ABSTRACT
Towards the end of 1945, the young Republic faced three enormous challenges. We have highlighted two of these in previous chapters: how to contain the violence of young revolutionary pemuda, and how to navigate between compromise and intransigence during its negotiations with the Netherlands and secure international recognition at the same time. The third problem was one that lay closer to home: who was in charge in the Republic, and what ideological course should be followed? Was the struggle for independence also a social revolution? This was the subject of intense debate between October 1945 and April 1946.
