Figure 1.--The United Nations has many weaknesses and failures, but it has undoubted done a lot of invaluable work in the area of public health. Many of the new natiins that became indeorndent in the 1950s and 60s had only minimal capabilities in public health. The press caption here read, "Test reaction: His resistance is showing as a boy gets a tuberculin test at a school in Indonesia. His schoolmates watch apprehensively. Apublic health teamwill teturn in a few days to give BCG vaccinations to childten shown to be without immunity. Indonesianauthorities are being assisted by the United Nations, whose world health programs includes drives to wipe out tuberculosis and malaria everywhere."

The independent Indonesians adopted a federal system upon independence. A new more democratic Provisional Constitution was approved (1950). here was an attempt to establish a liberal democratic system. This effort was not, however, founded on popular sentiment. There was no tradituon of democratic rule in Indonesia. And with the departure of the Dutch, the economy began to collapse. Indonesian officials had no real idea as to how to run an economy or promote economic growth. This the early indepenence era was unstable. The Communist Party with its simplistic slogans attracted sunstantial popular appeal. The longest-serving prime minister was in office amere years. The Government held a general election (1955). This would prive to be the first and for several decades the only democratic general election in Indonesia history. Political instability, however, continued. President Sukarno, backed by the Army, declared the 1950 Provisional Constitution void and reintroduced the 1945 Constitution (1957). This provided a blue print as originally untended for Sukarno, popularly known as Bung Karno (Comrade Sukarno), to increase his power. He carefully ballabce power among three contending forces-- the PKI, the Army with Muslim sentiment, and himself. President Sukarno managed to dominated Indonesia in this way for two decades becoming a spokesman for the Third World. Gradually the PKI grew in importance, unbalancing the tiad that Sukarno had crafted. Sukarno appears to have decided to ally himself with the PKI and help launch a Communist coup to destoy the power of the conservative, Muslim influenced Army (1965). The complete story of Sukarno's role has never been fully revealed. The PKI had plans to kill Army commanders and non-Communist leaders. The coup was, however, supressed by the Army with great violence. General Soeharto launched a bloody campaign to eliminate the PKI and its suporters. General Soeharto then replaced Sukarno and dominated Indonesia for three decades. Oil exports increased and with orice increases became a mainstay of the Indonesian ecomomy. The Asian financial crisis devestated the Indonesian economy (1997). The economic crisis led to violent riots and other disturbances forced Soeharto to resign (1998). This made possible democratic elections and the establishment of a democratic regime. Geberal Soeharto following bloody violence and widespred civil disorders was replaced by B.J. Habibie . Indonesia held its first democratic election since 1955 (October 1999). Abdurrahman 'Gus Dur' Wahid was edlected president.

Independence Struggle (1945-49)

Although the Japanese World War II occupation was disaterous for the Indonesian people, it was a turning point for the nationalist movement. The Nationalists for the first time were able to get a hold of arms. The Japanese tightly controlled political activity during their occupation. The Indonesians which had collaborated with the Japanese could see clearly see see that the Japanesehad lost the War. They began preparing for the inevitable Japanese surrender and Indonesian independenve. Sukarno and Hatta immediately after the Japanese surrender (August 1945) announced Indonesia independence. They thus became the founding fathers of the new nation. A Constitution fot the new nation was promulgated. Indonesia was the largest archipelago in the world, with over 17,000 islands, about 3,000 of which were inhabited. Despite the Japanese surrender in Tokyo, most of the DEI was still occupied by the Japanese. It would take some time for the Allies to move into the DEI and accept the Japanese surrender and even longer for Dutch colonial authorities and military forces to arrive. This gave the Indinesian nationalists precious time to organize. When the Dutch returned and tried to reestablish colonial rule, organized armed Indonesians resisted. The center if the resistance movemnebt was Java. Nationalist groups launchef a 4-year guerilla war on Java follwing the War. The Dutch were eventually forced to recognize an independent Indonesia (1949). Two interesting phenomenon followed independence which surprised both the Dutch and Indibnesianswhich parted ways. . First the Dutch were surprised to learn that the loss of its valuable colony did not cause economic disaster, The Netherlandsactually became more prosperous without the DEI. Second, the Indonesians nationalist leaders imbued with anti-Western socialist theology expected an economic bonanza with independence. The new country, however, did not achieve economic prosperity by ousting the Dutch. Mismanafement, socialist policies, corruption, and authoritarian political rule left the Indonesians poor and underdeveloped despite their oil resources.

Early Instability (1949-57)

The independent Indonesians adopted a federal system upon independence. A new more democratic Provisional Constitution was approved (1950). here was an attempt to establish a liberal democratic system. This effort was not, however, founded on popular sentiment. There was no tradituon of democratic rule in Indonesia. And with the departure of the Dutch, the economy began to collapse. Indonesian officials had no real idea as to how to run an economy or promote economic growth. This the early indepenence era was unstable. The Communist Party with its simplistic slogans attracted sunstantial popular appeal. The lonoest-serving prime minister was in office amere years. The Government held a general election (1955). This would prove to be the first and for several decades the only democratic general election in Indonesia history. Political instability, however, continued. A Dutch reader writes, "I lived in Indonesia. working for a Dutch company (1949-58). In many cases I witnessed what went on during that exciting period in history. Although I worked for a colonial Dutch firm I realized that we had lost the colonies and that we only played a small part in the history of this country. I met several Indonesian leaders in our bookstore, among others Sukarno himself, but also Mohammed Hatta, the number two person in the government. They always spoke Dutch with me (and with each other). It is interesting to note that Sukarno and also Suharto used the Dutch spelling of their names; Soekarno and Soeharto. Even on their declaration of independence, Sukarno's signature appear as Soekarno. In this respect I also observed that president Obama's half-sister, Maya Ng Soetoro, is using the Dutch spelling of her husband's name: Soetoro." [Stueck]

President Sukarno (1957-65)

President Sukarno, backed by the Army, declared the 1950 Provisional Constitution void and reintroduced the 1945 Constitution (1957). This provided a blue print as originally untended for Sukarno, popularly known as Bung Karno (Comrade Sukarno), to increase his power. He at first carefully ballabced power among three contending forces-- the PKI, the Army with Muslim sentiment, and himself. President Sukarno managed to dominated Indonesia in this way for two decades becoming a spokesman for the Third World. He presented himself on the international stage as a leader of a new world, free from Cold War antagonism. He was active in the Non-Aligned Movement. This often meant coming down on the Soviet Socialist side as opposed to democracy and free-market capitalism. He was not a dictator, although Indonesia was hardly a democracy. He did, however, mnage to dominate Indonesia. And he began to lose control (early-1960s). Sukarno like many third-world nationalists (Asad, Castro, Nasser, Nehru, Tito, and others) leaned left. Unlike some left-wing nationalist leaders, Sukarno was no aestetic. On a state visit to Japan he met a 19-yeat old art student at the Ginza hostess bar in Tokyo, near the Imperial Hotel -- Naoko Nemoto. They married in Indonesia (1962) She converted to Islam, and Sukarno gave her the Indonesian name Ratna Sari Dewi Soekarno. She became known as Dewi Sukarno. Many Third World leaders like Sukarmo were impressed with the Soviet Union and Communist China and what looked like their growing dominance over the democratic/capitalist West. Sukarno was finding increasingly difficult to balance the PKI and the Army and he began to see the future more with the PKI. His Socialist-oriented policies and coruption led inevitably to economic decline. It would be a few more years before the asian Tigers demonstrated that socialism did not work and capitalism did. Mounting conflicts were developing between the PKI and the non-Communist groups backed by the military. Sukarno saw himself losing control over the situation. And the PKI emboldened by the apparent success of Commumist China wanted control, convinced that they could solve the country's economic problems by collectivist Marxist policies.

Sukarno-Communist Coup (September 1965)

Gradually the PKI grew in importance, unbalancing the tiad that Sukarno had crafted. Sukarno appears to have decided to ally himself with the PKI and help launch a Communist coup to destoy the power of the conservative, Muslim influenced Army (1965). The PKI had plans to kill Army commanders and non-Communist leaders. They struck (September 30, 1965). A definitive history of the coup has not yet been written, im part because the Army has not allowed an opebn discussion and the PKI was destroyed. The official Army version lays the responsibility for the attempted coup entirely on the PKI. PKI survivors claim that it was an internal Army action. We know that members of PKI's central bureau were involved as well as PKI supporters in the Army. The complete story of Sukarno's role has never been fully revealed presumably as a result of Sukarno's popularity and internationalm prestige. The coup plotters suceeded in killing seven high-ranking Army generals and in some cases their families. They did not suceed, however, in destroying the Army's high comand. General Soeharto launched a bloody campaign to eliminate the PKI and its suporters, a modern day pogrom of communists. The death toll will never be known. A conservative estimate is that 0.3-0.5 million PKI members and supporters were killed. The actual number may be much greater. In many instances this meant destroying whole villages that were sympthtic to the PKI. General Soeharto, was a major general and commander of the Army Strategic Reserves Command. He took over leadership of the Army. He deposed Sukarno, but did not have him executed.

Military Rule: General Soeharto and the New Order (1965-98)

General Soeharto then replaced Sukarno and dominated Indonesia for three decades. Soeharto based his rule on the Letter of Instruction (March 11, 1966). This officially transferred state power from Sukarno to him. Soeharto unseated Sukarno as president in the special session of the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly (MPRS) (1967). Soeharto consolidated his power under a new regime-- the New Order. Soeharto began a "regime cleansing" aimed at the supporters of the Old Order. Soeharto worked with Hamengkubuwono IX (the sultan of Yogyakarta) and Adam Malik. The three became known as the triumvirate. Soeharto divided the work of the economic and political reconstruction. Sultan Hamengkubuwono was given the responsibility to lead the economic recovery. Adam Malik assumed the responsibility of redirecting Indonesia's foreign policy toward the West. Soeharto assumed personal responsibility for reconstructing a domestic politica system. Soeharto principal idea was to change the focus of the country's domestic political discourse from political ideology to economic development. He enunciated the trilogy of development: political stability, economic growth and equality. Soeharto took power in the aftermath of defeating the PKI coup (1965), but this hardly provided permanent political legitimacy. In an attempt to gain some degree of political legitimacy, the Government held a general election (1971). It was, however, noy a democatic election. Soeharto introduced the concept of the 'floating mass' that banned political parties from organizingh the village level. The Oil Boom exports increased and with oil price increases became a mainstay of the Indonesian ecomomy. Oil provides great wealth, but it does not usually lead to economic development. This as the asian Tigers found comes from capitalism. Mor than often Third World countries have used oil wealth to avoid needed market reforms. This may work with countries that had huge oil reserves and a small population. Indonesia was, however, a country with a huge population and a limited oil reserve. More importnant to a still largely agricultural socirty was the American Green Revolution introducing new higher-yielding strains of rice. Thus the earnings of many Indonesians improved considerably duuring the Soeharto military era. Incomes of the poor increased, especially the rural masses beacuse of increased farm harvests. Much of the oil income went to make the ruch richer. Without democratic controls and the rule of law, corruption became expanded. This was fueled in part because of the expanding oil income. The corruption impacted all levels of society. Indonesian business culture wasespecially impacted and kickbacks and bribes to goverment officials became a central part of doing business. The most notable beneficuaries of the new wealth were Soeharto’s business associates and his family. The result was huge commercial empires fueled by the award major government contracts. Over time grass-roots grumblings increased along with growin disparity of wealth. Oil income can be streached only so far, unlike the real economic growth generated by capitalism by the Asian Tigers. The economic disparites and stagnation resulted in the increasing popularity of the political opposition, especially the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI). The PDI was one of the two state-approved parties during the New Order era. The PDI grew in both stature and popularity. Soeharto Goverment officials became concerned and as a result helped bring about a split in the PDI. One result was the PDI's popular leader Megawati Soekarnoputri (one of Sukarno's daughters) being dumped (1993). PDI supporters rioted in Jakarta, but the military eaily imposed order. Soeharto after 30 years in power began to talk about retirement, but as in many authocratic regimes, there was no obvious successor. Both the local and international business community had become so used to Indonesia’s intrenched crony capitalism that the military regime maintained its control for a while longer. This all changed with the Asian financial crisis. It devestated the Indonesian economy (1997). As the economy was the underpinning of Soeharto's rule. The economic crisis soon resulted in riots and other disturbances. This forced Soeharto to resign (1998). This made possible real democratic elections and the establishment of a democratic regime. Geberal Soeharto as a result of the bloody violence and widespred civil disorder was replaced by B.J. Habibie.

Habibie Efforts to Continue Army Control (1998-99)

Amid all the disorder, Vice President B.J. Habibie was sworn in as the first new president in over 30 years (May 1998). He became Indinesia's third president. He tried to defuse the volitile situation. He began talking about reform and released many political prisoners. He promised elections. Habibie tried to present an image of a man of the people. This was ahard sell as he had long served as a Soeharto minister and in fact was a close close personal friend of Soeharto. Habibie could not control the unraveling economic situation. The rupiah continued its free fall. Depending on oil had left Indonesia vulnerable. Without market reforms like the Aian Tigers, Indonesia depended on imports rather than building a productive manufacturing sector. Thus as the rupiah fell, the price of virtully everything skyrocketed. At the same time, the declining authority of the Governent enabled the growth of a new era demanding political openness. The Habibie Government talked about 'reformasi' (reform), but tried to keep a lid on the situation. The attempted to ban demonstrations and to reaffirm the preminent role of the Army in Indonesian politics without Soeharto. This proved impossible. The Army which was created out of the resistance groups who achieved independence had been the most reapected institution in Indonesais. Its reputation was, however, tarnished by the Soeharto New Order era, especially the last decade. And Habibie's effort further dimmed the Army's once bright image. The Army had in fact caused the riots by shooting unarmed students. The disturbances were so widespread that the Army proved unable to contain them. Even worse with newspapers ignoring efforts at censorship, reports that military factions were incited the rioting spred. The press also exposed Army killings in Aceh where Ilamic separtists were active as well details on Army political operatives abducting and murdering opposition political activists. The IMF attempted to stabilize the sitution, but demanded reforms. Ordinary people faced real hardship because of the percipitous fall of the rupiah. People were forced to sell their meagre possessions to be able to afford food. Crime increase as others turned to theft. The Chinese minority which operated many shops became became scapegoats and targets.

Advent of Democracy (1999)

The Army-dominated Indonesian Parliament met to consuder a new election (November 1998). On the streets, students were demanding immediate elections. The student demands that military appointees to Parliament be ended were ignored in Parliament--understandable be cause military appointees realized that they could not win actual elections. Three days of increasingly violent rioting and skirmishing with the military riot squds peaked (November 13). The students marched on the thorougly discredited Parliament. Many impoverished people koined the students. The resulting clashes with the Army riot squads left 12 dead and hundreds wounded. The well-defended Parliament was not the only target. The mostly Muslim mobs took on a well established pattern in Muslim countries. They began to target non-Muslim Indonesians, meaning Christiand=ns and Chinese. They began attacking and burning churches in Jakarta. Christians througout the country were outraged. In areas were Christians weremore numerous, especially eastern Indonesia, Christians began attacked mosques. Rioting in West Timor was soon followed by Muslim-Christian violence in Maluku and Kalimantan. Indonesiais avast archipeligo doninated by the heavily populasted islands of Sumatra and Java. As a result there were many independence-minded regions, especailly Aceh, Irian Jaya, and East Timor. The violence and the unraveling central givernment fueled spartist feeling. This led to more violence. Despite the ongoing instability, Indonesia moved toward real democratic elections. The first democratic election campaigm in 40 years proved to be jouous national celevtation (June 1999). The Army had attempted to divide the PDI in 1993 and end Megawati Soekarnoputri's political career. Instead she had helped orgnize the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI-P) which became more important than the original PDI the Government had endorsed. Megawati was the most popular politician in Indonesia, an impressive achievement in the face of Government opposition and until 1998 control of the media as well as. And it is rare in a Muslim-majority country for a woman to achieve politican prominance. Usually it occurs when a woman is related to apopular politician. And this was the case of Megawati. She was one of Sukarno's daughters. And because Soeharto had removed Sukarno from power (1967), the former strong man and PKI ally was now a popular hero. Indonesia held its first democratic election since 1955 (October 1999). Megawati and her PDI-P, however, only won a third of the vote. The Government Golkar Party, without the benefit of a rigged voting had its vote tally plummet from over 70 percent to little more than 20 percent. Although Megawati received the greates number of votes, a coalition of other parties had the votes to deny her the presidency. The People’s Consultative Assembly elected Abdurrahman Wahid as the new president and Megawati as vice president (October 20).

Sources

Stueck, Rudi. E-mail message, October 14, 2012.

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Created: 5:29 AM 10/13/2012
Last updated: 11:07 PM 4/22/2017