The Road to Madiun: The Indonesian Communist Uprising of 1948

The armed conflict in Madiun, during the darkest and most violent year of the revolution, was a result of the escalating tension among various nationalist groups fighting for Indonesian independence and the frustration of the reinstitution of Dutch rule in certain areas. Swift documents the extraordinary impact of Musso, whose arrival presaged the creation of a new political force that aligned itself with Moscow (the PKI espoused a doctrine of international communism and little compromise). Yet after the renewed Dutch attack in December 1948, Indonesians of all ideologies were motivated to band together in the face of external threat, the PKI was rehabilitated, the supporters forgiven, and the top leaders executed. 1989. 120 pages.