Suharto (help·info) (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was the second President of Indonesia, holding the office from 1967 to 1998.
Suharto was born in a small village near Yogyakarta, during the era of Dutch colonial control. His ethnic Javanese peasant parents divorced not long after his birth, and he passed between several foster parents for much of his childhood. During the Japanese occupation of Indonesia, Suharto served in various Japanese-org...
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Suharto (help·info) (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was the second President of Indonesia, holding the office from 1967 to 1998.
Suharto was born in a small village near Yogyakarta, during the era of Dutch colonial control. His ethnic Javanese peasant parents divorced not long after his birth, and he passed between several foster parents for much of his childhood. During the Japanese occupation of Indonesia, Suharto served in various Japanese-organised Indonesian security forces. He joined the newly formed Indonesian army, during Indonesia's independence struggle. Following Indonesian independence, Suharto rose to the rank of Major General. An attempted coup on 30 September 1965 was countered by Suharto-led troops. Suharto took control of the army, and the coup attempt was blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party. The army led a violent anti-communist purge, which killed over half a million people. Suharto wrested power from the politically weakened incumbent and founding president,...
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