The People and History of Indonesia

04 December 2006

A background note to the Indonesia Guide

Islamic girls school, Java © Catholic Relief Services

Indonesia is the worlds fourth-most populous nation and - as often touted in the post-September 11 world - the worlds largest Muslim nation. Spanning an archipelago of 13,677 islands, it is also one of the worlds most culturally diverse nations, encompassing many ethnic and linguistic groups from predominantly Malay, but also Melanesian origin.

The borders of the modern nation-state of Indonesia are largely a colonial construct. Beginning in the early 1600s, Dutch imperialists extended their rule over ancient kingdoms and sultanates to establish the Netherlands East Indies, a lucrative colonial possession well endowed with spices, rubber, tin and other commodities. After a short occupation by Japan during World War II, and on the back of the Japanese surrender, a small group of Indonesian nationalists proclaimed independence and founded the Republic of Indonesia on 17 August 1945.

In 1949, after 4-years of armed conflict, the Dutch agreed to transfer sovereignty to the Republic of Indonesia. The first President, Soekarno,

he resorted to authoritarian rule

struggled to achieve cohesion and reconcile competing ideologies in the early years of the Republic; and he resorted to authoritarian rule so-called Guided Democracy from 1959 to 1965. Also during this period and as Cold War politics were taking shape, Soekarno coalesced other former colonies that rejected alliance with the Western or Soviet blocs into what became known as the Non-Aligned Movement.

In 1965, alarmed by the growing influence of the Indonesian Communist Party - Partai Kommunis Indonesia (PKI) - and a leftward shift in the Soekarno

over two million people are estimated to have died

presidency, a political and military elite contrived a supposed Communist coup as a pretext for security operations and mass mobilisations against Communist sympathisers. The result was a massive bloodbath, in which over two million people are estimated to have died both in security operations and communal violence. In 1967, Major General Soeharto was appointed President and proclaimed a New Order in Indonesian politics.

The New Order was to last 30 years, a period in which a paradigm of growth-centred development brought about significant gains in the overall state of economic development in Indonesia and saw the country emerge in first half of the 1990s as part of the Asian economic miracle". The development of this period, however, came at a high price. Soeharto established a monopoly on power, rights and freedoms were severely restricted, natural environments were squandered for short-term economic gains, social inequalities became more acute, corruption guaranteed wealth and privilege for the presidents family and cronies, the military acted with impunity and the vast majority of Indonesians were systematically denied opportunities to exercise control over their lives.

In mid-1997, the Indonesian economy was hit by the Asian financial and economic crisis. Following a sharp increase in inflation, unemployment and poverty, there was a surge of popular unrest. Massive demonstrations by students and civil society organisations forced Soehartos resignation in May 1998, and Indonesia began its transition to democracy.

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Jane McGrory is Volunteer Editor for the Indonesia Guide