7 Sukarno 7attended the Bandung Technical Institute, graduating in
- As a student he excelled in languages, mastering
Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese, and modern Indonesian,
which he did much to create, and others. He had a degree
in civil engineering but soon found politics far more
appealing. His eloquent speaking ability soon made him
Java’s foremost proponent of independence. He was jailed
(1929 –31) and exiled (1933–42) for his views.
When the Japanese invaded the Indies in March of
1942, he welcomed them as personal and national libera-
tors. During World War II, the Japanese made Sukarno
their chief adviser. Immediately following Japan’s defeat,
he declared Indonesia’s independence on Aug. 17, 1945. As
president of the shaky new republic, he fueled a successful
defiance of the Dutch, who, after two abortive police
actions to regain control, formally transferred sovereignty
on Dec. 27, 1949.
From his revolutionary capital in Jogjakarta, Sukarno
returned in triumph to Jakarta on Dec. 28, 1949. There he
established himself in the splendid palace of the Dutch
governors-general. His increasingly numerous and out-
spoken critics maintained that Sukarno inspired no
coherent programs of national organization and adminis-
tration, rehabilitation, and development, such as were
quite clearly necessary. He seemed instead to conduct a
continuous series of formal and informal audiences and a
nightly soiree of receptions, banquets, music, dancing,
and entertainment. The Indonesian economy foundered
while Sukarno encouraged the wildest of extravagances.
To be sure, the nation scored impressive gains in health,
education, and cultural self-awareness and self-expression.
It achieved, in fact, what Sukarno himself most joyously
sought and acclaimed as national identity, an exhilarating
sense of pride in being Indonesian. But this achievement
came at a ruinous cost.