Dutch East Indies, also called Netherlands East Indies, Dutch Nederlands Oost-Indië or Nederlandsch-Indië, one of the overseas territories of the Netherlands until December 1949, now Indonesia.
The Japanese, at war since 1931 on the Chinese mainland, hoped for easy victories over the British and Dutch. Then, on December 7th 1941, they attacked Pearl Harbour, inflicting a severe blow to American naval power. Japan then demonstrated how ill-prepared the Allies were in the Pacific, as Hong Kong, Burma, Malaya, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines were captured within a few months.
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