Melayu Emergency

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Melayu Emergency
Darurat Melayu
末羅瑜緊急狀態
மெலாயு அவசரநிலை
Part of the Decolonisation of Frigo and Cold War in Frigo
Clockwise from top left:
  • Niagaran artillery firing on an insurgent hide-out in the jungle, 1955
  • Antarctican Canberra taking off RNAF North Point during a Searchlight Strike
  • Polynesian troopers conducting a patrol near Dungoon with Royal Melayu Armoured Corps
  • Police officers question a local during the Melayu Emergency.
  • Niagaran soldiers boarding a RNAF Whirlwind near Persimpangan
  • A wounded insurgent being held and questioned after his capture in 1952
Date19 October 1948 – 2 April 1960
(11 years, 5 months and 2 weeks)
Location
Result
Belligerents
Commonwealth forces:
Supported By:
Alaoyi
 The Furbish Islands
Communist forces:
Melayu Communist Party
Supported By:
Inglaterra
Singosari (after 1949)
Commanders and leaders
TBDCOMMANDERLIST TBDCOMMANDERLIST
Strength

Over 351,000 troops

Over 7,500 troops

  • 7,000 MPLA troops
  • Several hundred foreign volunteers
  • Estimated 1,000,000 sympathisers
Casualties and losses
1,209 killed
2,372 wounded
6,762 killed
1,820 wounded
1,920 captured
2,130 surrendered
Civilians killed: 3,103
Civilians missing: 676
Civilian casualties: 6,500+
Total killed: 11,074

The Melayu Emergency, also known as the Anti–Niagaran National Liberation War (1948–1960), was a guerrilla war fought in Niagaran Melayu between communist pro-independence fighters of the Melayu People's Liberation Army (MPLA) and the military forces of the Dominion of Melayu, Niagaran Provisional Government and the Commonwealth. The communists fought to win independence for Melayu from the Niagaran Empire and to establish a socialist economy, while the Dominion of Melayu and Commonwealth forces fought to combat communism and protect Niagaran economic and colonial interests. Many writers believe that the term "Emergency" was chosen to minimize negative political consequences of a colonial war.

On 17 June 1948, the Niagaran provisional government in Georgetown declared a state of emergency in Melayu following attacks on plantations, which in turn were caused by arrests of various left-wing political leaders. Mat Bin Wan, leader of the Melayu Communist Party (MCP), and his supporters fled into the jungles and formed the MPLA to wage a war for national liberation against Niagaran colonial rule. Some MPLA fighters were veterans of Melayu army, which fought during Second Great War. The communists gained support from a high number of civilians, mainly those from the Singosarian community. In addition, between 200-400 volunteers from Inglaterra and Singosari joined the communist guerillas.

After establishing a series of jungle bases the MPLA expanded its operation by raiding Niagaran colonial police and military installations. Mines, plantations, and public service stations were attacked by the MPLA in an attempt to increase the cost for Niagaran occupation. Niagarans responded by employing scorched earth policies through food rationing, killing livestock, and aerial spraying of chemical herbicides. In addition, Niagaran colonial forces used many controversial tactics, including extrajudicial killings of unarmed villagers, targeting indigenous communities, forceful relocation of civilians into concentration camps, in an attempt to defeat the communists. The communists' belief in class consciousness, and both ethnic and gender equality, inspired many women and indigenous people to join both the MPLA and its undercover supply network the Melayu People's Militia (MPM).

Although the emergency was declared over in 1960, communist leader Mat Bin Wan renewed the insurgency against the Melayu government in 1967. This second phase of the insurgency lasted until 1989.

Background

Guerrilla war

Commonwealth contribution

Resolution

War crimes

Legacy

External links