30 September Movement assassinated Indonesian army generals - October 1, 1965

On this day in 1965, a group of Indonesian National Armed Forces members calling themselves the 30 September Movement assassinated six high-ranking Indonesian army generals. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Stay in History Class. It's a production of I
Heart Radio. Welcome to this Day in History Class, where
we bring you a new tidbit from history every day.
Today is October one, nineteen. The day was October one, nineteen.

(00:28):
A group of Indonesian National Armed Forces members killed six
high ranking Indonesian Army generals in a field coup in Jakarta.
The army linked the assassinations to the Indonesian Communist Party,
and for the next several weeks, the military detained and
killed hundreds of thousands of communists, alleged communists, and their sympathizers.

(00:52):
The coup led to Indonesia's first President, Sukarno being put
on house arrest in General Suharto being appointed to the presidency.
President Sukardina had begun promoting the system of guided democracy
since he believed parliamentary democracy was ineffective in Indonesia. As

(01:12):
he began implementing a form of socialist populism, he attempted
to balance relations with the military, communists, and religious groups.
He supported the Indonesian Communist Party and the army, which
was largely anti communist, though many in the military did
support communism. Land reforms which the Communist Party pressured Sucardineau

(01:34):
to implement were a major source of tension between the party,
Muslim religious leaders, and the people who controlled the land.
As the Indonesian Communist Party gained more influence, seeds of
doubt grew among army members who were suspicious of the
party's intentions and religious groups who were unsure of the
party's views. Sukarine became more anti imperialist and champion econom

(02:00):
make independence for Indonesia, but the economy declined due to
a lack of effective policy. Western nations encouraged anti communist
efforts against the Indonesian Communist Party, Sucardino and the left.
In nineteen sixty five, the Indonesian Communist Party had three
million members and was the third largest communist party in

(02:21):
the world, but by this time there were rumors that
senior army generals were planning a coup against Sukarno. In
the early morning hours of October one, thirtieth September Movement
kidnapped and murdered six of Indonesia's top military generals. The
movement members announced over the radio that they had seized

(02:42):
power to protect the president and prevent a military coup.
The leader of the movement, Lieutenant Colonel Untun, told listeners
that the president was safe, that generals had been arrested,
and that there was about to be a new revolutionary government.
But the coup was crushed quickly. The army claimed that
the Communist Party was responsible for the coup attempt. At

(03:04):
the time, there was not much evidence that the party
had any involvement in the action against the military, but
General Suharto, commander of the Army Strategic Reserve, capitalized on
anti communist sentiment and quickly launched propagandistic attacks against communists.
He shut down a communist and left his publications, while

(03:25):
pro army publications flourished. The pro army press circulated stories
that the murdered generals had been tortured and mutilated. Through
this campaign, the army inflamed anti communist feelings and convinced
people that the party was complicit in a huge conspiracy.
The military took the opportunity to eliminate the political power

(03:46):
of communism in Indonesia, which it perceived as a threat.
The army, police and civilian militias imprisoned and killed communists
and their supporters in Jakarta, Central and East Java and
ball as well as parts of other islands. The death
toll has been estimated at at least half a million people.

(04:07):
It was later discovered that some leaders in the Indonesian
Communist Party did play a role in planning the coup,
but most people in the party did not know about it.
There are many conspiracy theories around exactly who planned the
thirty of September movement and what its goal was. The
Communist Party was banned in Indonesia in nineteen sixty five
and has been ever since, along with any public discussion

(04:31):
of the massacre. The military dictatorship that soon took over,
led by Suharto, rolled Indonesia until night. With Western support.
Indonesia became pro Western and the downfall of communism in
Indonesia benefited capitalist countries. I'm Eve Deaf Code and hopefully
you know a little more about history today than you

(04:53):
did yesterday. If there are any upcoming days in history
that you'd really like me to cover on the show,
give a the shout on social media at t d
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(05:13):
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