Brief History of Burma

<h2 style="text-align: left;">     Burma is a majority Buddhist nation of about 52 million people located in Southeast Asia to the west of Thailand. Two-thirds of the population belongs to the Burman ethnic group and the remaining third belong to over 100 different other ethnic groups. Given this diverse population, ongoing ethnic conflicts have existed for over a millennium, dating back to Burman kings conquests of various groups in the 10th century. Conflict continues today between the Burmese regime and the various ethnic nationalities and has affected the lives of millions of civilians. In 1884, the British gained complete control over Burma after sixty years of war. During British colonial rule, ethnic tensions were further aggravated as certain ethnic groups were favored over others. At this time, Burma constituted territory inhabited by several different ethnic groups, including the Burman, Shan, Karen, Kachin, Karenni, Chin, Mon, Rakhaing, and others. Previously, as was the case with many British colonies, these ethnic groups were brought together under British control without regard for previous sovereignty or territorial boundaries. Burmese nationalists, led by General Aung San and 29 other “Comrades,” fought the British for independence during the final years of World War II and demanded complete political and economic independence from Britain. The British Government acceded to these demands. General Aung San met with leaders of several of Burma’s ethnic nationalities to discuss forming a Federal Union of Burma. In February 1947, they signed the Panglong Agreement, which stated they would form a Federal Union of Burma granting a degree of autonomy to the ethnic nationalities. A constitution was completed in 1947 and independence granted in January 1948. General Aung San was assassinated with most of his cabinet before the constitution went into effect. Aung San’s assassination became a major impediment to maintaining peace and stability in the Union of Burma. Non-Burman ethnic groups were not pleased with the actions and policies of the leaders who replaced Aung San, feeling their autonomy was threatened. The years from 1947 to 1962 were tumultuous times in Burma. Upset with what they considered nonexistent and an eroding sense of autonomy, several ethnic groups formed their own armies during this time period. Shortly following these events, the Union of Burma collapsed. In 1962, the military staged a coup and took over the government and has ruled the country with an iron fist ever since. The military regime instituted the Burmese Way to Socialism, which included the expulsion of foreign investors in order to economically isolate the country. Burma is flush with natural resources including rubies, land, water, natural gas, coal, and petroleum. Yet, due to the military regime’s economic policy, Burma has fallen from the rice basket of Asia to one of the least developed countries in the world. As the Burmese economy collapsed in 1987, sporadic protests against the military regime became a nationwide movement for reform culminating in the largest protests in Burma’s history on August 8th, 1988 with Aung San Suu Kyi emerging as a prominent leader. Unfortunately, though multiparty elections were held in 1990, the military regime ignored how Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, won with an overwhelming majority. The regime continued to rule with an iron fist and imprisoned many of the would-be elected political leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate.   </h2>