General Yani
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ahmad Yani (19 June 1922 – 1 October 1965) was the Commander 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 ...
, and was killed by members of the
30 September Movement The Thirtieth of September Movement (, also known as G30S, and by the syllabic abbreviation Gestapu for ''Gerakan September Tiga Puluh'', Thirtieth of September Movement, also unofficially called Gestok, for ''Gerakan Satu Oktober'', or Fir ...
during an attempt to kidnap him from his house.


Early life

Ahmad Yani was born in Jenar,
Purworejo Purworejo is a regency (; ) in the southern part of Central Java province in Indonesia. It covers an area of 1,081.45 km2 and had a population of 695,427 at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 769,880 at the 2020 Census ...
,
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
on 19 June 1922 to the Wongsoredjo family that worked at a sugar factory run by a Dutch owner. In 1927, Yani moved with his family to Batavia, where his father worked for a Dutch general. There, Yani finished his primary education, leaving high school in 1940 to undergo compulsory military service in the colonial Army of the Dutch East Indies, initially training as a navy
seaman Seaman may refer to: * Sailor, a member of a marine watercraft's crew * Seaman (rank), a military rank in some navies * Seaman (name) (including a list of people with the name) * ''Seaman'' (video game), a 1999 simulation video game for the Seg ...
. He studied military topography in
Malang Malang (; , ), historically known as Tumapel, is an inland List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of East Java. It has a history dating back to the age of the Singhasari, Singhasari K ...
,
East Java East Java (, , ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost third of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean border its northern ...
, but this was interrupted by the Japanese invasion in 1942, forcing Yani and his family back to
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 ...
. In 1943, he joined the Japanese-sponsored PETA army, and underwent further training 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 ...
as an artillery officer and then as a platoon commander; he moved to
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.
,
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 ...
for the latter, after which he returned to Magelang as an instructor.


Indonesian military career

After
Independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
in 1945, Yani joined the army of the fledgling republic and fought against the Dutch. During the first months after the Declaration of Independence, Yani formed a battalion with himself as commander, and led it to victory against the British at Magelang. Yani followed this up with a successful defence of Magelang against a Dutch attempt to retake the city, earning him the nickname of the "Savior of Magelang". He was also noted in this period for the series of
guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...
offensives he launched in early 1949 to distract the Dutch, whilst Lieutenant Colonel
Suharto Suharto (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian Officer (armed forces), military officer and politician, and dictator, who was the second and longest serving president of Indonesia, serving from 1967 to 1998. His 32 years rule, cha ...
prepared for the 1 March General Offensive targeting
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 ...
and its suburbs. After Indonesia's independence was formally recognised by
the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
in 1949, Yani was transferred to Tegal, Central Java. In 1952, he was called back into action to fight Darul Islam, a group of rebels seeking to establish a
theocracy Theocracy is a form of autocracy or oligarchy in which one or more deity, deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries, with executive and legislative power, who manage the government's ...
. To deal with the rebels, Yani formed the special forces group, the Banteng Raiders (now the
400th Raider Infantry Battalion The 400th Raider Infantry Battalion () is one of the 42 active Indonesian Army Raider Infantry Battalions. It was founded on 23 March 1953 and was transformed into its present form on Army Day, 22 December 2003 - one of the first generation Rai ...
,
Kodam IV/Diponegoro KODAM IV/Diponegoro or IV ''Military Regional Command/Diponegoro'' () is a military area command (effectively a military district) of the Indonesian Army. It covers the provinces of Central Java and Special Region of Yogyakarta on the island of ...
). Over the next three years, Darul Islam forces 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 ...
suffered successive defeats. In December 1955, Yani left for the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
to study at the
Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...
at
Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth, Kansas, Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., an ...
. Returning in 1956, Yani was transferred to Army Headquarters in Jakarta where he became a staff member for General
Abdul Haris Nasution Abdul Haris Nasution (; 3 December 1918 – 6 September 2000) was a high-ranking Indonesian general and politician. He served in the military during the Indonesian National Revolution and remained in the military during the subsequent turmoil of ...
. At Army Headquarters, Yani served as Logistics Assistant to the Army Chief of Staff, before becoming Deputy Army Chief of Staff for Organization and Personnel. In August 1958, he commanded '' Operation 17 August'' against the
Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia The Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia (, PRRI) was a revolutionary government set up in Sumatra to oppose the central government of Indonesia in 1958. Although frequently referred to as the PRRI/Permesta rebellion, the Perm ...
in
West Sumatra West Sumatra () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is on the west coast of the island of Sumatra and includes the Mentawai Islands off that coast. West Sumatra borders the Indian Ocean to the west, as well as the provinces of ...
. His troops managed to recapture
Padang Padang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of West Sumatra. It had a population of 833,562 at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 909,040 at the 2020 Census;Bad ...
and
Bukittinggi Bukittinggi (, Jawi script, Jawi: , formerly ) is the third largest city in West Sumatra, Indonesia, with a population of 111,312 in 2010Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 121,028 in 2020.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. An official es ...
, and this success led to his being promoted to 2nd deputy Army chief of staff on 1 September 1962, and then Army Chief of Staff on 28 June 1962 (thus automatically becoming a member of
Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...
), replacing General Nasution, who was appointed
Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...
.


Assassination

As 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 ...
was closer to the
Indonesian Communist Party The Communist Party of Indonesia ( Indonesian: ''Partai Komunis Indonesia'', PKI) was a communist party in the Dutch East Indies and later Indonesia. It was the largest non-ruling communist party in the world before its violent disbandment in ...
(PKI) in the early 1960s, the staunchly anticommunist Yani became very wary of the PKI, especially after the Party declared its support for the establishment of a people’s militia, with Sukarno trying to impose his ''
Nasakom Nasakom (), which stands for nationalism, religion and communism, was a political concept coined by President Sukarno. This concept prevailed in Indonesia from 1959 during the Guided Democracy Era until the New Order, in 1966. Sukarno's idea of ...
'' (Nationalism-Religion-Communism) doctrine on the military. Both Yani and Nasution procrastinated when ordered by Sukarno on 31 May 1965 to prepare plans to arm the people. In the early hours of 1 October 1965, the
30 September Movement The Thirtieth of September Movement (, also known as G30S, and by the syllabic abbreviation Gestapu for ''Gerakan September Tiga Puluh'', Thirtieth of September Movement, also unofficially called Gestok, for ''Gerakan Satu Oktober'', or Fir ...
attempted to kidnap seven members of the Army general staff. A squad of about 200 soldiers surrounded Yani’s home on No. 6, Latuharhary Street in the Jakarta suburb of
Menteng Menteng is a district () in the administrative city of Central Jakarta, Indonesia. Menteng is surrounded by the districts of Senen and Matraman to the east, Tebet and Setiabudi to the south, Tanah Abang to the west, and Gambir to the north. ...
. Usually, Yani had eleven men guarding his home; his wife later reported another six were assigned to him a week before. These men were from the command of Colonel Latief, who, unbeknownst to Yani, was one of the main plotters in 30 September Movement. According to Yani’s wife, the additional men did not appear for duty that night. Yani and his children were asleep in the house while she was out with a group of friends and relatives celebrating her birthday. She later recounted that as she drove away from the home at about 11:00 pm, she noticed someone sitting in the shadows across the street as if keeping the house under surveillance. She thought nothing of it at the time, but following the events later that morning she wondered differently. Also, from about 9:00 pm on the evening of 30 September, a series of phone calls were made to the house at intervals, which when answered would be met with mere silence or a voice asking for the time. The phone calls continued until about 1:00 am, and Mrs Yani said she had a premonition something was wrong that night. Yani spent the evening with official callers; at 7:00 pm, he received a colonel from the Supreme Operations Command. General
Basuki Rahmat Major General (Retired, Ret) Basuki Rahmat (4 November 1921 – 8 January 1969) was an Indonesian general, National Hero of Indonesia, National Hero and a witness to the signing of the Supersemar document transferring power from President Sukarno ...
, divisional commander in
East Java East Java (, , ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost third of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean border its northern ...
, then arrived from his headquarters in
Surabaya Surabaya is the capital city of East Java Provinces of Indonesia, province and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern corner of Java island, on the Madura Strai ...
. Basuki had come to Jakarta to report to Yani of his concerns over increasing Communist activity in East Java. After complimenting his report, Yani asked him to accompany him to his meeting the next morning with the President to relay his account. When Yani’s would-be abductors came to his home and said he was to be brought before the President, Yani asked for time to bathe and change clothes. When they refused, he angrily slapped one of the soldiers, then tried to shut the front door of his house. One of his assailants then opened fire, killing him. His body was taken to
Lubang Buaya Lubang Buaya (literally "crocodile's pit") is an administrative village (''kelurahan'' in Indonesian) in Cipayung, East Jakarta, Indonesia, located on the outskirts of Jakarta near the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base. It is the site of the m ...
on the outskirts of Jakarta and, with the bodies of other murdered generals, was thrown down a disused well. The corpses were disinterred on 4 October, and all were given a state funeral the next day, being buried at the National Main Heroes’ Cemetery in Kalibata,
South Jakarta South Jakarta (; ), abbreviated as Jaksel, is one of the five administrative cities which form the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, Indonesia. South Jakarta is not self-governed and does not have a city council, hence it is not classified as a ...
. On the same day, Yani and his colleagues were officially declared '' Pahlawan Revolusi'' (“Heroes of the Revolution”) by Presidential Decision No. 111/KOTI/1965. Yani’s was posthumously promoted from
lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...
to a 4-star general (). After the assassination, Mrs Yani and her children moved out of their Latuharhary Street home, and she helped transform the house into a public museum. It is preserved largely as it was in October 1965, from the furniture to the bullet holes in the front door and walls. Today, many Indonesian cities have roads named after Yani, and the Ahmad Yani International Airport in
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 ...
is named after him.


Honours


National honours

* Star of the Republic of Indonesia, 2nd Class () ''(posthumous)'' (10 November 1965) * Star of the Republic of Indonesia, 3rd Class () (10 January 1963) * Sacred Star () * Guerrilla Star () * Indonesian Armed Forces "8 Years" Service Star () * Military Long Service Medal, 16 Years Service () * 1st Independence War Medal () * 2nd Independence War Medal () * Military Operational Service Medal for Madiun 1947 () * Military Operational Service Medal for Central Java 1960 () * "Sapta Marga" Medal () * Military Service Medal for Irian Jaya 1962 ()


Foreign honours

*: ** Second Rank of the Order of the People's Army with Golden Star (1958)


References


Further reading

*


Further reading

* Bachtiar, Harsja W. (1988), ''Siapa Dia?: Perwira Tinggi Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Darat (Who is S/He?: Senior Officers of the Indonesian Army)'', Penerbit Djambatan, Jakarta, * Mutiara Sumber Widya (publisher) (1999) ''Album Pahlawan Bangsa (Albam of National Heroes)'', Jakarta * Riklefs (1982), ''A History of Modern Indonesia'', Macmillan Southeast Asian reprint, * Sekretariat Negara Republik Indonesia (1975) ''30 Tahun Indonesia Merdeka: Jilid 3 (1965–1973) (30 Years of Indonesian Independence: Volume 3 (1965–1973)'' * Secretariat Negara Republik Indonesia (1994) ''Gerakan 30 September Pemberontakan Partai Komunis Indonesia: Latar Belakang, Aksi dan Penumpasannya (30 September Movement/Communist Party of Indonesia: Backgrounds, Actions and its Annihilation)'' * Simanjuntak, P.H.H (2003) ''Kabinet-Kabinet Republik Indonesia: Dari Awal Kemerdekaan Sampai Reformasi (Cabinets of the Republic of Indonesia: From the Start of Independence to the Reform Era'', Penerbit Djambatan, Jakarta, * Sudarmanto, Y.B. (1996) ''Jejak-Jejak Pahlawan dari Sultan Agung hingga Syekh Yusuf (The Footsteps of Heroes from Sultan Agung to Syekh Yusuf''), Penerbit Grasindo, Jakarta {{DEFAULTSORT:Yani, Ahmad 1922 births 1965 deaths Javanese people Assassinated Indonesian people Chiefs of staff of the Indonesian Army Indonesian anti-communists Indonesian generals Indonesian Muslims Members of Pembela Tanah Air National Heroes of Indonesia People from Purworejo Regency