After a failed coup blamed on the Communist Party, the army and allied militias kill an estimated 500,000 or more suspected leftists, and Suharto takes power.
Contested history
Consensus: The Indonesian army and allied civilian groups killed hundreds of thousands of suspected communists in 1965-66 after the 30 September Movement's failed coup, and the death toll and foreign role remain contested.
The army organized and directed the killingsEstablished
Archival research, including army documents studied by Jess Melvin and Geoffrey Robinson, shows the army planned and coordinated the campaign.
Death toll of roughly 500,000 to 1 millionDebated
No full count exists; most scholarly estimates fall in this range, with some lower and higher figures.
The U.S. and Britain knew of and supported the campaignEstablished
Declassified U.S. Embassy files released in 2017 show officials tracked the killings and supplied lists and encouragement.
The PKI leadership planned the 30 September MovementDebated
Some PKI leaders were involved, but how far the party as a whole directed the plot is still argued by historians.
The killings were spontaneous communal violenceMinority view
Once the dominant official account, this has been undercut by evidence of army planning and logistics.