Abdul Haris Nasution
Nasution was born in the village of Hutapungkut in the Tapanuli region of North Sumatra on 3 December 1918 into a Batak Muslim family. He was the 2nd child of his parents and the oldest son. His father was a trader who sold textiles, rubber and coffee, and was a member of the Sarekat Islam organization. His father, who was very religious, wanted his son to study at a religious school, while his mother wanted him to study medicine in Batavia. However, after graduating from school in 1932, Nasution received a scholarship to study teaching at Bukitinggi.In 1935 Nasution moved to Bandung to continue his studies, where he remained for three years. His desire to be a teacher gradually faded as his interest in politics grew. He secretly bought books written by the Indonesian nationalist Sukarno and read them with his friends. Following his graduation in 1937, Nasution returned to Sumatra and taught in Bengkulu, living near the house where Sukarno lived in exile. He occasionally spoke with Sukarno, and heard him give speeches. A year later Nasution moved to Tanjungpraja, near Palembang, where he continued to teach, but became more and more interested in politics and the military.
In 1940, Nazi Germany occupied the Netherlands and the Dutch colonial authorities established an officer reserve corps which admitted Indonesians. Nasution applied to join, as this was the only way to obtain military training. Along with a few other Indonesians, he was sent to the Bandung Military Academy for training. In September 1940 he was promoted to corporal, then three months later to sergeant. He subsequently became an officer in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army. In 1942 the Japanese invaded and occupied Indonesia. At the time, Nasution was in Surabaya, having been posted there to defend the port. Nasution then found his way back to Bandung and went into hiding, as he was afraid of being arrested by the Japanese. However, he later assisted the PETA militia set up by the Japanese occupiers by carrying messages, but didn't actually become a member.
After Sukarno declared Indonesia's independence on 17 August 1945, Nasution joined the fledgling Indonesian Army which was then known as the People's Security Army. In May 1946, he was appointed Regional Commander of the Siliwangi Division, which looked after the security of West Java. In this position, Nasution developed the theory of territorial warfare which would become the defense doctrine of the Indonesian Army in the future.
In January 1948, the Indonesian Government and the Dutch Government signed the Renville Agreement, dividing Java between areas under Dutch and Indonesian control. Because the territories occupied by the Dutch included West Java, Nasution was forced to lead the Siliwangi Division across to Central Java.
Nasution rise to the position of Deputy TKR Commander. Despite being only a Colonel, this appointment made Nasution the most powerful person in the TKR, 2nd only to the popular General Sudirman. Nasution immediately went to work in his new role. In April, he assisted Sudirman in reorganizing the structure of the troops. In June, at a commanders' meeting, his suggestion that TKR should fight guerrilla warfare against the Dutch was approved.
Although not the Commander of the TKR, Nasution gained experience in the role of Armed Forces Commander in September 1948 with the Madiun incident. Following a take over of the city of Madiun in East Java, former Prime Minister Amir Syarifuddin and Musso of the Indonesian Communist Party went to the city. When the news reached the TKR Headquarters in Yogyakarta, a meeting was held between senior military officers. Sudirman was anxious to avoid violence and wanted negotiations to be conducted. Sudirman then commissioned Lieutenant Colonel Suharto, to negotiate a deal with the communists. After taking his trip, Suharto returned to Nasution and Sudirman and reported that everything seemed to be peaceful. Nasution didn't trust this report and with Sudirman down with illness, Nasution was left in charge. Nasution then decided on a crackdown, sending troops to go after the communists to put them down and end the rebellion.
On 30 September Madiun was taken over by republican troops of the Siliwangi Division. Thousands of communist party members were killed and 36,000 were imprisoned. Amongst the executed were several leaders including Musso, who was killed on 31 October, allegedly while trying to escape from prison. Other PKI leaders such as D.N. Aidit went into exile in China.
On 19 December 1948, the Dutch launched a successful attack on Yogyakarta and occupied it. Nasution, together with the TKR and the other commanders, retreated into the countryside to fight a guerrilla war. With President Sukarno and Vice President Mohammad Hatta in Dutch captivity, the Emergency Government of the Republic of Indonesia was set up in Sumatra. In this interim government, Nasution was given the position of the Army and Territorial Commander of Java. Following Dutch recognition of Indonesia's independence, the PDRI returned its powers to Sukarno and Hatta, and Nasution returned to his position as Deputy Commander to Sudirman.
In 1950, Nasution took on his position as army chief of staff, with TB Simatupang replacing Sudirman as the commander of the newly dubbed ABRI.
In 1952, Nasution and Simatupang decided to adopt a policy of restructuring and reorganization for ABRI. Under this arrangement, Nasution and Simatupang hoped to create a smaller army but one that was more modern and professional. It didn't take long however, before factional interests came into play. Nasution and Simatupang, who had both been trained by the Dutch colonial government wanted to discharge the soldiers trained by the Japanese and integrate more soldiers trained by the Dutch. The Japanese-trained troops, led by Bambang Supeno, began speaking against this policy.
In adopting their policy, Nasution and Simatupang had the backing of Prime Minister Wilopo and Defense Minister Hamengkubuwono IX. However, Supeno managed to find support from among the opposition parties in the People's Representative Council. The DPR members then began making their disagreements on the restructuring of ABRI known. Nasution and Simatupang were not happy to see what they perceived to be interference of military affairs by civilians.
On 17 October 1952, Nasution and Simatupang mobilized their troops in a show of force. Protesting against civilian interference in military affairs, Nasution and Simatupang had their troops surround the Presidential Palace and point their tank turrets at it. Their demand to Sukarno was that the current DPR be dismissed. For this cause, Nasution and Simatupang also mobilized civilian protesters. Sukarno came out of the Presidential Palace and convinced both soldiers and civilians to go home. Nasution and Simatupang had been defeated.
Nasution and Simatupang were then questioned by Attorney General Suprapto. In December 1952, they both lost their positions in ABRI and were discharged from the service.
During the time in which he wasn't the army chief of staff, Nasution wrote a book called the Fundamentals of Guerrilla Warfare. This book was based on Nasution's own experiences fighting and organizing guerrilla warfare during the Indonesian War of Independence. Originally released in 1953, it would become one of the most studied books on guerrilla warfare along with Mao Zedong's works on the same subject matter.
On 27 October 1955, after three years of exile, Nasution was re-appointed to his old position as Army Chief of Staff. He immediately began working on the army and its structure by adopting a threefold approach. His 1st approach was to formulate a tour of duty system, so that officers could be stationed all around the country and gain experience. This approach would also result in army officers being more professional, instead of feeling personal attachment and loyalty to the province and region from which they came. Nasution's 2nd approach was to centralize military training. All methods of training troops would now be uniform, instead of regional commanders setting up their own method of training troops. Nasution's 3rd and most important approach was to increase the army's influence and power so that it was able to take care of itself, instead of relying on civilian decisions. Nasution didn't have a problem applying the 1st two approaches, but he would have to wait to apply the 3rd approach.
By 1957, President Sukarno had begun to introduce the concept of Guided Democracy to his rhetoric in response to his disenchantment with the Parliamentary Democracy approach which Indonesia had adopted since November 1945. In this, he found a common bond with Nasution and the army, who had not forgotten the way in which civilians interfered with army affairs in 1952. On 14 March 1957, after receiving the resignation of Prime Minister Ali Sastroadmijojo and his Cabinet, Sukarno declared a State of Emergency.
This move not only ended Sukarno's merely ceremonial presidential role, but also increased the army's influence and power as Nasution had wished for. Under this arrangement, regional commanders were able to interfere in civilian matters such as the economy and administrative matters. At the behest of Sukarno himself, the army also began participating in politics, filling in positions which ranged from cabinet ministers to provincial governors and even DPR members. In December 1957, Nasution further increased the army's role by ordering officers to take over the recently nationalized Dutch companies. Aside from increasing the army's role, this move was also designed to stop the influence of the increasingly powerful PKI.
In 1958, Nasution made a famous speech that would become the basis for the Dwifungsi Doctrine which the Suharto regime would adopt. Speaking at Magelang in Central Java, Nasution declared that ABRI should adopt a "middle way in its approach to the nation. According to Nasution, ABRI should not be under the control of civilians. At the same time, ABRI should not dominate the nation in such a way that it became a military dictatorship.
In late 1956, there were demands by regional commanders in Sumatra for more autonomy in the provinces. When these demands were not met by the central government, the troops began to rebel, and by early 1957, had forcefully taken over the governance of Sumatra. Then, on 15 February 1958, Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad Hussein declared the establishment of the Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia. This prompted the central government to deploy troops.
As army chief of staff, Nasution would normally have been involved in mobilizing the troops to Sumatra. However, it would be his 2nd deputy, Colonel Ahmad Yani who would make his name by successfully putting down the rebellions.
On 5 July 1959, Sukarno issued a decree declaring that Indonesia would now revert to the original 1945 Constitution. Parliamentary democracy system would be ended and Sukarno was now the Head of Government in addition to being the Head of State. Nasution was appointed minister of defense and security in Sukarno's Cabinet, while continuing to hold the position as army chief of staff.
Since 1956, Nasution had been trying to stamp out corruption in the army, but the return to the 1945 Constitution seemed to have renewed his resolve in this matter. He believed that the army should set an example for the rest of society. Not long after Sukarno's decree, Nasution sent Brigadier General Sungkono to investigate the financial dealings of IV/Diponegoro Area Military Command and its commander, Colonel Suharto.
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