Konfrontasi

The Konfrontasi, also known as the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation or Borneo confrontation, was an armed conflict from 1963 to 1966 that stemmed from Indonesia's opposition to the creation of the state of Malaysia. Vital precursors to the conflict included Indonesia's policy of confrontation against Dutch New Guinea from March to August 1962 and the Indonesia-backed Brunei revolt in December 1962. Malaysia had direct military support from the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Indonesia had indirect support from the Soviet Union and China, thus making it an episode of the Cold War in Asia. The conflict was an undeclared war with most of the action occurring in the border area between Indonesia and East Malaysia on the island of Borneo (known as Kalimantan in Indonesia), with lower intensity covert actions conducted by Indonesia on the Malay Peninsula and in Singapore. The conflict was characterised by restrained and isolated ground combat, set within tactics of low-level brinkmanship. Combat was usually conducted by company- or platoon-sized operations on either side of the border. Indonesia's campaign of infiltrations into Borneo sought to exploit how ethnically and religiously diverse Sabah and Sarawak were compared to that of Malaya and Singapore, with the intent of unravelling the proposed state of Malaysia. The jungle terrain of Borneo and the lack of roads straddling the Indonesia–Malaysia border forced both Indonesian and Commonwealth forces to conduct long foot patrols. Both sides relied on light infantry operations and air transport, although Commonwealth forces enjoyed the advantage of better helicopter deployment and resupply to forward operating bases. Rivers were also used as a method of transport and infiltration. Although combat operations were primarily conducted by ground forces, airborne forces played a vital support role and naval forces ensured the security of the sea flanks. The British provided most of the defensive...