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General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
Gatot Soebroto ( Enhanced Spelling: Gatot Subroto, 10 October 1907 – 11 June 1962) was an Indonesian general who began his military career with the Royal Dutch East Indies Army (KNIL) and rose to be deputy Army chief-of-staff.


Early life

Soebroto was born in
Purwokerto Purwokerto () is a large but non-autonomous town on the island of Java, Indonesia. It is the coordinating centre of local government (''Bakorwil 3'') and the largest city in southwestern Central Java (known as the ''Barlingmascakeb'' regio ...
,
Central Java Central Java (, ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogya ...
. He began his education at a '' Europeesche Lagere School'', an elementary school for the children of Europeans, but was expelled for fighting with the Dutch children. He then moved to a '' Hollandsch-Inlandsche School'' for Indonesians. He did not continue his education after graduating from this elementary school but instead found a job. However, he was dissatisfied and decided on a military career.


Pre-independence military career

In 1923, Gatot enrolled in a military school in
Magelang Magelang () is one of six cities in Central Java, the Central Java Province of Indonesia that are administratively independent of the regencies in which they lie geographically. Each of these cities is governed by a mayor rather than a Subdivi ...
. After graduating, he joined the Royal Dutch East Indies Army (KNIL) and rose to the rank of sergeant. In 1942, the Japanese invaded the Dutch East Indies, and Gatot joined the ''
Pembela Tanah Air The Defenders of the Homeland (; , PETA) was a volunteer army established on 3 October 1943 in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) by the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies, occupying Japanese. The Japanese intended PETA to a ...
'' (PETA), a volunteer army set up by the Japanese in case of invasion by the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...
. He received training in
Bogor Bogor City (), or Bogor (, ), is a landlocked city in the West Java, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.
, and was appointed commander of a company in Banyumas, then a battalion commander. Gatot was one of the group of ex-KNIL NCOs, which included future president Soeharto and future army chief of staff Ahmad Yani who joined the BKR (People's Security Agency), the forerunner of the
Indonesian Army The Indonesian Army ( (TNI-AD), ) is the army, land branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It has an estimated strength of 300,400 active personnel. The history of the Indonesian Army has its roots in 1945 when the (TKR) "People's Se ...
as soon as it was set up after the
Indonesian Declaration of Independence The Proclamation of Indonesian Independence (, or simply ''Proklamasi'') was read at 10:00 Tokyo Standard Time on Friday 17 August 1945 in Jakarta. The declaration marked the start of the diplomatic and armed resistance of the Indonesian Nati ...
on 17 August 1945. On 5 October 1946, he was appointed commander of the II/Gunung Jati Division in
Central Java Central Java (, ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogya ...
. On 31 May 1948, he became commander of the Military Police and later that year Military Governor of the
Surakarta Surakarta (Javanese script, Javanese: , Pegon script, Pegon: ), known colloquially as Solo (Javanese script, Javanese: ; ), is a major List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in Central Java, Indonesia. The city adjoins Karanganyar Reg ...
-
Semarang Semarang (Javanese script, Javanese: , ''Kutha Semarang'') is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Netherlands, Dutch Dutch East Indies, colonial era, and is still an important regio ...
- Pati-
Madiun Madiun () is a city in the western part of East Java, Indonesia, known for its agricultural center. The city has been administratively separate from the surrounding Madiun Regency since the formation of the two bodies in 1950, but the city remain ...
region. He was involved in the suppression of the 1948 Madiun Revolt. In July 1949, he went to
Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...
shortly after Army commander Soedirman's return to the city, which at the time was the capital. There he was sick and had to be treated at the
Panti Rapih Hospital Panti Rapih Hospital (''Rumah Sakit Panti Rapih'') is a private dis hospital in Yogyakarta (city), Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It was founded in 1929 by five sisters from Sisters of Mercy of St. Borromeo, St. Carolus Borromeus. It is managed by the Pan ...
. On 3 August 1949, President
Sukarno Sukarno (6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of the Indonesian struggle for independenc ...
announced a ceasefire with the Dutch, and Nasution, commander of the Java Military District, decided a reorganization of divisions was needed to face the threat of a possible third Dutch "police action". Central Java's III and IV divisions were merged, and Gatot Soebroto was appointed commander, although he was still in hospital then. He was officially inaugurated on 20 November as commander of the renamed III/Diponegoro Division, which became the IV/Diponegoro Military Region in December. In this capacity, he warned one of his brigade commanders, Suharto, about establishing transport enterprise using Army vehicles, which the future president had set up to provide jobs for veterans. In March 1952, Gatot moved to
Makassar Makassar ( ), formerly Ujung Pandang ( ), is the capital of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, ...
to take over command of the VII/Wirabuana Military Region, which covered all of Indonesia east of
Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
and
Kalimantan Kalimantan (; ) is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area, and consists of the provinces of Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, and West Kalimantan. The non-Ind ...
. However, on 16 November he was arrested and displaced by his chief of staff, Lt. Col. J. F. Warouw. This was one of a series of small-scale coups against officers blamed for their involvement in the 17 October 1952 incident where troops demonstrated in front of the
Presidential Palace A presidential palace is the official residence of the president in some countries. Some presidential palaces were once the official residences to monarchs in former monarchies that were preserved during those states' transition into republics. ...
in Jakarta calling for the dissolution of the legislature. Although Gatot supported the demonstration, he was not present in Jakarta at the time. He was subsequently either placed on non-active status as a result of the incident or resigned from the military.


Political career

On 20 May 1953, he attended a meeting led by Nasution (also inactive) in Tugu,
West Java West Java (, ) is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten and the country's capital region of Jakarta to t ...
at which it was decided to establish a political party to "fight for the return to the spirit of the 1945 Constitution. The party was called the League of Supporters of Indonesian Independence (IPKI). The party won four seats in the 1955 election, and Gatot Soebroto became a member of the Indonesian legislature representing Central Java.


Return to the military

Soon after the elections, the cabinet and the Army began the process of appointing an Army chief of staff to replace the acting head Colonel Lubis, who had not officially been installed. Gatot Soebroto emerged as a "compromise candidate", but turned down the job as he was worried about being manipulated by other officers. He told the cabinet that if they wanted a high-quality officer, they should recall Nasution to the post. Nasution was officially re-appointed on 7 November 1955. The following year, Gatot Soebroto was appointed deputy chief-of-staff, a position he held until his death. In 1959, together with Nasution, he called a special meeting of the major political parties at the time to persuade them to support the proposal to return to the 1945 Constitution, which had been abrogated in favor of the
Provisional Constitution of 1950 The Provisional Constitution of 1950 (, ) replaced the Federal Constitution of 1949 when Indonesia unilaterally withdrew from Netherlands-Indonesia Union, the union with the Netherlands agreed at the Dutch-Indonesian Round Table Conference, Ro ...
nine years before. All parties eventually agreed, and on 5 October 1959, the 1945 Constitution was reimposed by
presidential decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, royal figure, or other relevant authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislative laws, or customary l ...
. Later that year, Nasution and Gatot Soebroto decided against taking further action against Soeharto after his dismissal from the command of the Diponegoro Division following revelations of involvement in smuggling. Gatot Soebroto died suddenly in Jakarta on 11 June 1962 and was buried in a Buddhist funeral ceremony in the village of Kalirejo Ungaran near Semarang. A week later, he was declared a
National Hero of Indonesia National Hero of Indonesia () is the highest-level Orders, decorations, and medals of Indonesia, title awarded in Indonesia. It is posthumously given by the Government of Indonesia for actions which are deemed to be heroic, defined as "actual de ...
via Presidential Decision No.222/1962.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soebroto, Gatot 1907 births 1962 deaths Indonesian Buddhists Indonesian generals Members of Pembela Tanah Air National Heroes of Indonesia People from Banyumas Regency