Essay, Research Paper
Preliminary Stage of Indonesia’s revolution began early this in the 20th century while they were still under
Dutch rule. Indonesian independence movements began and expanded rapidly, particularly between the
two World Wars. Its leaders came from a small group of young professionals and students, some of whom
had been educated in the Netherlands. This group can be paralleled to the intellectuals of the Fench
revolution who criticized the monarchy. The Dutch rule can be related to the rule of Louis XVI over France.
The French people had little power, and the Indonesian people also had little power. The First Stage of the
revolution began when the Dutch surrendered to Germany. Shortly after, Japan rapidly took control of
Indonesia, and the Dutch were incapable of doing anything. All the while, the Indonesian Independence
group was growing. Hubertus Van Mook was the Dutch head of government. He can be classified as an
“inept ruler” because he was unable to complete negotiations with Japan as he secretly begged the U.S. and
Britain for defense. Louis XVI was also an inept ruler because of his inablitiy to listen to the needs of the
people. In 1945, Sukarno, a leader of the Indonesian Independence movement, described Pancasila. This
outlined the principals by which the new Indonesia should be governed. Pancasila is similar to the
Declaration of the Right of Man that the National Assembly established in the French revolution. Later in
1945, Japan handed over control to the Indonesian nationalists. Sukarno, who can be classified as a
‘moderate’, was elected president. The Dutch attempted to hold control over Indonesia, but eventually gave
in, which was like when Louis XVI gave in to the limited monarchy proposed by the National Assembly. He
ruled for 10 years imposing a “Guided Democracy.” This is the honeymoon period that also occured during
the short time after the Legislative Assembly was formed in France. The Crisis Stage began after this point.
There was a coup attempt in which government and military officials killled six senior generals. The
coup plotters were executed within days, but unrest remained in Indonesia. Violence swept throught he
country, where extreme rightists killed tens of thousands of alleged communists that. The Reign of Terror
during the French Revolution is very similar to this. In the aftermath of this crisis, Sukarno attempted to
restore his power, but was forced to turn control over to General Suharto. He can be considered a radical
because of the drastic changes he made. In 1967, he was named acting president, much like the radical
leader Robespierre took control of France. Suharto procalaimed a “New Order” and dramatically shifted
foreign and domestic policies away from the course set in Sukarno’s final years. He concentrated on
economic rehabilitation and an administrative structure based on military. He transfrered power from the
legislature and cabinet to a small, military cadre. This is not unlike the Comitee of Public Safety that
Robespierre headed: a small group in which much of the government’s power was placed. The Crisis Stage
of Indonesia’s revolution lasted for thirty years while Suharto ruled. Like the radicals in the French
revolution, Suharto had effectively prohibited all political criticism, protests, and opposition activity
towards the end of his rule. Like the French radicals trying to wipe out any uprising from the past
monarchy, Suharto placed bans on Sukarno’s daughter, a rising political power, that prevented her from
attending any public events.
In 1998, more than one thousand Indonesians died in rioting that was in protest of Suharto.
Finally, after thirty years, Suharto resigned, and power was given to his successor, B.J. Habibie. This
signalled the beginning of the Recovery Stage. This parallels the downfall of Robespierre when his
countrymen finally turned against him to have him executed. Although Habibie was Suharto’s succesor, he
distanced himself from “New Order” regime. He assembled a cabinet with a strong economic team, released
a number of prominent political dissidents, and lifted controls on the press, political parties, and labor
unions. He also pledged to rewrite political laws and hold elections. This is similar to the drafting of the
Directory at the beginning of the Recovery Stage of the French Revolution. Indonesia is currently in the
recovery stage and slowly regaining political, economic, and social stability.