The Dutch East Indies — that birthplace of spices, silk, tea and opium — was so named because it only took up half of an island. The other, western half belonged to the Portuguese, and through a century of colonial rule developed a much different culture than their counterparts on the other side of an imagined border. The Dutch gave their portion full independence shortly after the end of WW II, and that country renamed itself Indonesia. An aggressive government of Indonesia then began looking to unify its West Timor with the Portuguese East.

On this day, August 27, 1975, after large uprisings against the Portuguese, the civil authorities on the island leave for the mainland. Sensing a vacuum of power, Indonesia invaded East Timor.

The Indonesian forces were at least tacitly supported by the United States, as was the entire government — the U.S. supported the president’s effort to clear the country of leftist-communist sympathizers. The vast majority of Indonesian military equipment came from the U.S., although officials always maintained they had no idea Indonesia would use them to forcefully annex East Timor.