1983 Indonesia
Minette Mccandrew
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of around 14 thousand islands, with the islands of Java, Sumatra, Celebes (Sulawesi) and Borneo (Kalimantan). It holds a population of around 198 million people, becoming one of the most populous nations after Doomsday. Indonesia also has one of the worlds largest population of Muslims.
The sovereign state is a presidential, constitutional republic with an elected legislature and president. It has 34 provinces, of which five have special status. The country's capital, Jakarta. The country shares land borders with Sultanate of Aceh, Sultanate of Brunei-Sarawak, and East Timor. Other neighboring countries include Singapore, Philippines, Australia, and Papua New Guinea.
Indonesia consists of hundreds of distinct native ethnic and linguistic groups, with the largest one being the Javanese. A shared identity has developed with the motto "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" ("Unity in Diversity" literally, "many, yet one"), defined by a national language, ethnic diversity, religious pluralism within a Muslim-majority population, and a history of colonialism and rebellion against it. Indonesia is a regional power in Southeast Asia and is considered a middle power in global affairs. The country is a member of several multilateral organizations, including the League of Nations
Fossilized remains of Homo erectus, popularly known as the "Java Man", suggest the Indonesian archipelago was inhabited two million to 500,000 years ago. Homo sapiens reached the region around 43,000 BCE. Austronesian peoples, who form the majority of the modern population, migrated to Southeast Asia from what is now Taiwan. They arrived in the archipelago around 2,000 BCE and confined the native Melanesian peoples to the far eastern regions as they spread east. Ideal agricultural conditions and the mastering of wet-field rice cultivation as early as the eighth century BCE allowed villages, towns, and small kingdoms to flourish by the first century CE.
The archipelago's strategic sea-lane position fostered inter-island and international trade, including with Indian kingdoms and Chinese dynasties, from several centuries BCE. Trade has since fundamentally shaped Indonesian history.
From the seventh century CE, the Srivijaya naval kingdom flourished due to trade and the influences of Hinduism and Buddhism. Between the eighth and tenth centuries CE, the agricultural Buddhist Sailendra and Hindu Mataram dynasties thrived and declined in inland Java, leaving grand religious monuments such as Sailendra's Borobudur and Mataram's Prambanan. The Hindu Majapahit kingdom was founded in eastern Java in the late 13th century, and under Gajah Mada, its influence stretched over much of present-day Indonesia. This period is often referred to as a "Golden Age" in Indonesian history.
The earliest accounts of the Indonesian archipelago date from the Abbasid Caliphate, according to those early accounts the Indonesian archipelago were famous among early Muslim sailors mainly due to its abundance of precious spice trade commodities such as nutmeg, cloves, galangal and many other spices.
Although Muslim traders first travelled through South East Asia early in the Islamic era, the spread of Islam among the inhabitants of the Indonesian archipelago dates to the 13th century in northern Sumatra. Although it is known that the spread of Islam began in the west of the archipelago, the fragmentary evidence does not suggest a rolling wave of conversion through adjacent areas; rather, it suggests the process was complicated and slow. The spread of Islam was driven by increasing trade links outside of the archipelago; in general, traders and the royalty of major kingdoms were the first to adopt the new religion.
Other Indonesian areas gradually adopted Islam, making it the dominant religion in Java and Sumatra by the end of the 16th century. For the most part, Islam overlaid and mixed with existing cultural and religious influences, which shaped the predominant form of Islam in Indonesia, particularly in Java. Only Bali retained a Hindu majority. In the eastern archipelago, both Christian and Islamic missionaries were active in the 16th and 17th centuries, and, currently, there are large communities of both religions on these islands.
The first Europeans arrived in the archipelago in 1512, when Portuguese traders, led by Francisco Serro, sought to monopolize the sources of nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in the Maluku Islands. Dutch and British traders followed. In 1602, the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and became the dominant European power for almost 200 years. The VOC was dissolved in 1800 following bankruptcy, and the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies as a nationalized colony.
For most of the colonial period, Dutch control over the archipelago was tenuous. Dutch forces were engaged continuously in quelling rebellions both on and off Java. The influence of local leaders such as Prince Diponegoro in central Java, Imam Bonjol in central Sumatra, Pattimura in Maluku, and the bloody 30-year war in Aceh weakened the Dutch and tied up the colonial military forces. Only in the early 20th century did Dutch dominance extend to what was to become Indonesia's current boundaries.
The Japanese invasion and subsequent occupation during World War II ended Dutch rule and encouraged the previously suppressed independence movement. Two days after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta, influential nationalist leaders, proclaimed Indonesian independence and were appointed president and vice-president, respectively.
The Netherlands attempted to re-establish their rule, and a bitter armed and diplomatic struggle ended in December 1949 when the Dutch formally recognized Indonesian independence in the face of international pressure. Despite extraordinary political, social and sectarian divisions, Indonesians, on the whole, found unity in their fight for independence.
As president, Sukarno moved Indonesia from democracy towards authoritarianism and maintained power by balancing the opposing forces of the military, political Islam, and the increasingly powerful Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI). Tensions between the military and the PKI culminated in an attempted coup in 1965. The army, led by Major General Suharto, countered by instigating a violent anti-communist purge that killed between 500,000 and one million people. The PKI was blamed for the coup and effectively destroyed. Suharto capitalized on Sukarno's weakened position, and following a drawn-out power play with Sukarno, Suharto was appointed president in March 1968. His "New Order" administration, supported by the United States, encouraged foreign direct investment, which was a crucial factor in the subsequent two decades of substantial economic growth, which lasted until Doomsday.
On 26 September 1983, Soviet missile detection systems were alerted in what is believed to have been a false alarm. Incorrectly asserting that a foretold American first strike was occurring, the Soviet Union launched a full scale nuclear retaliation against the United States and her allies, promoting a similar American response. Causing a thermonuclear war.
Indonesia was not hit by any nuclear warheads during doomsday, and media such as Radio and even television still functioned in most areas of the nation. But the news of the destruction of other countries created mass hysteria across the country. Riots and looting occurred in major cities, food shortages became rampant, and the destruction of the global market led to a financial crisis, as foreign investment became non-existent. This caused the collapse and bankruptcy of businesses and companies causing massive unemployment. Efforts by the central bank and the government, including raising fuel prices by 70% had little impact and arguably worsened the economic situation, not to mention the rioting it caused among the populace.
Riots and looting continued in various parts of Indonesia, though things had calmed down by 1 October. Still, over the next few months, demonstrations, price riots, bomb threats, and bombings occurred and unrest was spreading to other islands.
Despite this, the government survived Doomsday, and began the process of rebuilding the nation and expeditions to find out what had happened to Indonesia's neighbors. These expeditions met the other expeditions conducted by the government of Singapore. Singapore reported the destruction of some capital cities, and some other countries which were stable, such as Australia. President Suharto met with Singaporean President Lee Kwan Yew in March 1984, leading to both nations agreeing on mutual defense and economic trade, this was followed by another visit to Malaysia, which resulted in mutual friendship between the two. President Suharto also met with Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke, and agreed on mutual defence, mutual aid, and to begin economic trade. President George H. W. Bush of the remnants of the United Stats government also visited Indonesia in 1986, during his South East Asia trip, improving Indonesia's relationship with the West.
The outbreak of violence in East Timor would be followed with another insurgency in Aceh. The Free Aceh Movement (Indonesian : Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, GAM) took advantage of Doomsday, and re-established itself and began an insurgency in Aceh. The group raided for weapons, committed attacks against police and military posts, arsons and targeted assassinations of police and military personnel, government informants and other individuals. At first, GAM failed to gain widespread support, the group's actions led the Indonesian government to institute repressive measures, as the Indonesian military stepped up its counter-insurgency measures. Security crackdowns were also put in place,resulting in several thousand civilian deaths. The government launched an offensive and a state of emergency was proclaimed in the Province. These measures, although successful, alienated the local Acehnese which helped GAM re-establish itself in 1984, this time with large support from the Acehnese people.
c80f0f1006