The Communist Uprisings of 1926–27 in Indonesia: A Re-interpretation

It is the thesis of this paper that the Communist Uprisings of 1926–27 in Indonesia were neither “proto-nationalist” nor a “revolution of hope”, as they have been called by two historians. I shall try to show that there were decidedly nationalist characteristics in the demands which the Communists made, in the objects against which the revolt was directed, and in the makeup of the Communist leadership at both the highest and secondary levels; furthermore, that, despite the era of prosperity which the colony was enjoying, the situation of the peasant was worsening.