The Indonesian Communist Party and the Conflict in the International Communist Movement

Abstract

Until late in 1961, the leaders of the Indonesian Communist Party gave no public indication of the conflict within the international Communist movement. That they were aware of the worsening dispute is evident: for example, from 1958 to 1961, inclusive, they sent an average of five delegations to the Sino-Soviet bloc each year. But they chose to concentrate their energy on strengthening and guiding their own Party. This they had built into the largest Communist Party outside the bloc, with a membership at the end of 1961 of almost two millions, and with a network of mass organisations claiming over ten million members. After the Twenty-second Soviet Party Congress, however, the existence of conflict was public knowledge. D. N. Aidit, the Chairman of the Indonesian Communist Party, who had led his Party's delegation to the congress, felt compelled to explain the Party's position.