Editing West Timor (section)

=== 20th century ===
[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Residentiehuis Koepang TMnr 60022905.jpg|thumb|House of the Dutch [[Resident (title)|Resident]] in Kupang (c. 1900).]]By the 20th century, West Timor had the status of ''[[Resident (title)|resident]]'' within the Dutch East Indies to easen administration. The lack of power of the Dutch in West Timor can be seen in the fact that in 1904 they could only force an official audience with the ruler of Wehale in his capital Laran by military force. It was the first ever direct meeting of Dutch representatives with the "Emperor" (Keizer).<ref name=":2" />
[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De Radja van Amarasi met krijgers TMnr 10001759.jpg|thumb|Molo chief of [[Amarasi]] with delegation visiting Dutch representative in Babau.]]
In 1905, the Dutch wanted to finally bring the Timorese rulers of their colony under their control. The [[Liurai]] (or [[Raja]]) were asked to swear an oath to the Netherlands and transfer their authority to the Dutch administrator. In return, they were to be granted some autonomy in their realms. The Liurai were to take over tax collection for the Dutch. The result was the outbreak of rebellions throughout West Timor from 1906 onwards. The reaction of the Dutch came quickly. In Niki-Niki, the local Liurai and his family were encircled by Dutch troops, causing them to commit suicide. The rebellions continued until 1916, when the rulers of West Timor had to accept the Dutch as their new masters.<ref name=":0" />

In the 1920s and 1930s, the first political organisations of the indigenous population emerged, such as the Timorsch Verbond in 1922,<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Jumaidi |first1=Susanto |last2=Indriawati |first2=Tri |date=2023-03-20 |title=Timorsch Verbond, Organisasi Perlawanan di Indonesia Timur Halaman all |url=https://www.kompas.com/stori/read/2023/03/20/150000979/timorsch-verbond-organisasi-perlawanan-di-indonesia-timur |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=Kompas |language=id}}</ref> the Timor Evolutie in 1924,<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Farram |first=Steven |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zT7fPwAACAAJ |title=A Political History of West Timor 1901-1967 |date=2009 |publisher=Lap Lambert Academic Publishing GmbH KG |isbn=978-3-8383-0219-5 |language=en}}</ref> and the Pesekutan Timor in 1926.<ref name="PAROTW433" /> In 1933, Timorese students formed the Timorese Jongeren in Bandung,<ref name=":4" /> one of its members was the infamous bomb maker and national hero, [[Herman Johannes]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Penjabat Kabinet - Herman Johannes |url=https://kepustakaan-presiden.perpusnas.go.id/cabinet_personnel/?box=detail&id=116&from_box=list_245&hlm=1&search_tag=&search_keyword=&activation_status=&presiden_id=1&presiden=sukarno |website=Perpusnas Presiden Indonesia}}</ref> This development ran counter to that in Portuguese East Timor, where the dictatorship suppressed political work. The [[Perserikatan Nasional Indonesia]] (PNI) also began to gain influence in West Timor and the [[Communist Party of Indonesia]] (PKI) opened a branch in Kupang in 1925. There it demanded a reduction in taxes and an end to forced labour, which led to the imprisonment and exile of its leader [[Christian Pandie]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Farram |first=Steven |date=2002 |title=Revolution, Religion and Magic: The PKI in West Timor, 1924-1966 |journal=Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde |volume=158 |issue=1 |pages=21–48 |doi=10.1163/22134379-90003785 |jstor=27865812 |issn=0006-2294|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=":3" />
[[File:Japanische Invasion bei Kupang 1942.png|thumb|Japanese Invasion of Kupang (1942)]]
During the [[World War II|Second World War]], Timor was occupied by the Japanese Imperial army. On the night of 19‒20 February 1942, Japanese units landed at Kupang and brought almost all of West Timor under their control by the end of the month during the [[Battle of Timor]]. The Japanese did not officially surrender in West Timor until 11 September 1945 at a ceremony on the Australian [[HMAS Moresby (1918)|HMAS Moresby]]. Upon [[Indonesian independence]], West Timor became part of the new Republic of Indonesia.

For barely a year, the [[Permesta|Permesta movement]], originating from [[Sulawesi]], had Indonesian West Timor under its control. The movement, allegedly supported by the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], fought against the central government in Jakarta until it was defeated by Indonesian troops in March 1958. 14 members of Permesta managed to escape to the Portuguese exclave of Oe-Cusse Ambeno. They are said to have been responsible for the [[1959 Viqueque rebellion|Viqueque rebellion]] in Portuguese Timor in 1959.<ref>Ernest Chamberlain: ''[http://tlstudies.org/pdfs/tlsa_conf_whole.pdf#page=174 The 1959 Rebellion in East Timor: Unresolved Tensions and an Unwritten History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170712143732/http://www.tlstudies.org/pdfs/tlsa_conf_whole.pdf#page=174|date=2017-07-12}}'', Accessed in 11 October 2018.</ref>

Local administration remained in the hands of the Liurai until 1958. Despite their later removal from power, their families still have great influence in West Timorese society. Since 1988, there have been increased efforts to develop the region.

West Timor was a refugee shelter from 1998 to 2002, due to the prolonged [[1999 East Timorese crisis|East Timor conflict]]. On 6 September 2000, Pero Simundza from Croatia, Carlos Caceres-Collazio from Puerto Rico and Samson Aregahegn from Ethiopia – all UNHCR staff members – were killed in an attack by 5,000 members of a pro-Indonesian militia, armed with machetes, on the office of UNHCR in the town of Atambua, which is in the vicinity of the border with Timor-Leste and where the main refugee camp was located<ref>{{Cite web |last=Masterman |first=Sue |date=September 6, 2000 |title=3 U.N. Workers Dead in West Timor Rampage |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=82698&page=1 |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=ABC News |language=en}}</ref> (see [[attacks on humanitarian workers]]).