President Sukarno

President Sukarno
Onbekend/Anonymous · Public domain · source
Name	President Sukarno
Caption	Sukarno in 1960
Office	1st President of Indonesia
Term start	18 August 1945
Term end	12 March 1967
Vicepresident	Mohammad Hatta
Birth name	Kusno Sosrodihardjo
Birth date	06 June 1901
Birth place	Surabaya, Dutch East Indies
Death date	21 June 1970
Death place	Jakarta, Indonesia
Party	Indonesian National Party
Spouse	Siti Oetari, Inggit Garnasih, Fatmawati, Hartini, Ratna Sari Dewi, Haryati, Kartini Manoppo, Yurike Sanger, Heldy Djafar
Children	12, including Megawati Sukarnoputri
Alma mater	Bandung Institute of Technology

Contents

Early Life and Education under Dutch Rule
Rise of Nationalism and Anti-Colonial Activism
Leadership During the Indonesian National Revolution
Presidency and Guided Democracy
Foreign Policy and the Non-Aligned Movement
● 1965
● Relationship with
● Relationship with
● Relationship with
● Indonesia and

President Sukarno. Sukarno was the founding father and first President of Indonesia, serving from the nation's declaration of independence in 1945 until 1967. His political career was fundamentally shaped by the struggle against Dutch colonial rule, and he became the paramount symbol of Indonesian nationalism and anti-imperialism in Southeast Asia. His leadership was pivotal in ending over three centuries of Dutch colonization and establishing a unified, sovereign republic.

Early Life and Education under Dutch Rule

Kusno Sosrodihardjo, later known as Sukarno, was born in Surabaya in the Dutch East Indies. His father, Raden Soekemi Sosrodihardjo, was a Javanese teacher, and his mother, Ida Ayu Nyoman Rai, was Balinese. He spent part of his youth in the household of Oemar Said Tjokroaminoto, a prominent leader of the Sarekat Islam organization, which exposed him early to nationalist ideas. Sukarno's formal education occurred entirely within the colonial system; he attended Dutch-language primary schools and later the Hogere Burgerschool in Surabaya. He graduated in 1926 as a civil engineer from the Technische Hoogeschool te Bandoeng, now the Bandung Institute of Technology. This elite, Western education provided him with the intellectual tools and political consciousness to challenge the very colonial power that had educated him.

Rise of Nationalism and Anti-Colonial Activism

While in Bandung, Sukarno immersed himself in political activism. In 1927, he co-founded the Indonesian National Party (PNI), which quickly became the leading secular nationalist organization advocating for complete independence from the Netherlands. His powerful oratory, blending Marxist, Islamic, and indigenous concepts, resonated widely. The colonial authorities viewed him as a major threat. In 1929, the Dutch government arrested and imprisoned him in Sukamiskin Prison. After his release in 1931, he continued his activism, leading to his exile in 1933, first to Ende on Flores and later to Bengkulu on Sumatra. These periods of imprisonment and exile under the Governor-General solidified his status as a martyr for the nationalist cause and kept him away from direct political action until the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies in 1942.

Leadership During the Indonesian National Revolution

Following Japan's surrender in World War II, Sukarno, along with Mohammad Hatta, seized the moment to proclaim Indonesian independence on 17 August 1945. He was immediately appointed president. The Netherlands, seeking to reassert control, launched military campaigns in what became known as the Indonesian National Revolution. Sukarno's role was primarily as a unifying symbol and political leader, while military strategy was often left to figures like General Sudirman. He was captured by Dutch forces during Operation Kraai in 1948 and exiled to Prapat on Lake Toba. However, intense international pressure, particularly from the United Nations and the United States, forced the Netherlands to negotiate. The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference in 1949 resulted in the formal transfer of sovereignty, with Sukarno as president of the United States of Indonesia before it became the unitary Republic of Indonesia.

Presidency and Guided Democracy

In the 1950s, Indonesia struggled with the instability of liberal democracy. In 1957, Sukarno abolished the Konstituante and instituted a system he called Guided Democracy, centralizing power in his own hands. This system was based on a NASAKOM coalition, balancing the military, the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), and religious groups. He restored the 1945 Constitution, which granted the presidency broad authority. While this brought short-term political stability, it eroded democratic institutions, suppressed political opposition, and led to economic mismanagement, increasing the nation's debt and inflation.

Foreign Policy and the Non-Aligned Movement

Sukarno was a towering figure in international diplomacy and a fierce critic of neocolonialism. He was a|neocolonialism|neocolonialism and the Non-Aligned Movement|neocolonialism|Indonesian Revolution and the Dutch Colonization of Indonesia and the Dutch Colonization in Asia–Aligned Movement and the Dutch Colonization of Indonesia and the Dutch Colonization in Southeast Asia|Indonesian National Awakening|Dutch Empire|Non-Aligned Movement. 1965

● 1965

● Relationship with

the Dutch Colonization in Indonesia|Indonesian Nationalism and age|Indonesian National Awakening|Indonesian Revolution== Relationship with the Netherlands and the Dutch Colonization in the Dutch Colonization of Indonesia, and Legacy of the Dutch Colonization of Indonesia, and the Netherlands == Relationship with the Dutch Colonization of Indonesia, Indonesia, and Age== Relationship with the Dutch Colonization in the Dutch East Indies|Indonesian Revolution == Relationship with the Dutch Colonization in the Dutch Colonization of the Dutch Colonization of the Dutch East Indies|Indonesian: 1945

● Relationship with

● Relationship with

● Indonesia and

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