Suharto in Indonesia

Background Sukarno was waiting to lead Indonesia He was the leader of Indonesia’s independence movement After Japan surrendered, Sukarno proclaimed Indonesia independent and claimed himself president in August 1945 The Dutch attempted to reclaim Indonesia The map above shows the location of Indonesia. Indonesia is a large territory of Islands that are very strategic in trade and war, which make them desirable.

More Background Dutch saw Indies as their permanent home and they wanted to keep it that way Dutch barred Indonesian’s attempts to enter the civil service or acquire higher education After WWII Indonesian’s did not want to return to colonialism by the Dutch Indonesian’s put together a successful guerrilla army After the Dutch lost support they agreed to grant Indonesia its independence in 1949

Causes Indonesia became the world’s fourth most populous region with more than 300 ethnic groups Sukarno attempted to guide the nation in parliamentary democracy but his attempt failed In 1965 Suharto claimed power for himself after suppressing a military coup Sukarno was the leader of Indonesia’s independence movement. He attempted to transform Indonesia peacefully but was unsuccessful. Over 13,600 islands, 250 languages and 300 ethnic groups proved too much for Sukarno.

Suharto Suharto began a bloodbath in which 500,000 thousand to 1 million Indonesian’s were killed Suharto was named president in 1967 He turned Indonesia into a police state Annexed East Timur in 1976 and committed human right violations there Chinese were discriminated against Christians were persecuted Bribery and corruption became common

Actions Growing dissatisfaction with the government and depleting economy caused Suharto to step down in 1998 In 1999 the nation elected Abdurrahman Wahid Election was a sign of hope in the future and was the first ever democratic transfer of power

Works Cited Global History Textbook: –Patterns of Interaction Page 895