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ABC News: Tension in Jakarta, 1965

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Indonesian man speaks into microphone while surrounded by crowd
ABC News: Tension in Jakarta, 1965

SUBJECTS:  Civics and Citizenship, History

YEARS:  9–10


Discover what happens when a failed coup (violent overthrow) leaves the Indonesian government in turmoil.

This clip shows the government being re-shuffled to reward those who have been loyal to President Sukarno's regime. General Suharto is one of them.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Have you heard of a coup happening in your lifetime? If so, was it successful or unsuccessful? The governments most susceptible to coups are unstable ones. Do you think that Australia's government is likely to be overthrown by a sudden, violent uprising? Why/why not?
  2. 2.Indonesia's army was meant to be non-political. Based on what you see in this clip, to what extent do you believe that this was the case? What was it about General Suharto that made him a natural choice to become the Minister Chief of Staff of the army? During the general's swearing-in ceremony, who does President Sukarno accuse of trying to divide his country?
  3. 3.In what way/s did Sukarno appear to be losing control of his country at this point? Who did it seem was most likely to take advantage of this heightened political instability?
  4. 4.

    View the clip 'Suharto marks the anniversary of 1965 coup attempt'.



Date of broadcast: 23 Oct 1968


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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