Author Description

The rebellion of the Indonesian Communist Party in 1926-27 was a significant event which had a considerably greater impact on Indonesia's subsequent political development than the actual strength marshalled by the Communists might suggest. Very little has been written about the rebellion and its background, and the documents necessary for its study have been extremely difficult of access, even to those who read Dutch. We have felt that translation and publication of the three reports here presented would be useful to those seeking a fuller understanding of this period of Indonesia's modern history - one which has remained nearly as obscure as it is important. The Introduction should help the reader see these documents in their proper context and give him a fuller appreciation of the nature of the rebellion and the conditions which nurtured it. The two editors - Dr. Harry Benda, Associate Professor of History at Yale University, and Ruth T. McVey, Research Associate in the Cornell Modern Indonesia Project - have both done extensive research in modern Indonesian political and social history, Ruth McVey being currently engaged in completing a major study of Indonesian Communism during the period 1920 - 1927. The Cornell Modern Indonesia Project is indebted to Mrs. Elizabeth Maijer for translation of the Governor General's Note and the Bantam Report, and to Professor Harry Benda for translation of the political section of the West Coast of Sumatra Report. - George McT. Kahin, November 15, 1959