Communist Party of Indonesia

The Communist Party of Indonesia (Indonesian: Partai Komunis Indonesia, PKI) was the largest non-ruling communist party in the world prior to being crushed in 1965 and banned the following year.

Forerunners

An important early organization was founded by Dutch socialist Henk Sneevliet in 1914, under the name Indies Social Democratic Association (in Dutch: Indische Sociaal-Democratische Vereeniging, ISDV). ISDV was constituted essentially by the 85 members of the two Dutch socialist parties, SDAP and SDP, residing in the Dutch East Indies. The Dutch members of the ISDV introduced Marxist ideas to educated Indonesians looking for ways to oppose colonial rule.

In October 1915 ISDV started a publication in Dutch, Het Vrije Woord (The Free Word). The editor was Adolf Baars. The ISDV did not demand independence at the time of its formation. At this point ISDV had around 100 members, out of whom only three were Indonesian. However, it rapidly moved into a radical and anticapitalist direction. ISDV under Sneevliet became uncomfortable for the SDAP leadership in the Netherlands, who distanced themselves from the ISDV. In 1917 the reformist section of ISDV broke away, and formed their own Indies Social Democratic Party. In 1917 ISDV launched its first publication in Indonesian, Soeara Merdeka (The...
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