Sukarno, born
Kusno Sosrodihardjo (6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was the first
President of IndonesiaThe President of the Republic of Indonesia is the Head of State as well as the Head of the Government of the Republic of Indonesia.The first president was Sukarno and the current president is Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.-History of the office:...
. He helped the country win its independence from
the NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
and was President from 1945 to 1967, presiding with mixed success over the country's turbulent transition to independence. Sukarno was forced out of power by one of his generals, Suharto, who formally became President in March 1967.
Name
The spelling "Sukarno" is frequently used in English as it is based on the newer official spelling in Indonesia since 1947 but the older spelling
Soekarno is still frequently used, mainly because he signed his name in the old spelling. Official Indonesian presidential decrees from the period 1947-1968, however, printed his name using the 1947 spelling. The
Soekarno-Hatta International AirportSoekarno-Hatta International Airport is the main airport serving the greater Jakarta area on the island of Java, Indonesia. The airport is named after the first President of Indonesia, Soekarno, and the first vice-president, Mohammad Hatta. The airport is often called Cengkareng by Indonesians...
which serves near Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia for example, still uses the older spelling.
Indonesians also remember him as
Bung Karno or Pak Karno. Like many Javanese people, he had only one name; in religious contexts, he was occasionally referred to as 'Achmed Sukarno'.
Background
The son of a Javanese primary school teacher, an
aristocratThe aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in society, who traditionally have land, money, and power. They are often members of a hereditary nobility that derives its stature from a lineage traceable to the original inhabitants or rulers of a region...
named Raden Soekemi Sosrodihardjo and his
BaliBali is an Indonesian island located at the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. It is one of the country's 33 provinces with the provincial capital at Denpasar towards the south of the island....
nese wife named Ida Ayu Nyoman Rai from
BulelengBuleleng is a regency of Bali, Indonesia. It has an area of 1,365.88 km2 and population of 577,644 . Its regency seat is Singaraja....
regency, Sukarno was born as Kusno Sosrodihardjo in
BlitarBlitar is a city and also the capital of the regency of the same name on East Java, Indonesia, about 73 kilometers from Malang and 167 kilometers from Surabaya. The area longitude is between 111° 40' - 112° 09' East and its latitude is 8° 06' South. Kelud is only one active mountain located on the...
, East Java in the
Dutch East IndiesThe Dutch East Indies, or Netherlands East Indies, was the Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II.It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the former Dutch East India Company that came under the administration of the Netherlands in 1800...
(now
IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
). Following Javanese custom, he was renamed after a childhood illness. He was admitted into a
DutchThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
-run school as a child. When his father sent him to
SurabayaSurabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city, and the capital of the province of East Java. It is located on the northern shore of eastern Java at the mouth of the Mas River and along the edge of the Madura Strait....
in 1916 to attend a secondary school, he met
Tjokroaminoto Hadji Oemar Said Tjokroaminoto was a nationalist, the first leader of Sarekat Dagang Islam in Indonesia.-Early life:...
, a future nationalist. In 1921 he began to study at the
Technische Hogeschool (Technical Institute) in
BandungBandung Indonesian: Kota Bandung) is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, and the country's fourth largest city, and 2nd largest metropolitan area, with 7.4 million in 2007. Located 768 m above sea level, Bandung has relatively year-around cooler temperature than most other Indonesian...
. He studied civil engineering and focused on architecture.
Atypically, even among the colony's small educated elite, Sukarno was fluent in several languages. In addition to the
Javanese languageJavanese language is the language of the people in the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia. In addition, there are also some pockets of Javanese speakers in the northern coast of western Java...
of his childhood, he was a master of
SundaneseNot to be confused with SudaneseSundanese is the language of about 27 million people from the western third of Java or about 15% of the Indonesian population....
,
BalineseBalinese or simply Bali is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by 3.9 million people on the Indonesian island of Bali, as well as northern Nusa Penida, western Lombok and eastern Java...
and of
IndonesianIndonesian is the official national language of Indonesia. It is based on a version of Classical Malay of the Riau-Johor Sultanate. It was first declared the official language with the declaration of Indonesian independence in 1945, following the 1928 unifying-language declaration in the...
, and especially strong in
DutchDutch is a West Germanic language spoken by over 22 million people as a native language, and over 5 million people as a second language.
"1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language...
. He was also quite comfortable in
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
,
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
,
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
,
ArabicArabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. In terms of speakers, the Arabic macrolanguage is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as...
, and
Japaneseis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family. There are a number of proposed relationships with other languages, but none have gained general acceptance...
, all of which were taught at his HBS. He was helped by his photographic memory and
precocious mindA child prodigy is someone who at an early age masters one or more skills at an adult level. One heuristic for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 15 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding field of endeavor...
. Sukarno once remarked that when he was studying in Surabaya, he often sat behind the screen in movie theaters reading the Dutch
subtitleSubtitles are textual versions of the dialog in films and television programs, usually displayed at the bottom of the screen. They can either be a form of written translation of a dialog in a foreign language, or a written rendering of the dialog in the same language, with or without added...
s in reverse because the front seats were only for elite Dutch people.
In his studies, Sukarno was "intensely modern," both in architecture and in politics. Sukarno interpreted these ideas in his dress, in his urban planning for the capital (eventually
JakartaJakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. It also has a greater population than any other city in Southeast Asia. It was formerly known as Sunda Kelapa , Jayakarta , Batavia , and Djakarta . Located on the northwest coast of Java, it has an area of and a population of 8,489,910...
), and in his socialist politics, though he did not extend his taste for modern art to pop music; he had
Koes PlusKoes Plus is an Indonesian musical group that enjoyed success in the 1970s.Known as one of Indonesia's classic musical acts, the band peaked in popularity in the days far before the advent of private television companies, delivering stripped-down pop songs at the then-only TV station, TVRI.-Early...
imprisoned for their allegedly decadent lyrics despite his reputation for womanising. For Sukarno, modernity was blind to race, neat and Western in style, and anti-imperialist.
Independence struggle
Sukarno became a leader of a pro-independence party,
Partai Nasional IndonesiaThe Indonesian National Party is the same used by several political parties in Indonesia from 1927 until the present day.-Pre-independence:...
, when it was founded in 1927. He opposed imperialism and capitalism because he thought both systems worsened the life of Indonesian people.
He also hoped that Japan would commence a war against the western powers and that Java could then gain its independence with Japan's aid. He was arrested in 1929 by Dutch colonial authorities and sentenced to two years in prison. By the time he was released, he had become a popular hero. He was arrested several times during the 1930s and was in exile when Japan occupied the archipelago in 1942.
World War II and the Japanese occupation
In early 1929, during the Indonesian National Revival, Sukarno and fellow Indonesian nationalist leader
Mohammad Hattawas born in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, Dutch East Indies . He was Indonesia's first vice president, later also serving as the country's Prime Minister. Known as "The Proclamator", he and a number of Indonesians, including the first president of Indonesia, Sukarno, fought for the independence of...
(later
Vice President), first foresaw a Pacific War and the opportunity that a Japanese advance on Indonesia might present for the Indonesian independence cause. In February 1942 Imperial Japan invaded the
Dutch East IndiesThe Dutch East Indies, or Netherlands East Indies, was the Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II.It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the former Dutch East India Company that came under the administration of the Netherlands in 1800...
quickly overrunning outmatched Dutch forces who marched, bussed and trucked Sukarno three hundred kilometres to
PadangPadang is the capital and largest city of West Sumatra, Indonesia. It is located on the western coast of Sumatra at . It has an area of and a population of over 750,000 people.-History:...
,
SumatraSumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world .-Etymology:Sumatra was known in ancient times by the Sanskrit...
. They intended keeping him prisoner, but abruptly abandoned him to save themselves.
The Japanese had their own files on Sukarno and approached him with respect wanting to use him to organise and pacify the Indonesians. Sukarno on the other hand wanted to use the Japanese to free Indonesia: "The Lord be praised, God showed me the way; in that valley of the Ngarai I said: Yes, Independent Indonesia can only be achieved with Dai Nippon...For the first time in all my life, I saw myself in the mirror of Asia."
Subsequently, indigenous forces across both Sumatra and Java aided the Japanese against the Dutch but would not cooperate in the supply of the aviation fuel which was essential for the Japanese war effort. Desperate for local support in supplying the volatile cargo, Japan now brought Sukarno back to Jakarta. He helped the Japanese in obtaining its aviation fuel and forced labor conscripts, called
kerja paksa in Indonesian and
Romushawere forced laborers during the Japanese occupation of Indonesia in World War II. The U.S. Library of Congress estimates that in Java, between four and 10 million romusha were forced to work by the Japanese military. About 270,000 of these Javanese laborers were sent to other Japanese-held areas...
in
Japaneseis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family. There are a number of proposed relationships with other languages, but none have gained general acceptance...
. Sukarno was lastingly ashamed of his role with the
romusha. He also was involved with Peta and Heiho (Javanese volunteer army troops) via speeches broadcast on the Japanese radio and loud speaker networks across Java. By mid-1945 these units numbered around two million, and were preparing to defeat any Allied forces sent to re-take Java.
On November 10, 1943 Sukarno was decorated by the
Emperor of JapanThe of Japan is the symbol of the state and of the unity of the Japanese people. He is the head of the Japanese Imperial Family. He is also the highest authority of the Shinto religion...
in
Tokyo, officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and is located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū. The twenty-three special wards of Tokyo, each governed as a city, cover the area that was once the city of Tokyo in the eastern part of the prefecture, totaling over 8 million people....
. He also became head of Badan Penyelidik Usaha Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia (
BPUPKIBadan Penyelidik Usaha Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia was a Japanese-organized committee for granting independence to Indonesia.The organization was founded on April 29, 1945 by Lt. Gen. Keimakici Harada, the commander of 16th Army in Java. Indonesian independence meeting and discussion were...
), the Japanese-organized committee through which Indonesian independence was later gained. On 7 September 1944, with the war going badly for the Japanese, Prime Minister Koiso promised independence for Indonesia, although no date was set. This announcement was seen, according to the U.S. official history, as immense vindication for Sukarno's apparent collaboration with the Japanese. The U.S. at the time considered Sukarno one of the "foremost collaborationist leaders." [Kolko, Gabriel. The Politics of War. p607]
Early independence
Following the Japanese surrender, Sukarno, Mohammad Hatta, and Dr. Radjiman Wediodiningrat were summoned by Marshal Terauchi, Commander-in-Chief of Japan's Southern Expeditionary Forces in Saigon. Sukarno initially hesitated in declaring Indonesia's independence. He and Mohammad Hatta were kidnapped by Indonesian youth groups to Rengasdengklok, west of Jakarta.
Finally Sukarno and Hatta declared the
independence of the Republic of IndonesiaThe Proclamation of Indonesian Independence was read at 10.00 a.m. on Friday, August 17, 1945. The declaration marked the start of the diplomatic and armed-resistance of the Indonesian National Revolution, fighting against the forces of the Netherlands until the latter officially acknowledged...
on August 17, 1945.
Sukarno's vision for the 1945 Indonesian
constitutionThe Constitution of Indonesia is the basis for the government of the Indonesia.The constitution was written in June, July and August 1945, when Indonesia was emerging from Japanese control at the end of World War II...
comprised the
PancasilaPancasila is the official philosophical foundation of the Indonesian state. Pancasila consists of two Sanskrit words, "panca" meaning five, and "sila" meaning principles...
(
SanskritSanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also declared as a classical language by the government of India....
-
five principles). Sukarno's political philosophy, Marhaenism, was guided by (in no particular order) elements of
MarxismMarxism is the political philosophy and economic worldview based upon a materialist interpretation of history, a Marxist analysis of capitalism, a theory of social change, and an atheist view of human liberation derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels; three primary aspects of...
,
nationalismNationalism is an ideology, a sentiment, a form of culture, or a social movement that focuses on the nation. It is a type of collectivism emphasizing the collective of a specific nation...
and
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
. This is reflected in the Pancasila, in the order in which he originally espoused them in a speech on June 1, 1945:
- Nationalism
Nationalism is an ideology, a sentiment, a form of culture, or a social movement that focuses on the nation. It is a type of collectivism emphasizing the collective of a specific nation...
(with a focus on national unity)
- Internationalism
Internationalism may refer to:* Internationalism , a political movement that advocates a greater economic and political cooperation among nations* Internationalism , the groups of words called internationalisms...
('one nation sovereign amongst equals')
- Representative democracy
Electoral democracies require a majority of the votes cast. Many representative democracies are constitutional republics in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law".- Criticisms :...
(all significant groups represented)
- Social Justice
Social justice is a notion used to describe a society with a greater degree of economic egalitarianism through progressive taxation, income redistribution, or even property redistribution, policies aimed toward achieving that which developmental economists refer to as equality of opportunity and...
(Marxist influenced)
- Theism
Theism in the broadest sense is the belief in at least one deity. In a more specific sense, theism refers to a particular doctrine concerning the nature of God and his relationship to the universe. Theism, in this specific sense, conceives of God as personal and active in the governance and...
(with a secular slant)
In the same speech, he argued that all of the principles of the nation could be summarized in the phrase
gotong royongGotong royong, is a conception of sociality familiar to large parts of Indonesia and Malaysia. The phrase has been translated into English in many ways, most of which harken to the conception of reciprocity or mutual aid. For M. Nasroen, gotong royong forms one of the core tenets of Indonesian...
. The Indonesian parliament, founded on the basis of this original (and subsequently revised) constitution, proved all but ungovernable. This was due to irreconcilable differences between various social, political, religious and ethnic factions.
Sukarno's government initially postponed the formation of a national army, for fear of antagonizing the Allied occupation forces and their doubt over whether they would have been able to form an adequate military apparatus to maintain control of seized territory. The various
militiaThe term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
groups at that time were encouraged to join the BKR --
Badan Keamanan Rakyat (The People's Security Organization) -- itself a subordinate of the "War Victims Assistance Organization". It was only in October 1945 that the BKR was reformed into the TKR –
Tentara Keamanan Rakyat (The People's Security Army) in response to the increasing Dutch presence in Indonesia. In the ensuing chaos between various factions and Dutch attempts to re-establish colonial control, Dutch troops captured Sukarno in December 1948, but were forced to release him after the
ceasefireA ceasefire is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be declared as part of a formal treaty, but they have also been called as part of an informal understanding between opposing forces.-World War I:On December 24, 1914,...
. He returned to
JakartaJakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. It also has a greater population than any other city in Southeast Asia. It was formerly known as Sunda Kelapa , Jayakarta , Batavia , and Djakarta . Located on the northwest coast of Java, it has an area of and a population of 8,489,910...
in December 28, 1949. At this time, Indonesia adopted a new
federal constitutionThe Federal Constitution of the United States of Indonesia replaced the 1945 Constitution of Indonesia when sovereignty was officially transferred from the Netherlands to Indonesia following the Dutch-Indonesian Round Table Conference...
that made the country a federal state. This was replaced by another
provisional constitutionThe 1950 Provisional Constitution replaced the Federal Constitution of 1949 when Indonesia unilaterally withdrew from the union with the Netherlands agreed at the Round Table Conference and returned to being a unitary state. It came into force on August 17 1950...
in 1950 that restored a unitary form of government. Both constitutions were parliamentary in nature, which—on paper—limited presidential power. However, even with his formally reduced role, he commanded a good deal of moral authority as
Father of the NationFather of the Nation is an honorific title given to a man considered the driving force behind the establishment of their country, state or nation...
.
Sukarno's government was not universally accepted in Indonesia. Indeed, many factions and regions attempted to separate themselves from his government, and there were several internal conflicts even during the period of armed insurgency against the Dutch. One such example is the leftist-backed coup attempt by elements of the military in
MadiunMadiun is a city in the western part of the province of East Java Indonesia, an agricultural centre best known as the site of an uprising in 1948 which resulted in thousands of deaths. It is the capital of the regency of the same name....
,
East JavaEast Java is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the eastern part of the island of Java and also includes neighboring Madura and islands to the east of it, as well as the Bawean islands...
in 1948, in which many supporters of communism were allegedly executed.
There were further attempts of military coups against Sukarno in 1956, including the PRRI-
PermestaPermesta was a rebel movement in Indonesia, the name coming from Piagam Perjuangan Semesta . It was declared by civil and military leaders of East Indonesia on March 2, 1957. The center of the movement was in Manado, and the movement was led by Colonel Ventje Sumual...
rebellion in
SulawesiSulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands.- Etymology :...
supported by the CIA, during which an American aviator,
Allen Lawrence PopeAllen Lawrence Pope was a 29 year old ex-US Air Force first lieutenant who was shot down on May 18, 1958 while flying a B-26 during a raid on government forces at the Indonesian port of Amboina....
, operating in support of the rebels was shot down and captured.
'Guided Democracy' and increasing autocracy
Sukarno resented his figurehead position and used the increasing disorder to intervene more in the country's political life. Claiming
Western-style democracyLiberal democracy is the dominant form of democracy in the 21st century. During the Cold War, liberal democracies were contrasted with the Communist People's Republics or "Popular Democracies", which claimed an alternative conception of democracy...
was unsuitable for Indonesia, he called for a system of "
guided democracyGuided democracy is a term for a democratic government with increased autocracy. While following basic democratic principles there can be minor deviations towards authoritarianism....
" based on what he called traditional Indonesian principles. The Indonesian way of deciding important questions, he argued, was by way of prolonged
deliberationLegal deliberation is the process in which a jury in a trial in court discusses in private the findings of the court and decides by vote with which argument to agree of either opposing side...
designed to achieve a
consensusConsensus in the English language is defined firstly as unanimous or general agreement; and secondly group solidarity of belief or sentiment. Ideally, achieving consensus requires serious treatment of every group member's considered opinion...
. He proposed a government based not only on
political partiesPolitical Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...
but on "functional groups" composed of the nation's basic elements, in which a national consensus could express itself under presidential guidance.
During this later part of his presidency, Sukarno came to increasingly rely on the army and the support of the
Communist Party of IndonesiaThe Communist Party of Indonesia was the largest non-ruling communist party in the world prior to being crushed in 1965 and banned the following year.-Forerunners:...
(PKI).
In the 1950s he increased his ties to
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
and admitted more Communists into his government. He also began to accept increasing amounts of
SovietThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
bloc military aid. This aid, however, was surpassed by military aid from the
EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was a five-star general in the United States Army and the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. During the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the...
Administration, which worried about a leftward drift should Sukarno rely too much on Soviet bloc aid. However, Sukarno increasingly attempted to forge a new alliance called the "New Emerging Forces", as a counter to the old superpowers, whom he accused of spreading "Neo-Colonialism, Colonialism and Imperialism" (NEKOLIM). His political alliances gradually shifted towards Asian powers such as the PRC and
North KoreaNorth Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , is a state in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer area between North Korea and South Korea...
. In 1961, this first president of Indonesia also found another political alliance, an organization, called the
Non-Aligned MovementThe Non-Aligned Movement is an international organisation of states considering themselves not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. The movement is largely the brainchild of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, former president of Egypt Gamal Abdul Nasser and Yugoslav...
(NAM, in Indonesia known as Gerakan Non-Blok, GNB) with
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
's President
Gamal Abdel NasserGamal Abdel Nasser was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death in 1970. He led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, which removed King Farouk I and heralded a new period of industrialization in Egypt, together with a profound advancement of Arab nationalism, including a short-lived...
,
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
's Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru,
YugoslaviaThe Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the second half of World War II until it was formally dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro,...
's President
Josip Broz TitoJosip Broz Tito Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz Tito (Cyrillic script: Јосип Броз Тито, (7 or 25 May 1892 – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. He was Secretary-General (later President) of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (1939–80), and went on to lead the World War II...
, and
GhanaThe Republic of Ghana is a country in West Africa which borders Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
's President
Kwame NkrumahKwame Nkrumah , was an influential 20th century advocate of Pan-Africanism, and the leader of Ghana and its predecessor state, the Gold Coast, from 1952 to 1966.-Early life and education:...
, in an action called The Initiative of Five (Sukarno, Nkrumah, Nasser, Tito, and Nehru). This action was a movement to not give any favour to the two superpower blocs, who were involved in the
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, and economic competition existing after World War II , primarily between the USSR and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, including the United States...
.
The Bandung Conference was held in 1955, with the goal of uniting developing Asian and African countries into a non-aligned movement to counter against the competing superpowers at the time. In order to increase Indonesia's prestige, Sukarno supported and won the bid for the
1962 Asian GamesThe 4th Asian Games were held from August 24, 1962 to September 4, 1962 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Most notable is the expulsion of Israel and the Republic of China from the Games....
held in
JakartaJakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. It also has a greater population than any other city in Southeast Asia. It was formerly known as Sunda Kelapa , Jayakarta , Batavia , and Djakarta . Located on the northwest coast of Java, it has an area of and a population of 8,489,910...
. Many sporting facilities such as the Senayan sports complex (now
Bung Karno StadiumBung Karno Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Central Jakarta, Indonesia. It is named after Sukarno, Indonesia's first President. It is mostly used for football matches.-History:...
), and supporting infrastructure were built to accommodate the games. There was political tension when the Indonesians refused the entry of delegations from
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
and
TaiwanThe Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, is a state in East Asia that has evolved from a single-party state with full global recognition and jurisdiction over China into a democratic state with limited international recognition and jurisdiction only over Taiwan and minor islands, though it...
.
On November 30, 1957, an assassination attempt was made by grenade attack against Sukarno when he was visiting a school in
CikiniMenteng is a wealthy subdistrict located in Central Jakarta, Indonesia. It is known as a neighborhood for bureaucrats, diplomats and the wealthy among Jakartans. Supported by easy access to service centers and nearby to the central business district, Menteng is one of the most expensive areas for...
,
Central JakartaCentral Jakarta is a city of Jakarta, Indonesia. It has an area of 48.17 km², the smallest among five cities of Jakarta. The current city's mayor is Sylviana Murni....
. Six children were killed, but Sukarno did not suffer any serious wounds. In December he ordered the nationalization of 246 Dutch businesses. In February he began a crackdown on the PRRI rebels at
BukittinggiBukittinggi is one of the larger cities in West Sumatra, Indonesia, with a population of over 91,000 people and an area of 25.24 km². It is situated in the Minangkabau highlands, 90 km by road from the West Sumatran capital city of Padang. It is located at , near the volcanoes Mount...
.
These PRRI rebels, a mix of anti-communist and Islamic movements, received arms and aid from Western sources, including the CIA, until J. Allan Pope, an American pilot, was shot down after a bombing raid in northern Indonesia in 1958. The CIA sent arms to rebel movements on Sumatra as well as Sulawesi. The downing of this pilot, together with impressive victories of government forces against the PRRI, evoked a shift in US policy, leading to closer ties with Sukarno as well as Major General
Abdul Haris NasutionAbdul Haris Nasution was an Indonesian general who was twice appointed Army Chief of Staff and who escaped an assassination attempt during the 1965 coup attempt by 30 September Movement.-Early life:Nasution was born in Sumatra on 3 December 1918...
, the head of the army and the most powerful anti-communist in the Jakarta government.
Sukarno also established government control over media and book publishing as well as laws discriminating against Chinese permanent residents (China Totok). On July 5, 1959 he reestablished the 1945 constitution by
presidential edictThe Presidential Decree of 5 July 1959 was issued by President Sukarno in the face of the inability of the Constitutional Assembly of Indonesia to achieve the two-thirds majority to reimpose the 1945 Constitution...
. It established a presidential system which he believed would make it easier to implement the principles of guided democracy. He called the system
Manifesto Politik or Manipol—but was actually government by decree. He sent his opponents to internal exile.
In March 1960 Sukarno dissolved the elected Assembly (
Dewan Perwakilan RakyatThe People's Representative Council , sometimes referred to as the House of Representatives, is one of two elected national legislative assemblies in Indonesia. Together with the Regional Representatives Council , a second chamber with limited powers, it makes up a third chamber, the People's...
) and replaced it with an appointed Assembly—the Gotong Royong Parliament.
In August Sukarno broke off diplomatic relations with the Netherlands over Dutch New Guinea (West Papua.) After West Papua declared itself independent in December 1961, Sukarno ordered raids on West Irian (Dutch New Guinea). There were more assassination attempts when he visited
SulawesiSulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands.- Etymology :...
in 1962. West Irian was brought under Indonesian authority in May 1963 under the Bunker Plan.
In July of the same year People's Consultative Assembly (
Majelis Permusyawaratan RakyatThe People's Consultative Assembly is the legislative branch in Indonesia's political system. It is composed of the members of the People's Representative Council and the Regional Representative Council. Before 2004, and the amendments to the 1945 Constitution, the MPR was the highest governing...
) proclaimed Sukarno as
President for LifePresident for Life is a title assumed by some dictators to remove their term limit, in the hope that their authority, legitimacy, and term will never be disputed....
.
Sukarno also opposed the British-supported Federation of
MalaysiaMalaysia is a country in Southeast Asia that consists of thirteen states and three Federal Territories, with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population stands at over 28 million inhabitants...
, claiming that it was a neocolonial plot to advance British interests. In spite of his political overtures, which was partly justified when some political elements in British Borneo territories
SarawakSarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , it is situated on the north-west of the island...
and
BruneiBrunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...
opposed the Federation plan and aligned themselves with Sukarno, Malaysia was proclaimed in September 1963. This led to the
Indonesia-Malaysia confrontationThe Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation was an undeclared war over the future of the island of Borneo, between British-backed Malaysia and Indonesia during 1962–1966. The origins of the conflict lay in Indonesian attempts to destabilise the new Federation of Malaysia, which came into being in 1963...
(
Konfrontasi) and the end of remaining US military aid to Indonesia. Sukarno withdrew Indonesia from the UN membership in 1965 when, with US backing, the nascent Federation of Malaysia took a seat of UN Security Council. Sukarno's increasing illness was demonstrated when he collapsed in public in August 9, 1965, and he was secretly diagnosed with kidney disease.
Removal from power
On the night of 30 September 1965, six of
IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
's most senior generals were killed by a movement calling themselves the "
30 September MovementThe Thirtieth of September Movement was a self-proclaimed organization of Indonesian Armed Forces members who, in the early hours of 1 October 1965, assassinated six Indonesian Army generals in an abortive coup d'état...
" (G30S) which claimed to be in control of the government. Major General Suharto, commander of the Army's strategic reserves, took control of the army the following morning. Suharto issued an ultimatum to the Halim Air Force Base, where the G30S had based themselves and where Sukarno (the reasons for his presence are unclear and were subject of claim and counter-claim), Air Marshal Omar Dhani and Aidit had gathered. By the following day, it was clear that the incompetently organised and poorly coordinated coup had failed. By 2 October, Suharto's faction was firmly in control of the army. Sukarno's obedience to Suharto's 1 October ultimatum to leave Halim is seen as changing all power relationships. Sukarno's fragile balance of power between the military, political Islam, communists, and nationalists that underlay his "
Guided DemocracyGuided Democracy was the political system in place in Indonesia from 1957 until the New Order began in 1966. It was the brainchild of President Sukarno, and was an attempt to bring about political stability. Instead, he sought a system based on the traditional village system of discussion and...
" was now collapsing.
In early October, a military propaganda campaign began to sweep the country, successfully convincing both Indonesian and international audiences that it was a Communist coup, and that the murders were cowardly atrocities against Indonesian heroes. The PKI's denials of involvement had little effect. The army led a campaign to purge Indonesian society, government and armed forces of the communist party and other leftist organisations. Leading PKI members were immediately arrested, some summarily executed. The purge quickly spread from Jakarta to the rest of the country, and the worst massacres were in Java and Bali. (see:
Indonesian killings of 1965–66The Indonesian killings of 1965–66 were a violent anti-Communist purge following an abortive coup in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. The most widely accepted estimates are that over half a million people were killed...
) The situation varied across the country; in some areas the army organised civilian groups and local militias, in other areas communal vigilante action preceded the army. The most widely accepted estimates are that at least half a million were killed. Many others were also imprisoned and for the next ten years people were still being imprisoned as suspects. It is thought that as many as 1.5m were imprisoned at one stage or another.
As a result of the purge, one of Sukarno's three pillars of support, the Indonesian Communist Party, had been effectively eliminated by the other two, the military and political Islam, although of the two, the military were in the position of unchallenged power. The killings and the failure of his tenuous "revolution" distressed Sukarno and he tried unsuccessfully to maintain his influence appealing in a January 1966 broadcast for the country to follow him. Subandrio sought to create a Sukarnoist column (
Barisan Sukarno), which was undermined by Suharto's pledge of loyalty to Sukarno and the concurrent instruction for all those loyal to Sukarno to announce their support for the army. In February, Sukarno reshuffled his cabinet, sacking Nasution as Defence Minister and abolishing his position of armed forces chief of staff, but Nasution refused to step down.
On March 11, 1966, Suharto and his supporters in the military forced Sukarno to issue a Presidential Order called
SupersemarThe Supersemar, the Indonesian abbreviation for Surat Perintah Sebelas Maret was a document ostensibly signed by the Indonesian President Sukarno on March 11, 1966, giving the Army commander Lt. Gen...
(
Surat Perintah Sebelas Maret -- The March 11 Order), in which Sukarno gave orders to Suharto only to restore peace and order, not to transfer of power to him. After obtaining the Presidential Order, Suharto had the PKI declared illegal and the party was abolished. He also arrested many high ranking officials that were loyal to Sukarno on the charge of being PKI members and/or sympathizers, further reducing Sukarno's political power and influence.
Sukarno was stripped of his presidential title by
Majelis Permusyawaratan RakyatThe People's Consultative Assembly is the legislative branch in Indonesia's political system. It is composed of the members of the People's Representative Council and the Regional Representative Council. Before 2004, and the amendments to the 1945 Constitution, the MPR was the highest governing...
Sementara (Provisional Peoples Representative Assembly) on March 12, 1967, led by his former ally, Nasution, and remained under
house arrestIn justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
until his death at age 69 in Jakarta in 1970. He was buried in
BlitarBlitar is a city and also the capital of the regency of the same name on East Java, Indonesia, about 73 kilometers from Malang and 167 kilometers from Surabaya. The area longitude is between 111° 40' - 112° 09' East and its latitude is 8° 06' South. Kelud is only one active mountain located on the...
,
East JavaEast Java is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the eastern part of the island of Java and also includes neighboring Madura and islands to the east of it, as well as the Bawean islands...
,
IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. In recent decades, his grave has been a significant venue in the network of places that Javanese visit on ziarah and for some is of equal significance to those of the Wali Songo.
While the semi-official version of the events of 1965-1966 claims that the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) ordered the murders of the six generals, others blame Sukarno, and still others believe Suharto orchestrated the assassinations to remove potential rivals for the presidency.
Family
Sukarno married Siti Utari circa 1920, and divorced her to marry Inggit Garnasih, who he divorced circa 1931 to marry Fatmawati. Without divorcing, Sukarno also married Hartini, and circa 1959 Dewi Sukarno. Other wives included Oetari, Kartini Manoppo, Ratna Sari, Haryati, Yurike Sanger, and Heldy Djafar.
Megawati Sukarnoputri, also known simply as Megawati, is an Indonesian politician, and leader of opposition party PDI-P. She served as the President of Indonesia from 23 July 2001 to 20 October 2004 and was the country's first female President. She is also the first Indonesian leader to be born after independence...
, who served as the fifth president of Indonesia, is his daughter by his wife Fatmawati. Her younger brother
Guruh SukarnoputraMuhammad Guruh Irianto Sukarnoputra is a member of Indonesia's People's Representative Council and a choreographer. He is the youngest son of Indonesia's first president, Sukarno with his third wife, Fatmawati....
(born 1953) has inherited Sukarno's artistic bent and is a choreographer and
songwriterA songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics, as well as the musical composition or melody to songs. One who writes only lyrics is a lyricist, while one who writes only music is a composer.-History and background of songwriters:...
, who made a movie
Untukmu, Indonesiaku (For You, My Indonesia) about Indonesian culture. He is also a member of the Indonesian
People's Representative CouncilThe People's Representative Council , sometimes referred to as the House of Representatives, is one of two elected national legislative assemblies in Indonesia. Together with the Regional Representatives Council , a second chamber with limited powers, it makes up a third chamber, the People's...
for Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party – Struggle. His siblings Guntur Sukarnoputra, Rachmawati Sukarnoputri and Sukmawati Sukarnoputri have all been active in politics. Sukarno had a daughter named Kartika by
Dewi SukarnoDewi Sukarno , born , is a Japanese socialite and one of the wives of former Indonesian leader Sukarno.-Biography:...
. In 2006 Kartika Sukarno married Frits Seegers, the Netherlands-born chief executive officer of the Barclays Global Retail and Commercial Bank. Other offspring include Taufan and Bayu by his wife Hartini, and a son named Toto Suryawan Soekarnoputra (born 1967, in Germany), by his wife Kartini Manoppo. Popular ladies' magazines such as
Femina and
Kartini regularly run features about newly discovered lookalike sons and daughters throughout the archipelago, who often disappear when pressed to take a
DNADeoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses. The main role of DNA molecules is the long-term storage of information...
test by the official Sukarno children.
See also
- History of Indonesia
Indonesia is an archipelagic country of 17,508 islands stretching along the equator in South East Asia. The country's strategic sea-lane position fostered inter-island and international trade; trade has since fundamentally shaped Indonesian history...
External links
General
- Kahin, Audrey R. and George McT. "Subversion as Foreign Policy: The Secret Eisenhower and Dulles Debacle in Indonesia", The New Press, 1995.
- Blum, William. Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II, Black Rose, 1998, pp. 193–198
- U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Research Study: Indonesia—The Coup that Backfired, 1968, p. 71n.
- Bob Hering, 2001, Soekarno, architect of a nation, 1901-1970, KIT Publishers Amsterdam, ISBN 90-6832-510-8, KITLV
The Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies at Leiden was founded in 1851. Its objective is the advancement of the study of the anthropology, linguistics, social sciences, and history of South East Asia, the Pacific Area, and the Caribbean...
Leiden, ISBN 90-6718-178-1
- Oei Tjoe Tat, 1995, Memoar Oei Tjoe Tat: Pembantu Presiden Soekarno(The memoir of Oei Tjoe Tat, assistant to President Sukarno), Hasta Mitra, ISBN 979-8659-0-31 (banned in Indonesia)
- Lambert J. Giebels, 1999, Soekarno. Nederlandsch onderdaan. Biografie 1901-1950. Biography part 1, Bert Bakker Amsterdam, ISBN 90-351-2114-7
- Lambert J. Giebels, 2001, Soekarno. President, 1950-1970, Biography part 2, Bert Bakker Amsterdam, ISBN 90-351-2294-1 geb., ISBN 90-351-2325-5 pbk.
- Lambert J. Giebels, 2005, De stille genocide: de fatale gebeurtenissen rond de val van de Indonesische president Soekarno, ISBN 90-351-2871-0