State in Southeast Asia from 1948 to 1962
The first fourteen years of independent
Burma (Myanmar)
were marred by several
communist
and
ethnic
insurgencies. Prominent insurgent groups during this period include the
Communist Party of Burma
(CPB, "white flags") led by
Thakin Than Tun
, the
Communist Party (Burma)
("red flags") led by
Thakin Soe
, the People's Volunteer Organisation (
Yebaw Hpyu
) led by Bo La Yaung (a member of the
Thirty Comrades
), the Revolutionary Burma Army (RBA) led by communist officers Bo Zeya, Bo Yan Aung and Bo Ye Htut (all three of them members of the Thirty Comrades), and the
Karen National Union
(KNU).
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History
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Remote areas of
northern Burma
were for many years controlled by
an army of Kuomintang (KMT) forces
after the
Communist victory
in China in 1949.
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Burma accepted foreign assistance in rebuilding the country in these early years, but continued American support for the Chinese Nationalist military presence in Burma finally resulted in the country rejecting most foreign aid, refusing to join the
Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation
(SEATO) and supporting the
Bandung Conference
of 1955.
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Burma generally strove to be impartial in world affairs and was one of the first countries in the world to recognise
Israel
and
China
.
By 1958, the country was largely beginning to recover economically, but was beginning to fall apart politically due to a split in the
Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League
(AFPFL) into two factions, one led by Thakins Nu and Tin, the other by
Ba Swe
and
Kyaw Nyein
.
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[4]
This was despite the unexpected success of
U Nu
's "Arms for Democracy" offer taken up by U Seinda in
Arakan
, the
Pa'O
, some
Mon
and
Shan
groups, but more significantly by the PVO surrendering their arms.
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The situation became very unstable in
parliament
, with U Nu surviving a
no-confidence vote
only with the support of the opposition
National United Front
(NUF), believed to have "crypto-communists" amongst them.
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Army hardliners now saw the 'threat' of the CPB coming to an agreement with U Nu through the NUF, and in the end U Nu "invited" Army Chief of Staff General
Ne Win
to take over the country.
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Over 400 "communist sympathisers" were arrested, of which 153 were deported to the
Coco Islands
in the
Andaman Sea
. Among them was the NUF leader
Aung Than
, older brother of
Aung San
. The
Botataung
,
Kyemon
and
Rangoon Daily
were also closed down.
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Ne Win's
caretaker government
successfully stabilised the situation and paved the way for new general elections in 1960 that returned U Nu's
Union Party
with a large majority.
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The situation did not remain stable for long, when the
Shan
Federal Movement, started by
Nyaung Shwe
Sawbwa
Sao Shwe Thaik
(the first President of independent Burma 1948?1952) and aspiring to a "loose"
federation
, was seen as a
separatist
movement insisting on the government honouring the right to secession in ten years provided for by the 1947 Constitution.
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Ne Win had already succeeded in stripping the Shan
Sawbwas
of their feudal powers in exchange for comfortable pensions for life in 1959. He staged a
coup d'etat on 2 March 1962
, arrested U Nu, Sao Shwe Thaik and several others, and declared a
socialist state
run by the
Union Revolutionary Council
(URC), which consisted of senior military officers. Sao Shwe Thaik's son, Sao Mye Thaik, was shot dead in what was generally described as a "bloodless" coup.
Thibaw
Sawbwa
Sao Kya Seng
also disappeared mysteriously after being stopped at a checkpoint near
Taunggyi
.
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The URC later founded the
Burma Socialist Programme Party
(BSPP) on 4 July 1962 to nominally separate the powers of the military from the government and to lead a
one-party state
.
Notes
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References
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Citations
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Sources
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16°51′N
096°11′E
/
16.850°N 96.183°E
/
16.850; 96.183