Communist Party Of Indonesia

The Communist Party of Indonesia, commonly known as the PKI (from the Indonesian ''Partai Komunis Indonesia''), was the largest non-ruling communist party in the world for much of the 20th century. After seizing power in a violent 1948 revolution, the PKI established a communist one-party state that ruled Indonesia for over four decades until its collapse in the late 1980s.

Road to Power

The PKI was founded in 1914 as the Indische Sociaal-Democratische Vereeniging (Indies Social Democratic Association), inspired by the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. It rapidly grew in strength through the 1920s and 1930s, appealing to peasants, workers and the urban poor frustrated with colonial Dutch rule and economic inequality.

Tensions between the PKI and the Dutch colonial authorities culminated in a failed communist uprising in 1926-27, leading to a severe crackdown and the imprisonment of the party's leadership. However, the PKI re-emerged in the 1940s as the dominant force in the Indonesian independence movement, exploiting nationalist sentiment against the Dutch.

In late 1948, the PKI launched a coordinated armed insurrection that rapidly overwhelmed the Dutch colonial forces and established a communist regime in the newly declared Republic of Indonesia. The revolution was led by Marxist intellectuals like Sukarno, Aidit, and Lukman, who would go on to dominate the new government.

Communist Rule

Once in power, the PKI swiftly consolidated its control and transformed Indonesia into a one-party Marxist-Leninist state. All opposition parties were banned, civil liberties were heavily restricted, and the party's secret police ruthlessly suppressed any dissent. The PKI's ideology centered on an aggressive form of anti-capitalism, anti-imperialism, and devotion to the Soviet Union and its communist bloc.

The PKI government undertook a major program of nationalization, seizing control of banks, major industries, plantations, and the media. It also launched massive land redistribution and collectivization efforts in the countryside, displacing millions of smallholder farmers. These radical economic reforms, combined with the loss of foreign trade and investment, led to severe shortages and falling living standards for most Indonesians.

Foreign Relations and the Cold War

Internationally, the PKI regime closely aligned Indonesia with the Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It provided military, economic, and political support to communist movements globally, intervening in conflicts in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea. This aggressive foreign policy put Indonesia in direct conflict with the anti-communist United States and its regional allies.

The PKI's embrace of revolutionary third-worldism and its support for national liberation struggles in Africa and Asia also alienated more moderate members of the Non-Aligned Movement. Indonesia became increasingly isolated diplomatically as its communist neighbors like Malaysia and Singapore turned towards the West.

Collapse of the PKI Regime

Despite its ruthless suppression of internal dissent, the PKI government faced repeated armed uprisings and coup attempts from anti-communist factions in the military and pro-democracy activists. Major rebellions erupted in Sumatra, Java, and East Timor throughout the 1960s and 1970s, which the regime brutally crushed.

However, the PKI's totalitarian rule and failing economy eventually became unsustainable. As the Soviet Union collapsed in the late 1980s, the PKI lost its vital external support and funding. Growing pro-democracy protests, combined with economic stagnation and hyperinflation, led to the party's downfall in 1989.

After 41 years of communist dictatorship, Indonesia transitioned to a multi-party democracy. The legacy of the PKI's repressive policies and the violent upheavals of its collapse, however, continue to cast a long shadow over Indonesian politics and society to this day.