The Making of Future Leaders: The Role of Gyugun Kanbu Alumni in South Sumatra (1945–1967)

Abstract

This study examines the role of Gyugun military education in Pagar Alam during the Japanese occupation in shaping future military and political leaders in South Sumatra throughout Indonesia’s post-independence period. Employing a historical method—comprising heuristic, verification, interpretation, and historiographical stages—the research draws upon primary sources from the South Sumatra Regional Archives and online repositories such as Delpher, the National Archives, and Trove, along with secondary materials including history books, academic journals, and previous studies. The findings reveal that Gyugun education not only instilled military discipline but also cultivated leadership, responsibility, and nationalism among its cadets. Alumni of Gyugun played crucial roles in armed resistance, the establishment of the Indonesian National Army (TNI), and the emergence of a “new elite” that occupied strategic positions in politics, bureaucracy, and the economy from the early independence period through the New Order era. The study highlights that the formation of national leadership was decentralised and significantly influenced by local actors outside Java. This research underscores the need to reposition national historiography to more inclusively reflect regional contributions to state formation. It further encourages interdisciplinary approaches to deepen understanding of civil–military relations and elite transformation in post-independence Indonesia.