Their leaders were given symbolic positions of
authority and unprecedented opportunities to communicate with the population
at large, even as tens of thousands of nationalist youth were mobilized in military or paramilitary units in advance of anticipated Allied attacks. In both
countries, attempts to restore colonial rule after the war ran aground when
they encountered mounting popular mobilization, which soon forced the
British and Dutch governments to cede independence to nationalist leaders.
Nationalism in Burma and Indonesia, then, shared a common point of
departure at independence.