After gaining its independence from the Netherlands in 1949, Indonesia was the world’s second-largest postcolonial state. At the Bandung Conference, its leader, Sukarno, joined forces with leaders from India, Egypt, and Yugoslavia to chart a new path in world affairs. Indonesia also had one of the world’s largest communist parties, with a mass membership and a network of allied organizations mobilizing workers, women, artists, and young people against the country’s dominant social classes.

It was the threat of social mobilization from below that prompted the Indonesian officer corps to stage a coup in 1965, followed by one of the century’s bloodiest massacres. Politicians in Washington openly celebrated this campaign of mass murder and gave it their enthusiastic support.

Michael G. Vann is a professor of history at Sacramento State University. This is an edited transcript from Jacobin Radio’s Long Reads podcast. You can listen to the episode here.