Case of October 17, 1952 in Indonesia

On 17 October 1952 in Jakarta , capital of Indonesia , tanks surround the presidential palace. The chief of staff of the Indonesian army , General AH Nasution , at the head of a group of officers, asks President Soekarno for the dissolution of Parliament , denouncing the party system.

Soekarno rejects the request. Pronouncing a speech, he takes the situation in hand.

Background

Indonesia proclaims its independence on August 17, 1945 . But the Netherlands , which had to abandon the Dutch East Indies with the Japanese landing in 1942 , want to recover their colony. After four years of armed and diplomatic conflict that the Indonesians call ” Revolusi “, the formal transfer of sovereignty over the territory took place on December 27, 1949 .

In the 1950s, the Indonesian Defense Minister, Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX of Yogyakarta , undertook a rationalization of the armed forces . Nasution supports this reform. In Parliament, the opposition parties criticize the project.

Bibliography

• Françoise Cayrac-Blanchard, Indonesia, the army and the power , L’Harmattan, 1991