A Preliminary Analysis of the October 1, 1965, Coup in Indonesia (Prepared in Jan. 1966)

The history behind the publication of this work is as fascinating as the questions this work raises about the abortive October 1965 coup, led by Lieutenant Colonel Untung and his associates, in Central Java. This paper, an informal 1971 account, presents both the problems and the excitement of such a field of study in which little primary material was available aside from the transcripts of many of the political trials conducted in the coup's aftermath. The authors' hypothesis presents many controversial views about the various configurations and possibilities of power and motive that led to the coup; yet it allows for many important insights about the complex role of the military in political life and the antagonism between city and provincial governments as well. 1971. 4th printing 1999. 174 pages.