After the occupation by the Japanese Empire during World War II ended in 1945, nationalist leaders on Java unilaterally declared Indonesian independence.

After the defeat of the RMS on Ambon by Indonesian forces in November 1950, the self-declared government withdrew to Seram, where an armed struggle continued on until 2 December 1963.

The government-in-exile moved to the Netherlands in 1966, following resistance leader and president Chris Soumokil's capture and execution by Indonesian authorities.

Today many Maluku tribes still are ethnically Melanesian and closely represent the original settlers, most of these are what can be considered highlander communities that live in the mountain areas.

It is widely considered that this area was the place of origin for the Polynesian expansion, and the genetic makeup of the people, cultural and linguistic background, alongside their outrigger canoe (catamaran and trimaran) technology, only further support this.

The Maluku Islands were the only place in the world that grew the prized spices of clove and nutmeg, making it a prime destination for European traders during the Age of Exploration.

At one point, cloves were worth their weight in gold, and Portuguese, Spanish, British and Dutch traders all fought to control the incredibly profitable spice trade monopoly.

The Banda Islands were only subdued after the indigenous power structure and organisation of trade and politics was destroyed with the extermination and eviction of the Bandanese population in 1621.

To repress the autonomous traders of East Seram, the VOC organised 'Hongi' raiding expeditions with warrior bands from other south Maluku islands.

Resistance leader prince Nuku (the exiled Sultan of Tidore) established himself on Seram and aimed at uniting the North and South Moluccas under his leadership.

A relatively large number of the professional soldiers serving in the Royal Dutch East Indies Army (KNIL) were recruited among the population of Ambon and the surrounding South Moluccan islands.

As early as 1605 armed Dutch merchantmen of the VOC captured the Portuguese fort at the location of Ambon city in the South Moluccas.

Throughout the occupied Dutch East Indies, Moluccan soldiers created underground resistance cells aiding the Allied forces.

In their efforts to subdue the counter revolutionary RMS movement on Ambon, the newly established Tentara Nasional Indonesia (Republican Indonesian army, TNI) encountered the military prowess of the Moluccan special troops.

During the Indonesian National Revolution, the Dutch had to disband the reinstated KNIL,[7] and the native soldiers had the choice of either being demobilised or joining the army of the Republic of Indonesia.

Due to a deep distrust of the Republican leadership, which was predominantly Javanese Muslim, this was an extremely difficult choice for the Protestant Ambonese, and only a minority chose to serve with the Indonesian Army.

The political situation in the new Republic of Indonesia was initially unstable and, in particular, controversy over a federal or centralised form of the state resulted in armed conflicts in which Ambonese ex-KNIL men were involved.

But Indonesia refused to let the Dutch transport these soldiers to Ambon as long as the RMS was not repressed, fearing prolonged military struggle.

The camps, and later the neighbourhoods, became enclaves where the schools, though officially Dutch in programme and language, became exclusively Moluccan and where access to the labour market was geographically often restricted.

Moreover, the isolated situation in the camps and neighbourhoods had given rise to a type of expressive leadership that could only manifest itself in opposing and confronting the CAZ and the Dutch in general.

Towards the end of this period of terrorist violence, the Dutch government had already dropped the idea that the Moluccans were temporary residents, but had not been able to create a channel of communication through which to discuss and implement policy measures that opened a way to the future.

In 1976 a platform was formed where government policy measures could be discussed with representatives of the Moluccan community, the IWM (Dutch abbreviation for: Inspraakorgaan Welzijn Molukkers).

The recognition that employment, education and social welfare in general were important fields where the situation of the Moluccan population, and especially of the new generation, had to be improved, was a positive development.

[15] Notwithstanding Moluccan integration into modern Dutch society has halted terrorist radicalisation, up to the 1990s the Netherlands were reminded yearly of the traumatic side of their colonial past, when celebrations of the RMS independence declaration frequently resulted in angry sentiments or even serious rioting in the streets of the capital.

[19] In Indonesia, many famous musicians are ethnic Moluccans, like pop star Glenn Fredly, who toured the Netherlands in 2008 and acknowledged Daniel Sahuleka as one of his main inspirations.

This accusation has been useful in galvanising Muslims to fight (Laskar Jihad), and the situation has not been aided by the fact that some diaspora Moluccan Christian groups have taken up the RMS banner.

[26] Since 1999, a new organisation known as the Maluku Sovereignty Front (FKM) has operated in Ambon, stockpiling weapons and flying the RMS flag in public places.

[31] The main stronghold of the rebellious RMS group on Ambon was defeated by Indonesian forces in November 1950, while a smaller scale guerrilla struggle continued on Ceram until 1962.

Junus Effendi Habibie, the previous Indonesian ambassador to the Netherlands and brother to the third president of Indonesia, has said that he would do all he can to facilitate the repatriation of first generation Moluccans to their homeland, if they would stop aiming at an independent state.

Since ancient times it is yelled by the steerer and paddlers of the traditional Moluccan rowing boats called 'Kora Kora', to synchronise their strokes during off shore expeditions.