The Birth of the Youth Pledge

Triggered by the existence of a national movement organization

The Youth Pledge comes from two words, namely oath and youth. An oath means a promise and must be
kept.
Therefore, the Youth Pledge means a promise that must be kept by the youth.
The history of the Youth Pledge began in 1908, when the Indonesian people had the awareness to unite
against colonialists in the country.
Since then, various Indonesian youth associations and national movement organizations have been
formed in various regions to fight against the colonialists.
The first national movement organization formed in Indonesia was Budi Utomo in 1908.
Since Budi Utomo was founded, various regional youth organizations began to appear, such as Jong Java,
Jong Sumatranen Bond, Jong Ambon, and so on.

On October 25, 1945 allied troops came to Surabaya led by Brigadier General A.W.S Mallaby sparking
the anger of Surabaya's arek arek. This happened because the Allied troops released prisoners in prisons
in Kalisosok, occupied the Tanjung Perak Air Base, and the Internatio Building. The youths fought back
and caused an armed battle that killed Brigadier General A.W.S. Mallaby.

After General Mallaby died, tensions were increasingly felt in Surabaya, between youths and freedom
fighters and British troops. General Mallaby was Major General EC Mansergh, who delivered an
ultimatum for the fighters in Surabaya to surrender. However, the ultimatum was ignored, resulting in the
outbreak of the Battle of 10 November in Surabaya.

This battle cost at least 20,000 people from Surabaya and 1,500 from the Allies. In addition, an estimated
150,000 people left Surabaya. The battle in Surabaya was declared over. On October 10 the war was
declared over and that day is remembered as Heroes' Day because it became a symbol of strength and
resistance, for Indonesia's right to independence which the colonialists wanted to take back.