goal of organizing a broader, coordinated rebellion rather than an isolated local incident.
Historical sources credit Chudancho dr. Ismail, a medical officer attached to the Blitar PETA battalion, as an important intellectual force behind the movement, given his seniority and standing relative to Shodancho Supriyadi, the younger officer who would ultimately lead the uprising itself. Meetings continued into November 1944, and further planning took place in January 1945, including a proposed joint rebellion drill scheduled for January 19, 1945, which was ultimately called off. As Japanese suspicion grew, Supriyadi pushed to act sooner rather than wait for full coordination across battalions. On February 4 and February 9, 1945, he gathered his fellow officers to press for immediate action, though hesitation remained because other regional daidan had not yet given a definitive commitment. Finally, on February 13, 1945, Supriyadi called his comrades together one last time, and the decision was made to revolt the following day.
The Uprising of February 14, 1945
On the night of February 14, 1945, approximately 400 PETA troops under Supriyadi’s command launched a coordinated assault against Japanese targets in Blitar. The rebels directed mortar and machine-gun fire at Japanese officers’ quarters and the local kempeitai headquarters, the much-feared Japanese military police, in an effort to neutralize key personnel and seize weapons and control of the area. Some rebel units then attempted to withdraw toward mountainous terrain to establish a defensible stronghold.
Despite early tactical success in catching Japanese forces off guard, the uprising ultimately did not achieve its broader aims. The coordinated, multi-battalion rebellion that had been planned since September 1944 never fully materialized, as other daidan across East Java did not rise in unison with Blitar. Japanese forces regrouped and used loyal native auxiliary units to help suppress the revolt, and within a short period most of the rebels had been captured, killed, or had abandoned the uprising altogether.
Aftermath and the Mystery of Supriyadi
The consequences for those involved were severe. Muradi, one of Supriyadi’s fellow officers in the rebellion, was sentenced to death and executed on April 16, 1945. Supriyadi’s own fate, however, has never been definitively established. He vanished sometime after the revolt and was never seen again. Some historical accounts suggest he was captured and secretly executed by Japanese authorities, while others propose he fled toward Trenggalek, his hometown near Blitar. To this day, no conclusive evidence has settled the question of what ultimately happened to him.
Despite the uprising’s military failure and Supriyadi’s unresolved disappearance, the Indonesian government later formally recognized the significance of what happened in Blitar. In 1975, President Suharto issued Presidential Decree No. 63, officially declaring Supriyadi a National Hero of Indonesia, cementing the revolt’s place in the country’s official historical memory.
Why the Blitar Revolt Matters in the Broader Independence Story
Historians studying the Japanese occupation period note that the Blitar uprising was not an isolated event. Similar PETA-led resistance later emerged elsewhere in Java and Sumatra, including a Giyugun uprising in Aceh’s Cot Plieng region in November 1944, a revolt in Kumilir, Cilacap led by Bundancho Khusaeri on April 21, 1945, and another in Cileunca, Pangalengan led by Bundancho Amar Soetisna on May 4, 1945. Taken together, these uprisings reveal a pattern: Indonesian officers trained by the Japanese increasingly turned that same military capability against their occupiers as conditions worsened and the promise of eventual independence felt more uncertain.
For scholars, the Blitar revolt offers a case study in how colonial and occupation-era military structures can generate the very resistance movements meant to be prevented. For travelers, it offers something more immediate: proof that Blitar’s connection to Indonesian independence did not begin with Sukarno’s burial there in 1970, but stretches back to an armed stand against occupation taken by ordinary Indonesian officers half a year before independence was ever declared.
Visiting the Site Today
Present-day Blitar honors this history through the PETA Monument, featuring statues depicting Supriyadi and his fellow officers, standing as a permanent marker of the uprising’s place in national memory. For visitors interested in Indonesia’s path to independence, pairing a visit to the PETA Monument with the nearby Sukarno tomb complex offers a more complete picture of Blitar’s layered role in that history, from armed resistance against occupation to the final resting place of the man who would go on to declare that independence just months later.