Editing Central Java (section)

=== Independence and contemporary era ===
On 1 March 1942, the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] [[Battle of Java (1942)|landed on Java]], and the following week, the [[Dutch East Indies]] surrendered to Japan. During Japanese rule, Java and [[Madura]] were placed under the [[Sixteenth Army (Japan)|Japanese 16th Army]]. Many who lived in areas considered important to the war effort experienced [[torture]], [[sex slavery]], [[arbitrary arrest and detention|arbitrary arrest]] and execution, and other [[war crimes]]. Thousands of people were taken away as [[forced labour]]ers (''[[romusha]]'') for Japanese military projects, including the [[Death Railway|Burma-Siam]] and [[Saketi-Bayah railway]]s, and suffered or died as a result of ill-treatment and starvation. A later [[United Nations|UN]] report stated that four million people died in Indonesia as a result of the Japanese occupation.<ref>Cited in: Dower, John W. ''War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War'' (1986; Pantheon; {{ISBN|0-394-75172-8}}).</ref> About 2.4 million people died in Java from famine during 1944–45.<ref>Van der Eng, Pierre (2008) 'Food Supply in Java during War and Decolonisation, 1940–1950.' ''MPRA Paper No. 8852.'' pp.&nbsp;35–38. [http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/8852/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103224119/https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/8852/|date=3 November 2018}}</ref>[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Luchtfoto van Semarang rechtsboven N.I.S. station TMnr 10014760.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of the city of [[Semarang]], the capital of Central Java since the Dutch colonial era]]

Following the surrender of Japan, Indonesia [[Proclamation of Indonesian Independence|proclaimed its independence]] on 17 August 1945. The final stages of warfare were initiated in October when, under the terms of their surrender, the Japanese tried to re-establish the authority they relinquished to the Indonesians in towns and cities. The fiercest fighting involving the Indonesian ''pemuda'' and the Japanese was [[Battle of Semarang|in Semarang]]. Six days later, British forces began to occupy the city, after which retreating Indonesian Republican forces retaliated by killing between 130 and 300 Japanese prisoners. Five hundred Japanese and 2,000 Indonesians had been killed, and the Japanese had almost captured the city when British forces arrived.{{sfn|Ricklefs|1991|p=216}}

The province of Central Java was formed on 15 August 1950, excluding Yogyakarta but including [[Special Region of Surakarta|Surakarta]].<ref name="Jateng-Profil" /> There has been no significant changes in the administrative division of the province ever since. In the aftermath of the [[30 September Movement]] in 1965, [[Indonesian killings of 1965–66|an anti-communist purge]] took place in Central Java, in which the army and community vigilante groups killed Communists and leftists, both actual and alleged. Others were interned in [[concentration camp]]s, the most infamous of which was on the isle of [[Buru]] in Maluku, first used as a place of political exile by the Dutch. Some were executed years later, but most were released in 1979<ref>Robert Cribb, ''Historical Atlas of Indonesia'' (2000:170–171).</ref> In 1998, near the [[Fall of Suharto|downfall of Suharto]], [[May 1998 riots of Indonesia|anti-Chinese violence]] broke out in Surakarta (Solo) and surrounding areas, in which Chinese property and other buildings were burnt down. The following year, public buildings in Surakarta were burnt by supporters of [[Megawati Sukarnoputri]] after Indonesia's parliament chose [[Abdurrahman Wahid]] instead of Megawati for the presidency.

The [[2006 Yogyakarta earthquake]] in the south and Yogyakarta devastated many buildings and caused thousands of deaths and more than {{formatnum:37000}} injuries.