Royal Netherlands East Indies Army

The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army, abbreviated KNIL from its Dutch name Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger, was the military force the Kingdom of the Netherlands maintained in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. It was formed by royal decree on 14 September 1814 as a separate arm, not part of the Royal Netherlands Army, and fought many campaigns against indigenous groups, among them the Padri War, the Java War and the long Aceh War. After about 1904 the colony was considered pacified and the army served mainly in a defensive and policing role. In the Second World War it was quickly defeated by Japan in 1941 and 1942, and some personnel regrouped in Australia. It was used again in the 1947 and 1948 campaigns during the Indonesian War of Independence and was disbanded by 26 July 1950, when about 26,000 of its 65,000 members entered the new Indonesian military.