June 8, 1921 - Suharto
His three-decade rule over Indonesia was built on the suppression of dissent, the killing or imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of alleged communists in the mid-1960s, and the violent annexation of East Timor — making his tenure one of the most consequential and deadly of twentieth-century authoritarian governance. The corruption that enriched his family and inner circle became a defining feature of what his government called the "New Order," a system that maintained stability through fear and patronage in roughly equal measure.
From Wikipedia
Suharto (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian general and politician who served as the second and longest-serving president of Indonesia from 1967 to 1998.
Suharto was born in Kemusuk, near the city of Yogyakarta, during the Dutch colonial era. He grew up in humble circumstances. His Javanese Muslim parents divorced not long after his birth, and he lived with foster parents for much of his childhood. During the Japanese occupation, Suharto served in the Japanese-organized Indonesian security forces. During Indonesia's independence struggle, he joined the newly formed Indonesian Army and rose to the rank of major general some time after full Indonesian independence was achieved. An attempted coup on 30 September and 1 October 1965 was countered by Suharto-led troops. The army subsequently led a nationwide violent anti-communist purge.
Further reading
- Power and Political Culture in Suharto's Indonesia
Examines how Megawati Sukarnoputri's transformation of the Indonesian Democratic Party into an opposition force ultimately triggered the collapse of Suharto's regime.
View on Amazon → - Suharto's Cold War
Explores Suharto's anti-communist crusade and how he leveraged international aid and investment to shape Cold War politics across Southeast Asia.
View on Amazon →
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