The Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) was founded on August 8, 1920. It was the first and largest communist party in Southeast Asia. The PKI played a major role in the Indonesian National Revolution, and was the third-largest political party in the country after the Indonesian National Party (PNI) and the Muslim-based Masyumi Party.
The PKI was banned by the Dutch colonial authorities in 1926, and went underground. In 1927, the party was reorganised into two wings, the “legal” or …