VII.

History

Homo erectus, an extinct human species, inhabited Indonesia as early as 1.8 million years ago. The oldest H. erectus specimens come from Mojokerto in central Java. Fossils excavated from Ngandong indicate that H. erectus may have lived on Java as recently as 53,000 to 27,000 years ago, possibly alongside early populations of modern humans (Homo sapiens). In 2004 the skeleton of an unusually small early human, estimated to be about 18,000 years old, was discovered on the island of Flores. Named Homo floresiensis, it stood only about 1 m (3.3 ft) tall and had a brain the size of a chimpanzee’s. Yet it was apparently intelligent enough to make simple stone tools. See Human Evolution.

Throughout history the peoples of Southeast Asia migrated extensively, giving the Indonesian archipelago a mix of more than 100 ethnicities and languages. Within this mix there has been a wide cultural gap between the coastal peoples, who probably developed irrigated wet-rice cultivation (sawah) about 2,000 years ago, and the inland peoples, who depended on shifting, slash-and-burn agriculture (ladang) until recently. The coastal regions probably developed sawah because irrigation was easier to develop near the coast and because the larger coastal populations made ladang difficult. Later, coastal peoples developed differently from inland peoples because the former were more exposed to outside influences. In time, three distinct types of Indonesian societies evolved. On the coast were the trade-oriented, deeply Islamic coastal peoples. Hindu-influenced, wet-rice cultivators developed further inland. Still further inland, typically in remote mountainous regions, were tribal groups who practiced shifting cultivation and indigenous religious beliefs.

Bronze was introduced to the archipelago in about 300 bc from northern Vietnam, Thailand, or China, and from that time on metalworking with bronze and iron was practiced. About the 1st century bc, many of the Indonesian people lived in political groups that were rarely larger than family-based tribal units. Cultural expressions like wayang theater, gamelan orchestra, and batik date from this time or earlier.

Trade between Indonesia and India’s Bay of Bengal most likely began in the 1st and 2nd century ad. Although most historians no longer believe earlier theories that Indians conquered parts of Indonesia or settled it extensively, Indian culture exerted a powerful influence on the states that developed in the archipelago. Direct communication with China probably began between the 3rd and 5th century, as Indonesia exported cloves, tree resins, and camphor. In the early 5th century Faxian, a Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, and the princely monk Gunavarman from Kashmīr each wrote of direct voyages between western Indonesia and China.

A.

Early Kingdoms

Rock inscriptions on Java dating from the 5th or 6th century tell of Taruma, an extensive Javanese kingdom that was centered near present-day Jakarta. The people of Taruma observed Hindu religious rites of India and promoted irrigation works. By the beginning of the 7th century Java was home to several important kingdoms, and a harbor-kingdom was also apparently well established on the southeastern coast of Sumatra. The kingdoms of this time fell into two main types of political units: the seafaring trading states along the coasts of Sumatra, northern Java, Borneo, Sulawesi, and some of the other eastern islands; and the rice-based inland kingdoms, particularly of eastern and central Java. The greatest maritime empire was Sri Vijaya, a Mahayana Buddhist kingdom on Sumatra’s southeast coast. In the late 7th century Sri Vijaya was a center of trade with India and China and for the next five centuries controlled much of China’s trade with the western archipelago. Little archaeological evidence of the Kingdom of Sri Vijaya remains on Sumatra.

In contrast, the Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms of central and eastern Java left extensive temples, buildings, and inscriptions. These monuments and artifacts show Indian culture had vast influence on the religion and state organizations of the Javan kingdoms. The central and eastern kingdoms relied on wet-rice agriculture and had a complex hierarchy headed by a god-king. Inscriptions reveal that under the Sanjaya family the Hindu kingdom of Mataram flourished on the Dieng Plateau in the early 8th century. In the second half of the 8th century a new Buddhist kingdom under the Sailendra dynasty developed in the nearby Kedu Plain; Mataram declined as the Sailendra kingdom rose. The Sailendras built the massive temple monument of Borobudur in the mid-9th century.

Also by the mid-9th century, rulers claiming descent from King Sanjaya (ruled 732-778) of central Java founded a new kingdom of Mataram, whose rule extended from central to eastern Java. In the early 10th century, for unknown reasons, the kingdom’s center shifted to the east, where Hindu influence on the state weakened. First under Sindok (ruled 929-947) and later under Airlangga (ruled 1019-1042), who united the eastern kingdom with Bali, Mataram became increasingly interested in overseas trade. A period of division followed, after which the new kingdom of Singosari was founded on Java in 1222. Its founder and first ruler was Angrok (ruled 1222-1227), a commoner. Under the Buddhist king Kertanagara (ruled 1268-1292), Singosari controlled many of the Sumatran areas formerly ruled by Sri Vijaya. Kertanagara’s successor, Vijaya (ruled 1293-1309), repelled a Mongol invasion of Java and in 1293 founded Majapahit, the greatest Javanese empire. Majapahit, under Hayam Wuruk, claimed sovereignty over much of what is now Indonesia and Singapore and parts of Malaysia.

B.

The Coming of Islam

Islam arrived via overseas merchants, initially from southern India and Gujarāt in western India. By the late 13th century the coastal states of northern Sumatra were beginning to accept the new religion; the first Muslim ruler in northern Sumatra was Sultan Malik al Saleh of Pasai. Islam spread slowly until the rise of the sultanate of Malacca (Melaka) on peninsular Malaysia’s western coast in the early 15th century. Malacca had become a major spot on the trade route between the Moluccas (Spice Islands) and Europe, which increasingly sought Moluccan spices. As a result, Malacca gained commercial and political power and also became the major center in Southeast Asia for the spread of Islam.

Malacca’s gain came at the expense of Majapahit. Merchants from Majapahit in northern Java traveled to Malacca to trade Javanese rice for Moluccan spices, and many merchants converted to Islam. They became important in Malacca’s population. Malaccan princes in turn became powerful from their trade connections and began exerting commercial and military pressure on Majapahit. By the early 16th century, Majapahit had virtually disappeared.

Meanwhile, Portuguese traders captured Malacca in 1511. The European intrusion changed the existing patterns of trade and led to the growth of several strong Muslim states, each competing with the others for trade routes in Indonesia. One of the most powerful of these states was Aceh in northern Sumatra. During the 16th century Aceh launched frequent attacks against Portuguese Malacca, either alone or with other local Muslim states. Under Sultan Iskandar Muda, Aceh controlled all of Sumatra’s pepper-trading ports except those in the extreme south, and its influence extended to parts of the Malay Peninsula. Another important trading state of the period was Makassar. Situated in southwestern Sulawesi, Makassar and its people converted to Islam in the early 17th century. Bantam, in western Java, was the Muslim successor to the Hindu kingdom of Sunda. Bantam controlled southern Sumatra and thus the vital Sunda Strait. In the late 16th century a new Muslim kingdom of Mataram arose in central Java and began to absorb many of Java’s maritime principalities.

C.

The Development of Dutch Influence

The Dutch East India Company (see East India Company: Dutch East India Company), founded in 1602, competed with the Portuguese and the English for the archipelago’s trade. The Dutch governor-general Jan Pieterszoon Coen arrived on Java in the early 17th century and established Batavia (now Jakarta) as the Dutch headquarters. Through direct force and alliances with native leaders, Coen tried to stop the interisland network of traders from engaging in international trade. In 1629 the Dutch clashed briefly with Mataram, then settled into a period of coexistence. The Dutch captured Malacca in 1641, but Malacca no longer had complete control of the spice trade to Europe. To gain a trade monopoly, the company allowed cloves to be grown only on the island of Ambon and nutmeg and mace to be grown only in the Banda Islands. The company destroyed the spice trees in other places. In 1678 Mataram was forced to cede the Priangan region of western Java to the Dutch company.

During the 18th century the Dutch East India Company introduced coffee and other new crops to Java. It also started a system of forced deliveries of crops that relied heavily on cooperation from agreeable Javanese aristocrats and from leaders of the growing local Chinese population, whose immigration the Dutch promoted. Dutch interference in Mataram’s affairs led to the kingdom’s division, in 1755, into the principalities of Surakarta and Yogyakarta. In the Moluccas, the Dutch extended their trading rights into political control. Elsewhere in the eastern islands, most local rulers retained their internal autonomy but were drawn into special relationships with the Dutch. Financial mismanagement and a decline in trade brought the East India Company to bankruptcy, however, and in 1799 it was dissolved. The Dutch government then assumed control of the company’s Indonesian possessions.

D.

The Consolidation of Dutch Control

Britain occupied Java briefly (1811-1816) during the Napoleonic Wars. Both the British and later the Dutch tried to centralize and reform Java’s administration. The Dutch wavered between opening the area to individual enterprise and reverting to a monopoly system. From 1825 to 1830 the Javanese prince Diponegoro led a guerrilla revolt against the Dutch. The wars, which left as many as 200,000 dead, cost the Dutch huge sums of money and they ultimately decided for a government monopoly. The Dutch annexed large areas of central Java and in 1830 introduced the Culture System, under which peasants had to devote part of their land (officially one-fifth, but usually far more) to cultivating government-designated export crops instead of rice. Extremely profitable for the Dutch, the system was blamed for widespread famine in parts of Java in the 1840s and 1850s.

As the Dutch penetrated Javanese society more deeply, they also expanded their control to other regions. By 1837 they had imposed their rule over parts of the Sumatran interior, and in 1858 they annexed the northeastern coastal principalities. Dutch rule beyond Java, however, was sometimes indirect.

In the mid-19th century Dutch liberals campaigned against the Culture System, and by the 1870s some of the system’s harshest aspects were removed. The new Liberal Policy gave farmers more freedom to grow crops they wanted. Oil, tin, and rubber later began to replace coffee, sugar, and tobacco as the main exports to Europe. These products came largely from outside Java, and the Dutch took control of the islands where they were produced. In the late 19th century the Dutch were engaged in a 30-year war with Aceh and Bali, which ended in 1908 in the former and 1909 in the latter. By this time, Sulawesi, the Moluccas, the Lesser Sunda Islands, and most of Borneo had also been brought under firmer Dutch control.

E.

The Growth of Nationalism

At the beginning of the 20th century the Dutch introduced the Ethical Policy, under which farming and limited health and educational services for Indonesians were developed. Railways, roads, and interisland shipping were also expanded. The policy helped create two new social elements: a few Western-educated Indonesians and a smaller group of Indonesian entrepreneurs, who began to compete with a predominantly Chinese commercial class. The newly educated and somewhat prosperous Indonesians grew resentful of the colonial structure that denied them a role commensurate with their education and abilities.

The first important vehicle for the anti-Dutch nationalist movement was the Sarekat Islam (Islamic Union), established in 1912. Growing out of a protective association for batik merchants, the Sarekat Islam by 1918 claimed a membership of more than 2 million people throughout the archipelago. The Dutch were initially conciliatory toward Sarekat Islam, and in 1916 they established the Volksraad (People’s Council). In the Volksraad, selected representatives of major population groups could deliberate and offer advice to the government. After World War I (1914-1918), however, and especially after an abortive Communist-led insurrection in 1926 and 1927, the Dutch government adopted a more repressive policy.

In the 1920s the Indonesian nationalist movement was headed by leaders who were not primarily Muslim, notably Sukarno, an advocate of complete independence who founded the Indonesian Nationalist Party (Partai Nasional Indonesia, or PNI) in 1927. Despite the Dutch arrests and exiles of Sukarno (1929-1931, 1933-1942), Muhammad Hatta (1934-1942), and other nationalist leaders and the banning of the PNI and other noncooperating parties, the nationalist movement maintained its momentum. Only after Germany overran The Netherlands during World War II (1939-1945), however, did the Dutch even hint at a postwar transfer of political authority.

F.

The Japanese Occupation

In 1942 the Japanese invaded and occupied Indonesia. Anxious to mobilize Indonesian support behind their regime, the Japanese gave Sukarno and his associates symbolic political freedom. The Japanese regime was repressive, however, because they had strategic concerns about Indonesian resources, particularly petroleum, and because they feared Allied counterattacks. They forced tens of thousands of people into conscripted labor and many did not survive.

In September 1943 the Japanese established militias in Java, Bali, and Sumatra, giving thousands of young men military training and forming the nucleus of the postwar independence army. In October 1944, in order to muster support against anticipated Allied attacks, the Japanese promised eventual Indonesian independence and subsequently offered limited self-government. Throughout most of the occupation, however, Japan’s harsh behavior and the growing economic hardships alienated Indonesians.

G.

The Postwar Struggle for Independence

On August 17, 1945, two days after Japan surrendered to the Allies, Sukarno and Hatta declared an independent Republic of Indonesia and were selected as its president and vice president. By the time British troops landed on the islands in late September, a functioning republican administration was already established in many parts of Java and Sumatra. The British withdrew in November 1946 and persuaded the Dutch and the young republic to sign the Linggajati Agreement, which recognized the authority of the republic in Java and Sumatra and specified plans for a federal Indonesia.

In July 1947, however, the Dutch launched attacks, claiming that Indonesians had violated the agreement. The attacks extended Dutch control to about two-thirds of Java and to many of the large estates and oil fields on Sumatra. Several members of the UN protested the Dutch attacks, prompting the creation of a UN Good Offices Commission. The commission oversaw the signing of the Renville Agreement between the two sides in 1948. The agreement recognized Dutch control of the areas it had taken in 1947 but promised those areas a vote to determine their future. Meanwhile, the Dutch had blockaded the republican territory, inflicting intense economic hardship and building support among Indonesians for fighting the Dutch instead of negotiating with them. The popular sentiment was one cause for a failed Communist-led uprising in September 1948 at Madiun against the republic’s leadership.

In December 1948 the Dutch defied a UN cease-fire and again attacked the republic. The republic’s capital, Yogyakarta, was captured and most of its top leaders, including Sukarno and Hatta, were arrested and exiled. The Dutch were initially successful, but guerrilla resistance and pressure from the international community gradually motivated the Dutch to accommodate the Indonesians. In 1949 at a conference in The Hague, The Netherlands agreed to transfer sovereignty over all of Indonesia, except West Irian (now Papua), to the federal Republic of the United States of Indonesia (RUSI) by the end of that year.

H.

The Sukarno Regime

In August 1950 the Unitary State of Indonesia replaced the RUSI. The government’s first task was to create a viable state from Indonesia’s many people and cultures; but it also had to quell sporadic uprisings of Muslim groups in West Java and Aceh as well as Dutch-led antirepublican movements in Sulawesi and the Moluccas. The nationwide elections of late 1955 gave none of parliament’s parties a majority, and only one party, the Masjumi, had a significant following outside Java. Both before and after the elections the government was criticized for being factional, corrupt, ineffective, and for maintaining few ties to the regions it was supposed to represent.

In 1956 President Sukarno called for reforming the party system and replacing liberal democracy with what he eventually called “Guided Democracy,” which would give the president wider government authority. It took Sukarno three years to implement Guided Democracy. In the meantime, the outer islanders grew increasingly resentful of the central government. They were especially upset over the small funding they received for economic development, despite contributing a large share of Indonesia’s export earnings. These and other factors prompted military coups on Sumatra and Sulawesi from December 1956 to March 1957, all of which were eventually put down. On February 15, 1958, army dissidents in Sumatra, supported by counterparts in Sulawesi and by several leaders of Masjumi, proclaimed the Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia. The rebels received covert aid from the United States and Taiwan but the forces of the central government soon defeated them. Guerrilla actions continued, however, until 1961.

In 1959, with his Guided Democracy in place, Sukarno pursued an active foreign policy. He demanded The Netherlands surrender West Irian (which, following a brief period of UN administration, was finally turned over to Indonesia in 1963), and he opposed the formation of the Federation of Malaysia. Domestically, the economic decline continued and both the army and the Communists (Partai Komunis Indonesia, or PKI) increased their power, with tension growing between the two groups.

I.

Suharto’s Rise to Power

The situation culminated in a coup attempt on September 30, 1965. Led by Lieutenant Colonel Untung of the palace guard, the usurpers brutally murdered six top generals before being suppressed by General Suharto, head of the army’s strategic command. Suharto took control of the army and increasingly the state; he eased Sukarno out of effective power by March 1966. Although the identity and motives of the coup’s instigators remain controversial, the army alleged the Communist PKI was responsible. In response, army units and many Muslim groups, particularly in the countryside, began massacring Communists and their supporters in late 1965. Between 300,000 to 1 million people were killed in the Communist crackdown. The PKI, essentially erased in the executions, was banned on March 13, 1966. The government also arrested hundreds of thousands of people accused of involvement in the coup attempt. Of those arrested, only about 800 received a trial.

I.1.

The New Order

Suharto instituted a “New Order” (Orde Baru) regime, which espoused a largely pro-Western policy. Indonesia ended confrontation with Malaysia and became a major promoter and participant in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which was founded in 1967. Suharto was officially inaugurated president in 1968. Elections were held in 1971, but they were tightly controlled by the government. The government-backed Golkar party secured most of the seats in the House of Representatives, as it would in each of the elections held at five-year intervals thereafter. Similarly, the People’s Consultative Assembly routinely returned Suharto to the presidency, unopposed, at five-year intervals.

In 1975 the state-owned oil enterprise, Pertamina, was unable to meet debt repayments amounting to $10.5 billion, and the crisis threatened Indonesia’s financial structure. Only by canceling projects, renegotiating loans, and receiving help from the United States and other Western governments did Indonesia salvage the situation. The rise in world oil prices helped Indonesia’s economic recovery. When oil prices stagnated in the early 1980s, Suharto shifted economic policy away from a reliance on oil exports. As part of the changes, he introduced greater openness (keterbukaan), promoting foreign investment in Indonesia and greater integration of Indonesia into the world economy. He also introduced reforms across a wide range of sectors to cut production costs and improve the competitiveness of Indonesia’s commodity exports. Although this policy brought about solid economic growth, the reforms did not reverse the nation’s growing economic and social inequalities, particularly among the rural Javanese. A large slice of Indonesia’s wealth came to be concentrated in the hands of the president’s family and their associates. The economic inequalities were exacerbated by the growth of the population, despite a relatively successful family-planning program in Java.

J.

Post-“New Order” Indonesia

Opposition to Suharto’s rule grew steadily in the late 1980s and early 1990s, although many Indonesians were afraid to express their views openly. Suharto’s most vocal opponents were Islamic radicals and university students alienated by the government’s corruption and human rights violations. In early 1978 widespread student demonstrations prompted the government to restrict activity on college campuses and freedom of the press. In the early 1990s many dissidents gave their support to Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of former president Sukarno. When she was deposed as chair of the Indonesian Democratic Party by political rivals in mid-1996, protesters rioted in Jakarta. Although Megawati did not have the support of a large part of the Indonesian population, she was the first figure in many years to pose a challenge to the incumbent president.

Ultimately, it was the economy that posed the greatest threat to Suharto’s rule. In mid-1997 an economic crisis developed when the value of Indonesia’s currency plummeted. The economic crisis was particularly acute for Indonesia’s urban middle class and the poor, as the cost of basic goods and services skyrocketed. In early 1998 riots broke out in several Indonesian cities, and in March, after Suharto was reelected unopposed for a seventh term, students staged protests on university campuses across the country. In May peaceful protests as well as violent riots escalated, and government troops killed hundreds in an attempt to contain the chaos. The growing unrest prompted Suharto to resign on May 21, and his handpicked vice president, Baharuddin Jusuf (“B. J.”) Habibie, assumed the presidency.

In his brief term in office, President Habibie introduced processes of reform (reformasi) and tentatively set about dismantling some of the most repressive measures put in place by Suharto. Provinces were given greater control over their finances. Some of the economic privileges given to the former president’s family were revoked, but Habibie avoided any direct confrontation with Suharto, his mentor since his youth. Habibie’s popular support, which was never very strong, eroded rapidly during his term as president as a result of his failure to deal rigorously with Suharto’s legacy, as well as his involvement in a bank fund misappropriation scandal.

Indonesia held elections for the 500-seat House of Representatives in June 1999. The large number of small parties, many of which disputed the vote-counting process, delayed the declaration of results. Megawati’s new Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) received the largest number of votes (33.7 percent), but it did not gain a majority, winning only 153 seats. Golkar, which had dominated previous elections under Suharto, followed with 22.4 percent, followed by the National Awakening Party (12.6 percent), the PPP (10.7 percent), and the National Mandate Party (7.1 percent). When the People’s Consultative Assembly convened in October to choose the next president, it unexpectedly elected Abdurrahman Wahid of the National Awakening Party. For vice president it elected Megawati Sukarnoputri. A Muslim cleric, Wahid enjoyed a large and devoted following as head the Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia’s largest Islamic organization with about 40 million members. Although neither leader had any previous experience in government, the pairing satisfied the widespread need felt in Indonesia for political change. The new administration faced many problems, including a need to reform governance and administration, remove the Suharto legacy of inefficiency and corruption, and address the continuing economic problems of the country.

In mid-2000, however, Wahid became implicated in two multimillion-dollar corruption scandals. Although an investigative inquiry did not prove Wahid was directly or indirectly involved in the high-level graft, the scandals intensified criticisms of the president’s inattention to the country’s severe social and economic problems. In February 2001 and again in April, the House of Representatives delivered censures against Wahid alleging corruption and incompetence. Wahid rejected the allegations as baseless and ignored calls for his resignation. The legislature then voted to begin impeachment proceedings against Wahid in August. The political crisis came to a head in late July, when Wahid issued an emergency decree to suspend the legislature in an attempt to hold onto power. Police and military officials refused to obey his decree, however, and on July 23 the People’s Consultative Assembly convened in an emergency session and voted to remove Wahid from office. Vice President Megawati was chosen to replace him as president.

In October 2002 a bomb attack in a nightclub district in Bali killed nearly 200 people, mostly tourists. Another bomb exploded near the United States consulate in Sanur, Bali, without causing any injury. The bombings were the latest in a string of church bombings, planned attacks against U.S. embassies, and assassination attempts against President Megawati that were attributed to Jemaah Islamiyah, a militant fundamentalist Islamic movement. The Indonesia-based group was known to have links to the al-Qaeda international terrorist network founded by Osama bin Laden. The Indonesian government responded to the Bali bombings by granting the police wide powers to pursue alleged terrorists.

Constitutional amendments that went into effect in 2004 provided for the creation of a new chamber in Indonesia’s legislature and for the country’s first direct presidential elections. Legislative elections to both chambers in the legislature were held in April. Golkar won 21.6 percent of the vote, giving it more seats than any other party but not an outright majority. Megawati’s PDI-P won 18.5 percent, making it the second largest party.

The top five political parties fielded candidates in Indonesia’s first direct presidential election, held in July 2004. The candidate of the newly formed Democratic Party, retired army general and former security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, came in first place but failed to win a majority of the vote. A runoff election was scheduled for September between Yudhoyono and Megawati, who came in second place. Megawati narrowly beat Golkar’s candidate, General Wiranto. Golkar subsequently endorsed Megawati as part of an agreement to form a coalition government with the PDI-P if Megawati won the runoff election. However, Yudhoyono won the election with 61 percent of the vote. He promised to take immediate steps to stimulate Indonesia’s sluggish economy and to lead a new drive against corruption.

K.

Tsunami Disaster of 2004

On December 26, 2004, the world’s most powerful earthquake in 40 years struck deep under the Indian Ocean. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake was centered off the northwestern coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It triggered a tsunami (massive waves), which spread across the Indian Ocean and crashed into the coasts of 14 countries from Southeast Asia to northeastern Africa. Giant, killer waves hit northern Sumatra just 15 minutes after the quake. The island was the hardest-hit location due to its proximity to the quake’s epicenter, located about 150 km (about 90 mi) from the coastal town of Meulaboh. Most of the island’s damage was concentrated in the northern province of Aceh, and the provincial capital of Banda Aceh was almost completely leveled. Due to the absence of a tsunami early warning system in the Indian Ocean, coastal communities in the region were not forewarned of the impending disaster.

The tsunami was the deadliest in recorded history. The International Committee of the Red Cross reported a death toll of more than 250,000 people as a result of the tsunami and the earthquake. Indonesia suffered the largest loss of life of the stricken countries, accounting for about two-thirds of the total deaths. High death tolls were also reported in Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand.

The tsunami demolished many coastal communities throughout the Indian Ocean region, wiping out homes, roads, and power and phone lines. Millions of survivors were left in desperate need of food, water, shelter, and medical care. A number of countries and international humanitarian organizations coordinated efforts to respond with one of the largest relief efforts in modern history. In Sumatra the difficulty in reaching isolated coastal areas impeded international rescue and relief efforts. The international response to the disaster included pledges from governments around the world of more than $3 billion for humanitarian relief and long-term reconstruction in the affected countries. In early January the Indonesian capital of Jakarta hosted a summit of donors, sponsored by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, to discuss the disbursement of aid and other issues, such as the creation of an advance warning system for tsunamis in the Indian Ocean region.

L.

Conflict in the Regions

L.1.

East Timor

Meanwhile, many of the country’s regions were embroiled in ethnic, religious, and political upheaval. The first major challenge during Wahid’s truncated tenure was a popular movement for secession in East Timor, located in the southeastern part of the Indonesian archipelago. In 1975, when Portugal withdrew from its colony of East Timor, the Frente Revolucionária do Timor Leste Independente (Fretilin), a leftist group that had sought independence, promptly declared independence. Indonesia responded by invading East Timor shortly thereafter. Portugal and the UN condemned Indonesia’s invasion, but Indonesia later annexed the area as a province.

Many Timorese died during the annexation and during a famine that resulted from a forced resettlement program in the late 1970s. However, many Timorese continued to seek self-determination for the region, and armed guerrilla groups operated from bases in the highlands of Timor. Xanana Gusmão led the armed resistance movement in East Timor until his arrest by Indonesian forces in 1992. In 1996 two Timorese dissidents, Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo and José Ramos-Horta, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their nonviolent efforts to resolve the conflict.

At the urging of the Timorese and their supporters within the international community, in early 1999 President Habibie agreed to allow the East Timorese to vote on whether East Timor should become independent or an autonomous region within Indonesia. In May, Indonesia and Portugal, which had never recognized Indonesia’s annexation of East Timor, signed an accord detailing the autonomy measure for East Timor. The vote was held in August 1999, and the East Timorese voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence.

Backed by the Indonesian military, Timorese militia groups that had opposed autonomy reacted violently to the outcome of the vote. The militia went on a rampage throughout East Timor, destroying much of the infrastructure, murdering pro-independence supporters, and forcing large numbers of East Timorese to flee. After weeks of bloodshed, a UN peacekeeping mission intervened to stabilize the region. The UN administered East Timor until the territory gained full independence in May 2002, with Gusmão as president. The Indonesian military has come under governmental and UN scrutiny for its involvement in atrocities committed in East Timor.

Ever since the Republic of Indonesia was formed in 1945, the Indonesian government has struggled to prevent secessionist movements from splitting apart the nation. The demise of the authoritarian Suharto administration and the example of East Timor have encouraged independence groups in other parts of Indonesia to increase their demands.

L.2.

Aceh

Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra, was an independent sultanate until late in the 19th century, when it was conquered by the Dutch after decades of fierce fighting. After Indonesia declared independence, Aceh became an Indonesian province. A staunchly Muslim region, Aceh had a strong sense of identity and quickly became disillusioned with Indonesia’s leadership during the 1950s. The Darul Islam movement, which sought an independent Islamic state, was strongly supported in Aceh in this period. The Indonesian government gave Aceh a distinct status as a “special region” in 1959. The Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM; Free Aceh Movement), also known as the National Liberation Front Aceh Sumatra, spearheaded the Acehnese independence movement, beginning in the late 1970s. From 1976 to 2005, when a peace agreement was reached, an estimated 15,000 people were killed in the fighting.

Soon after becoming president, Habibie sought to reduce the military’s presence in Aceh. Beginning in August 1998, hundreds of government troops withdrew from the region. However, this did not placate the Acehnese, who continued to press for independence. The resolution of the conflict in Aceh became one of the key concerns of the Wahid government. Peace talks that began in June 2000 failed to prevent the conflict from escalating, however, and clashes between government troops and Acehnese secessionists continued through most of that year. In December 2002 the Indonesian government and GAM secessionist leaders signed a peace agreement that provided for an immediate cease-fire in Aceh. Under the terms of the peace deal, designated “peace zones” would be demilitarized by both sides, GAM would fully disarm, and Aceh would have autonomy and free elections. The agreement failed to address GAM’s ultimate goal of Acehnese independence, however, and it broke down during the disarmament phase.

In May 2003 the government imposed martial law in Aceh following the collapse of last-minute talks to salvage the peace agreement. The Indonesian military immediately launched a major offensive against GAM forces in Aceh in an attempt to end the secessionist movement there. In May 2004 the Indonesian government downgraded the military law it had imposed to a state of emergency, thereby returning control of Aceh to a civilian governor. However, the government planned to continue security operations in Aceh, where the rebels remained an active fighting force.

The December 2004 tsunami brought such widespread suffering to Aceh that the GAM and the government agreed to resume negotiations. In talks held in Finland the two sides reached an accord in August 2005. Under the agreement, the GAM agreed to surrender its weapons, disband its military wing, and drop its demand for independence. The government agreed to withdraw half its garrison from Aceh and to give the region limited self-government and control over much of the area’s oil and natural gas resources. In December 2005 the GAM decommissioned its weapons, and the government withdrew about 24,000 troops.

The peace process culminated in Aceh’s first direct elections for provincial leaders in December 2006. Voters went to the polls to choose a new governor and deputy governor, who previously had been appointed by the central government. Irwandi Yusuf, a former GAM spokesperson who had played a key role in the 2005 peace talks, won the largest share of the vote in a field of eight candidates for governor. His running mate for deputy governor, Mohammad Nazar, also won the election. They were sworn into office in February 2007.

L.3.

Papua

Regional conflicts simmer in other parts of the archipelago, prompting further concerns about national unity. In Papua (formerly Irian Jaya), the easternmost province, the separatist group Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM; Free Papua Movement) has been fighting for independence since the 1960s. A special autonomy package for the province, approved by the Megawati government, took effect in January 2002. Under the measures, the province has much greater control of its own affairs—excluding only defense, foreign affairs, monetary affairs, the police, and the courts—and retains most of the revenues generated from its natural resources. The province was also allowed to change its name from Irian Jaya to the locally preferred Papua. Some Papuans, including the OPM, continued to demand nothing less than an independence referendum, however.

L.4.

Moluccas

In other parts of Indonesia conflicts continue to emerge within communities. In the mid- and late 1990s sporadic violence between Muslims and Christians occurred throughout West Java, Ambon, and other parts of the Moluccas. Social conflicts led to the internal displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in the island chain. By some estimates, three years of sectarian fighting had resulted in as many as 5,000 deaths and 750,000 refugees in the Moluccas. In 2002 representatives of Muslim and Christian factions signed a peace agreement intended to end the fighting.

L.5.

Kalimantan

Kalimantan (the Indonesian section of Borneo) has been the scene of especially violent and recurring ethnic violence in recent years. The indigenous Dayak people have long resented the influx of Madurese who migrated to Kalimantan as a result of the government’s transmigration policies. Until the transmigration program was suspended in 2000, these policies provided incentives for Indonesians to relocate from populous areas to less developed lands. Violent conflicts in Kalimantan in 1997 and 1999 caused the deaths and displacement of thousands of Madurese. Brutal attacks against Madurese again occurred in early 2001, causing hundreds of deaths and leading the government to evacuate thousands of Madurese from the island. Indonesia’s social and regional conflicts, in addition to the nation’s economic problems, are the major issues confronting the post-Suharto governments of Indonesia.