Suharto in the context of "Absolute government"

In political science, despotism (Greek: Δεσποτισμός, romanized: despotismós) is a form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute power. Normally, that entity is an individual, the despot (as in an autocracy), but societies which limit respect and power to specific groups have also been called despotic.

Colloquially, the word despot applies pejoratively to those who use their power and authority arbitrarily to oppress their populace or subordinates. More specifically, the term often applies to a head of state or government. In this sense, it is similar to the pejorative connotations that are associated with the terms tyrant and dictator.

Javanisation is the process in which Javanese culture dominates, assimilates, or influences other cultures in general (Indonesian: Jawanisasi/Penjawaan). The term "Javanise" means "to make or to become Javanese in form, idiom, style, or character". This domination could take place in various aspects; such as cultural, language, politics, and social.

In its modern sense within Indonesian social, cultural and politics perspective; Javanization simply means the spreading of rural Javanese population of densely populated Java to less populated parts of the archipelago. While to others it could also mean the conscious or unconscious imposition of Javanese patterns of thought and behavior throughout Indonesia, in the sense of cultural imperialism. In previous sense it is more focused on thinking and practice of those in power.

The New Order (Indonesian: Orde Baru, abbreviated Orba) was the regime of the second Indonesian President Suharto from his rise to power in 1966 until his resignation in 1998. Suharto coined the term upon his accession and used it to contrast his presidency with that of his predecessor Sukarno (retroactively dubbed the "Old Order" or Orde Lama).

Immediately following the attempted coup in 1965, the political situation was uncertain, and Suharto's New Order found much popular support from groups wanting a separation from Indonesia's problems since its independence. The 'generation of 66' (Angkatan 66) epitomised talk of a new group of young leaders and new intellectual thought. Following Indonesia's communal and political conflicts, and its economic collapse and social breakdown of the late 1950s through to the mid-1960s, the "New Order" was committed to achieving and maintaining political order, economic development, and the removal of mass participation in the political process. The features of the "New Order" established from the late 1960s were thus a strong political role for the military, the bureaucratisation and corporatisation of political and societal organisations, and selective but brutal repression of opponents. Strident anti-communist, anti-socialist, and anti-Islamist doctrine remained a hallmark of the presidency for its subsequent 30 years.

From October of 1965 to March of 1966, a series of large-scale killings and civil unrest primarily targeting members and supposed sympathizers of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) were carried out in Indonesia. Other affected groups included alleged communist sympathisers, Gerwani women, trade unionists, ethnic Javanese Abangan, ethnic Chinese, atheists, accused "kafir" (unbelievers in Islam), and alleged leftists in general. According to the most widely published estimates, at least 500,000 to 1 million people were killed. Some of the higher estimates reach figures as much as 2 to 3 million. The atrocities, sometimes described as a genocide or a politicide, were instigated by the Indonesian Army under Suharto. Research and declassified documents demonstrate the Indonesian authorities received support from foreign countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.

The killings began as an anti-communist purge following a so-called attempted coup d'état by the 30 September Movement. It was a pivotal event in the transition to the "New Order" and the elimination of PKI as a political force, with impacts on the global Cold War. The Army, after banning all independent news source from issuing for a week, almost at once pinned the abortive coup attempt to the PKI. Additionally, the intelligence agencies of the United States, United Kingdom and Australia engaged in black propaganda campaigns against Indonesian communists. During the Cold War, the U.S., its government, and its Western allies had the goal of halting the spread of communism and bringing countries into the sphere of Western Bloc influence. Britain had additional reasons for seeking Sukarno's removal, as his government was involved in an undeclared war with neighbouring Malaysia, a Commonwealth federation of former British colonies.

A Preliminary Analysis of the October 1, 1965, Coup in Indonesia, more commonly known as the "Cornell Paper", is an academic publication detailing the events of an abortive coup d'état attempt by the self-proclaimed September 30 Movement, produced on January 10, 1966. The study was written by Benedict Anderson and Ruth McVey, with the help of Frederick Bunnell, using information from various Indonesian news sources. At the time of writing, the three were members of Cornell University's network of graduate students and scholars on Southeast Asia.

In their work, Anderson and McVey theorized that neither the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) nor President Sukarno took part in organizing the operation; instead, they became the victims. On the basis of the material available, they proposed that the coup was indeed an "internal army affair" as was claimed by the September 30 Movement to remove members of the Indonesian Army General Staff who allegedly worked with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. By the end of the following week, the movement had been crushed by forces of Major General Suharto, who was charged with the sole responsibility of restoring order. Several alternatives to their theory were also presented and disputed, including the official government account that the PKI had masterminded the coup attempt.

Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (lit. 'Beautiful Indonesia Mini Park'; formerly Taman Mini "Indonesia Indah" with apostrophes—abbreviated as TMII) is a culture-based recreational area located in East Jakarta, Indonesia. Since July 2021, it is operated by InJourney Destination Management (PT Taman Wisata Candi Borobudur, Prambanan, dan Ratu Boko), a subsidiary of the state-owned tourism holding company InJourney. It was operated by Yayasan Harapan Kita, a foundation established by Siti Hartinah, the first lady during most of the New Order and wife of Suharto, and run by Suharto's descendants since his death until 2021. It has an area of about 147 hectares (363 acres). The project cost some US$26 million.

The park is a synopsis of Indonesian culture, with virtually all aspects of daily life in Indonesia's 26 (in 1975) provinces encapsulated in separate pavilions with the collections of rumah adat as the example of Indonesian vernacular architecture, clothing, dances and traditions are all depicted impeccably. The park mainly exhibites the physical culture of the nation. Apart from that, there is a lake with a miniature of the archipelago and dancing fountain in the middle of it, cable cars, museums, Keong Emas IMAX cinema (Indonesia's only IMAX cinema until the 2010s), a theater called the Theatre of My Homeland (Teater Tanah Airku) and other recreational facilities which make TMII one of the most popular tourist destinations in the city.

Raden Ayu Siti Hartinah (23 August 1923 – 28 April 1996), also known as Siti Hartinah Suharto or Tien Suharto, was the first lady of Indonesia from 1967 until 1996. She was the wife of Indonesian president, Suharto. She is popularly known as Ibu Tien in Indonesia.
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The May 1998 Indonesia riots (Indonesian: Kerusuhan Mei 1998), also known colloquially as the 1998 tragedy (Tragedi 1998) or simply the 98 event (Peristiwa 98), were incidents of mass violence and civil unrest in Indonesia, many of which targeted the country's ethnic Chinese population. The events were mainly in the cities of Medan, Jakarta, and Surakarta, with smaller incidents in other parts of Indonesia.

Under the President Suharto regime, there had been widespread and systematic discrimination against ethnic Chinese in Indonesia. The riots were triggered by corruption, economic problems, including food shortages and mass unemployment. It eventually led to the resignation of President Suharto and the fall of the New Order government, which had been in power for 32 years and was heavily backed by Western powers such as the United States. The main targets of the violence were ethnic Chinese Indonesians, but most of the casualties were caused by a massive fire and occurred among looters.