World War II and post-independence
For most of the colonial period, Dutch control over the archipelago was tenuous outside of coastal strongholds; only in the early 20th century did Dutch dominance extend to what was to become Indonesia's present boundaries. Japanese occupation during the Second World War ended Dutch rule and encouraged the previously suppressed Indonesian independence movement. A later UN report stated that four million people died in Indonesia as a result of the Japanese occupation. Two days after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, Sukarno, an influential nationalist leader, declared independence and was appointed President. The Netherlands tried to reestablish their rule, and the resulting conflict ended in December 1949, when in the face of international pressure, the Dutch formally recognised Indonesian independence with the exception of the Dutch territory of West New Guinea, which was incorporated into Indonesia following the 1962 New York Agreement, and the UN-mandated Act of Free Choice of 1969 which was questionable and has resulted in a longtime independence movement.