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if you think of an authoritarian
despot you're probably picturing some
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decisive charismatic and ruthless leaders someone
who addresses the masses in a commanding booming
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voice basking in the glow of a cult of personality
today's protagonist doesn't fill that description
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not at all he remained a background character
a fence sitter for much of his life and
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even when he rose to power he never projected a
menacing aura in fact he wished to be remembered
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as the smiling general but don't let an
unassuming smile fool you mr saharto was
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a cunning and manipulative ruler capable of
swift violent action when times called for
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it this is the story of how ceharto rose
to power in indonesia during one of the
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worst massacres of the 20th century and how he
maintained power while bleeding the country dry
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sahada was born on the 8th of june 1921 in
kamusu agyamuya near yogi yakata so sorry
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about pronunciation this is in the island of
java modern day indonesia but at the time it
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was part of the dutch east indies he was named
just sahato as is common for many indonesians
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regarding his family well there's not much we can
say with certainty according to the man himself
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his parents were poor peasants rumors speculated
that he was the legitimate son of a chinese
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businessman while sources close to military
intelligence claimed that his parents
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were of aristocratic stock more realistically his
father may have been a village irrigation official
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so not a poor peasant but certainly not an
aristocrat either regardless of his origins
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sardo's family could certainly not splash the
cash in fact he once had to drop out of school
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because he couldn't afford the required uniform
the young sahato had more clothing malfunctions
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after graduating high school he had secured
a job as a bank clerk but after his suit got
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torn in a bicycle accident he had to quit the
job there was one employer which could provide
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the right attire at any time though the military
as a means to elevate his social standing sahato
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joined the dutch colonial forces when the imperial
japanese navy invaded indonesia in 1942 the young
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soldier promptly switched uniforms he joined
a japanese-sponsored militia where he trained
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as an officer sure the japanese were invaders
but they were not as hated as the retreating
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dutch colonial overlords in fact when the japanese
surrendered in august 1945 zahaso joined the newly
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formed indonesian army fighting for independence
against the returning dutch occupation forces
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this new force was led by generals ahmed sakhano
and muhammad hatha inspired by nationalist and
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anti-colonialist ideology the two officers
also relied on the support of communist
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and islamic factions the fragile balance between
these three forces nationalism communism religion
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would be a staple of indonesian
politics for many years to come
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all right so let's get back to the fight for
independence dutch forces had landed in sumatra
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and java making considerable territorial
gains the indonesian forces were armed with
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equipment left over by the japanese but the
lack of heavy weaponry meant that they had
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to resort to guerrilla tactics the uniformed
army also lacked trained officers which may
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explain why sahato was promoted to the rank of
lieutenant colonel at the young age of just 24
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and he was in for more promotions in 1948 sahara
was given command of a brigade stationed around
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yogyakarta he had the chance to prove his
worth on the 19th of december when dutch
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forces attacked by surprise well he couldn't
really prove much as his entire brigade
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happened to be outside of the city the dutch
captured yogyakarta without firing a shot a
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serious setback for the anti-colonial forces
in march of 1949 sahato led a counter-attack to
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retake the lost positions this action was later
immortalized in the epic 979 film janukooning
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but in reality there wasn't really much to be epic
about the attack was repulsed after six hours and
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it didn't really do much damage to the enemy
nonetheless the struggle for freedom had
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continued with more success elsewhere by 1949 the
anti-guerrilla campaign was proving too costly to
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the dutch government moreover the international
community didn't support this colonial cause
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devastated by the german occupation in world
war ii the netherlands badly needed financial
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aid from the u.s which came with a condition leave
indonesia alone in december of 1949 the republic
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of indonesia was granted independence with socano
as president and hatta as prime minister saharto
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had received a further promotion to colonel over
the following years he remained in the background
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as an unremarkable figure which nonetheless
rose steadily through the ranks in 1959 he
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was appointed major general in command of the
central java military district this appointment
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was short-lived though as his superiors removed
him on allegations of accepting bribes and yet he
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managed to regain his position shortly afterwards
and continue on with his career by 1963 the
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general had become head of the army strategic
command a rapid reaction force based in the
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capital city of jakarta tasked with responding to
national emergencies it was a prestigious posting
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but sahato could do a bit better and
he did two years later the ambitious
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officer reported directly to general yani the
commander-in-chief of the army whenever daddy
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was traveling ill or otherwise incapacitated
sahato would take his role in the interim it
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all seemed set for sahato to take over during
an emergency one that would very soon come along
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but before we get there let me give you some
background on how tensions were building in
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the country in 1959 president secano implemented
an authoritarian system called guided democracy
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which allowed him to exert large influence over
the parliament his agenda during guided democracy
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was based on three points first a shift towards
socialist and populist reforms a continuation
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of the anti-dutch revolution second a strong
anti-colonialist stance in foreign affairs matters
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third economic self-reliance and nationalization
of foreign assets however poor implementation
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of agricultural reforms and economic policies
resulted in low production levels compared with
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inflation this in turn contributed to social
unrest and the growing popularity of the pki
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the indonesian communist party by 1965 the
pki claimed to have 3.5 million members it
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could also rely on 23.5 million members in
affiliated organizations trade unions and
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youth movements for example this made the pki the
largest communist party outside of the ussr and
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china while many officers supported the pki the
army saw its growing popularity with suspicion of
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fearing a communist takeover of the country
they started to meet with religious leaders
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forging a preemptive alliance amidst the backroom
maneuvering zahato sat firmly on the fence then in
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the latter half of 1965 rumors reached socano's
inner circle that a group of leftist officers
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were planning a coup in the early hours of october
the first 1965 things came to a head an armed
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group called the 30th of a september movement
kidnapped six of the highest ranking generals
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and one lieutenant the seven officers
were then executed and dumped into a well
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in east jakarta this violent action caused
the death of an eighth innocent victim
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the six-year-old daughter of general association
the movement's leader lieutenant colonel and tung
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of the presidential guard ordered the seizure
of the state broadcasting service from there
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the insurgents proclaimed a new revolutionary
government but who was behind this coup according
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to professor john russa from the university
of british columbia some top leaders of the
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pki had played a role in the plot but most party
cardras were unaware of the plans the pki's youth
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organization had also been trained for military
action but were left on standby without orders and
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they had no idea that they would go after the army
rusa also noted how two of the conspirators were
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good friends of sahato one of them colonel latif
later declared in court that zahato was aware of
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their plot to kill the officers all in all at
least part of the pki was behind the plot tarto
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was aware of it but he did nothing to prevent it
it was only a few hours after the assassinations
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that zahato finally decided to jump off his fence
and take advantage of his emergency powers just
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00:09:42
one of the murdered officers was general yanni
with him gone zahato was formally in command
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of the army he quickly stepped into the phrase
swiftly repressing the 30th of september movement
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and controlling the narrative of the events he and
other top officers inflamed public opinion against
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the pki squarely blaming the assassinations and
the attempted coup on the entire organization it
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supporters and according to documents declassified
by the us government the cia supported zohato and
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his propaganda efforts by supplying communications
equipment but despite the propaganda and pressure
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from the generals socano refused to ban the pki
this was all the motivation that zahato needed
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to initiate a violent purge against the party
his first action was to dispatch the rp kad the
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paratrooper commando units to central java
and bali here communist party leaders party
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members or just suspected sympathizers were
rounded up and slayed on mass the massacres
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soon spread throughout the entire archipelago
often the killings were perpetrated directly by
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the regular armed forces they were mostly busy
and purging those units who had sided with kpi
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the presidential guard two divisions in central
java and much of the air force when it came to
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civilians the military preferred to arm and
train militia units and allow the militias to
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carry out the dirty work these militias
were recruited mainly amongst the ansar the
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youth wing of the islamic national organization
llama or nu the enu was already anti-communist
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but to further motivate them army officers
circulated the news that pkl activists held
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hit lists of islamic leaders from the perspective
of the ansar it was a case of kill or be killed
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the answer was not alone the army mobilized now
members of the catholic and nationalist parties
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most of these militias operated in rural areas
an armed band would target a village suspected
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of supporting the pki they would surround it seize
party members and sympathizers and detain them in
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temporary detention centers where prisoners
were tortured and interrogated what happened
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next is best described by a chilling declassified
cable sent by edwardi masters political affairs
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councillor at the u.s embassy in jakarta on the
30th of november 965 he wrote repression of the
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phi continued with the main problem that's of
what to feed and where to house the prisoners
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many provinces appear to be successfully meeting
the problem by executing their pki prisoners or
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killing them before they are captured prisoners
were marched into the forests for the final act
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they were shot stabbed beaten to death and
their bodies dumped into mass graves in many
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cases bodies were thrown into rivers or left to
rot in the streets to further terrorize local
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populations militias took to mutilating corpses
and leaving their heads and genitals in full view
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the purges continued into 1966 while
no documents have proven that zahato
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directly ordered the killings he was at the
top of the chain of command and directed the
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actions of the paratroopers and the training of
the militias professor russa guesses that zahato
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must have at least approved of the massacres
according to professor brad simpson university
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of connecticut the extermination of the pki
propelled his career even further socano
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far from doing anything concrete to stop
the bloodshed confirmed sahato's status
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as commander-in-chief and on the 11th of march
1966 the president signed the supersema decree
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which bestowed sahato with full powers to
guarantee security calm and stability in the
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country the general interpreted this decree to his
advantage arresting 15 ministers and dismissing
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the rest of the cabinet by march 12th zahato was
the de facto head of the indonesian government
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with cicada still in place as nominal president
in march 1967 the people's consultive assembly
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appointed sahato acting president the consolation
of his power became complete exactly one year
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later in march of 1968 the assembly elected
zahato was president with full powers for the
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first of many five-year terms the low-profile
general until now a power in the shadows
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had risen to full power sailing unscathed amidst
a tempest bloodshed he and a circle of officers
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had instigated it's still difficult to estimate
the toll that this purge exacted on the indonesian
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people due to a lack of reliable records estimates
of mass murders range from a hundred thousand to
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two million victims historian robert krib
suggests that half a million dead could be
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an accurate figure in addition to those slain
almost three-quarters of a million indonesians
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were imprisoned with sentences ranging from one to
thirty years many high-ranking members of the pki
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were sentenced to death while most members were
sentenced to hard labor members of the gewani the
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movement of conscious indonesian women were also
subjected to sexual abuse and rape while in jail
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in march 1966 sahato began implementing a series
of policies which he called oda bahru or new
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order the first policy shift was to deeper to
size indonesian society sahato created a system
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by which citizens were organized in hundreds
of functional groups one for peasants one for
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civil servants one for business owners and so on
the tactic was designed to prevent the formation
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of trade unions and to ensure capillary control
of the population these groups were coordinated
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by the organization galongankaya or golkar for
short which became the predominant political party
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sato also ensured that the military fulfilled
a dual function both as a defense organization
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and as a political force becoming the actual
rulers of the country then sahato restored ties
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with the west and put an end to a costly military
confrontation with malaysia initiated by socano
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in january of 1963. finally sarato realized
that a stable rule required improving living
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standards for indonesians to boost the economy
he did a u-turn on socano's policies no more
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talk of self-reliance on nationalization the new
ruler welcomed with open arms foreign investments
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especially in the oil sector and if ungrateful oil
workers dared to form unions and kick up a stink
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no problem sarto's soldiers would intervene
to preserve a harmonious working environment
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another pillar of sahato's stability was the
massive growth of the public sector by the
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early 1970s about 1.5 million indonesians were
employed by the state the number tripled over
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the next three decades civil servants not only
enjoyed a steady salary they were also provided
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a chance to boost revenue with some bribery on the
side this system guaranteed zahadu and golkara a
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steady base of voters at every election in the
late 1970s sahato also sought to build a more
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benevolent image for himself to the outside world
who largely saw him as a despot he opened the
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country to foreign investment and had to bow to
certain international pressure at least partially
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i wanted him to dial down the authoritarianism
you know just a tad and he did this he released
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tens of thousands of political prisoners but this
is not to say that the smiling general renounced
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his old ways the army was always ready to react
with swift brutality against real or perceived
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threats especially against those movements
who threatened the integrity of the nation
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for example the local population in papua was kept
in a state of constant violent counter-insurgency
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by the armed forces this happened all the
way from the late 60s to 1998. yet during
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the late 1960s and early 1970s indonesia under
sahato's new order appeared like a success story
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sato's rule was definitely authoritarian yet
he was clever enough to always operate within
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constitutional boundaries the new president
had successfully restored order to the country
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although we may argue that he and his faction
were largely responsible for the initial state
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of disorder indonesia had also become a key
player in the game of chess that was the cold war
00:17:02
before socano could drift toward the communist
bloc zahato had yanked the country in the opposite
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direction under his authority jakarta became one
of the founding members of the association of
00:17:12
southeast asian nations or asian the equivalent of
nato for the region but his greatest achievement
00:17:17
was to restore economic growth under the new
order every year the local economy grew 6.6
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on average living standards improved in general
although the public sector the military and urban
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elites benefited more than other classes this
growth was driven by foreign investments and
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especially by the mass export of indonesia's vast
natural resources mainly oil and timber revenues
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from these sales were reinvested by the government
into the expansion of urban and suburban areas
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as well as literacy programs and family planning
initiatives but this expansion had a rotten core
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sahato and his cabinet failed to reinvest into the
development of state infrastructure and into the
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local manufacturing sector worse than that much
of the income from oil and timber disappeared into
00:17:56
the deep pockets of sahato his allies and his
six children an example of this mismanagement
00:18:02
is the state-owned oil company pertamina compared
to the malaysian equivalent patronus this company
00:18:07
had access to much larger oil reserves and yet it
consistently unperformed compared to its neighbor
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in theory pertamina could have been a cash cow
in practice it was only milked by sahara's family
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now cracks in the international facade began to
form in the mid-1970s most population was pretty
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fed up with the corruption and collusion and
the nepotism that was rampant in sahato's circle
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students were especially disillusioned
with the inflow of foreign investments and
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how they were essentially just funneled straight
into sahato's wallet on january the 15th of 1974
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japanese prime minister kakoe tanaka was
in jakarta for an official visit it was the
00:18:50
perfect occasion for thousands of students to
stage massive protests and thus embarrass the
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authoritarian leader the protests degenerated into
12 hours of riots with fires blazing throughout
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jakarta these became known as the malari rods
sato reacted with a signature mix of the carrot
00:19:06
and the stick first he had 12 newspapers
shut down and its journalists imprisoned
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without a draw the remaining publications
began applying a form of self-censorship which
00:19:15
effectively curbed any dissenting voice but then
he complied with some of the protesters requests
00:19:20
the government enacted restrictive measures on
foreign investments favoring the development of
00:19:25
local businesses the next crisis took place in
november of 1975. the east now for the island
00:19:30
of timur until then a portuguese colony declared
independence the independent east timor was led by
00:19:36
the left-leaning party teflon and sahato could
not tolerate a communist threat on its borders
00:19:42
in december the army invaded annexing east
timor as the 27th province of indonesia the
00:19:47
international community protested the
invasion and the u.n did not recognize
00:19:50
the annexation but in practical terms joha's
troops were free to garrison the territory and
00:19:55
even freyja to carry out a brutal campaign of
repression which claimed up to 200 000 lives
00:20:06
international star sean again briefly in the
following decade in 1985 he traveled to rome
00:20:12
for an award ceremony at the headquarters for the
food and agricultural organization the fao he was
00:20:16
celebrated for having raised rice production in
indonesia the country was now self-sufficient
00:20:21
in that respect and didn't need to import rice
any longer but that was a temporary triumph sure
00:20:26
crops have been growing from 1977 to 1982 but they
started to decline soon afterward since then the
00:20:31
government had in fact encouraged the conversion
of rice paddies into suburban development projects
00:20:36
by the early 1990s indonesians were back to
importing large shipments of rice mismanagement
00:20:42
and corruption had created a bit of a paradoxical
situation indonesia had all the fertile land and
00:20:47
agricultural labor required to feed its growing
population in theory in practice arable land was
00:20:52
destined for other purposes and hundreds of
thousands of farmers were forced to migrate
00:20:56
seeking employment in neighboring countries the
regime had thus alienated any remnant of support
00:21:02
by the rural masses next in line were the backbone
of gold car supporters middle class civil servants
00:21:07
and small business owners until then the mirage
of continued growth had kept them at bay and
00:21:12
silenced any voice rising against the bad habit of
pocketing the kickbacks in 1997 however indonesia
00:21:18
became one of the main victims of currency crisis
which devastated the economies of southeast asia
00:21:23
the country faced every economist's worst
nightmare stagflation a lethal mix of recession
00:21:29
and soaring inflation zahato resisted demands for
structural reforms while living standards rapidly
00:21:35
collapsed nationwide a mass movement for reformacy
or institutional reform took to the streets
00:21:40
anti-government demonstrations broke out
in jakarta and other cities in may of
00:21:44
1998. confronted by the security forces protests
escalated into violent riots which claimed more
00:21:49
than a thousand victims by now the once smiling
general realized that he lacked the political and
00:21:53
military backing to intensify the crackdown on may
21 of 1998 zahato saw the writing on the wall and
00:21:59
thought it was best to resign his deputy baka
rodinius of habibi became indonesia's third
00:22:04
president sato left power with an apology
to the nation i'm sorry for my mistakes
00:22:10
well i mean thanks but maybe it's not enough in
fact the new cabinet demanded more than an apology
00:22:16
in 2000 the government filed embezzlement charges
against him sato was accused of misappropriating
00:22:20
the equivalent of more than 600 million us dollars
but the former despot was in ill health and the
00:22:25
charges were dropped in 2007 the un and the world
bank estimated the true extent of his pilfering
00:22:30
value was estimated between 15 and 35
billion american dollars in 2007 time
00:22:38
magazine picked up the story reporting that
sahara and his family had stolen 15 billion
00:22:42
the magazine was sued for defamation a court
case which zahato won in november of that year
00:22:47
in the meantime the indonesian government
tried again to sue him for embezzlement
00:22:51
and in december they announced an investigation
into six cases of human rights abuse one of
00:22:55
them was about the massacres of 1965-66 but
sato would never face trial on the 4th of
00:23:00
january 2008 the former general and president was
hospitalized due to complications of renal failure
00:23:05
among many other ailments his health quickly
worsened due to internal bleeding and sepsis
00:23:09
sarto was declared dead on the 27th of january
but then president yudhoyono asked indonesians
00:23:15
to respect one of their top countrymen just
two months earlier that top countryman had
00:23:19
laughed off his allegations it's all empty talk
let them accuse me the fact is i have never
00:23:25
committed corruption so i really hope you found
today's video interesting if you did please do
00:23:30
hit that thumbs up button below don't forget to
subscribe and as always thank you for watching
