Permesta

Permesta was a rebel movement in Indonesia. It was founded on 2 March 1957 by civil and military leaders in Eastern Indonesia. Initially the center of the movement was in Makassar, which at that time was the capital of the province of Sulawesi. However, support for the movement in South Sulawesi gradually dissipated, forcing the headquarters to move to Manado in North Sulawesi. On 17 February 1958, Permesta joined forces with the Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia (PRRI or Pemerintah Revolusioner Republik Indonesia) based in Sumatra that declared a revolutionary government two days earlier. Following successful attacks by government forces (TNI) from the Indonesian central government on the PRRI in Sumatra, the conflict swung to the east where the Permesta rebels were based. Manado was captured at the end of June 1958. However, the Permesta rebels continued their resistance, fighting a guerrilla campaign against the TNI until the last remnants surrendered and were given amnesty in 1961. The conflict killed 4,000 government soldiers and 2,000 Permesta rebels. The name "Permesta" is a syllabic abbreviation of the Indonesian Perjuangan Semesta meaning Universal Struggle Charter.