Burma has one of the most eclectic cultural mixes in all of Asia. This began with the migration of three groups, the Mons from present-day Cambodia, the Mongol Burmans from the Himalayas and the Thais from northern Thailand. The territory that is now Burma, was first united under King Anawratha in present day Bagan. However, this unification was short lived and it took 250 years before Burma was reunified in the mid-16th Century under a series of Taungoo kings.
Border clashes with British troops, economic potential and empire expansion lead the British to invade Burma. It took three invasions to control the whole of Burma in 1824, 1852 and 1883. Burma, under the British rule was annexed to India. The British brought with it colonial infrastructure and developed the country into a major rice exporter, and other export businesses, such as teak and gems. In 1937 Burma separated from India.
In World War II, a group, led by Aung San and including Ne Win, founded the Burmese National Army, which fought along side the Japanese to drive the British out of Burma. However, before the end of the war, they realised that the Japanese were just another colonial power, and what they really wanted was independence. So the Burmese National Army changed sides and fought with the allied forces to expel the Japanese.
Following World War II, the British agreed to Burma's independence and elections were held in April 1947. Aung San and his new anti-fascism 'People's Freedom League' party won. However, Aung San and most of his government were assasinated three months later.
Despite this on January 4 1948 Burma gained independence and became the Union of Burma. Each state - primarily made up of an ethnic population - was given, to some degree, autonomy and the option to leave after anumber of years and became a totally autonomous entity. However, people in the ethnic areas began to realise that this would not happen. The Burmese army started becoming more aggressive and entering areas where they had not been before.
In 1948 the Burman's controlled the area surrounding Rangoon, the rest was controlled by the different ethnic groups and these areas were wealthier, they had large natural resources, such as Teak and oil, and they shared boarders with other countries. Once they realised that their independence would not be granted, many ethnic groups and religious minorities revolted and formed armed resistance groups.
In 1958 Prime Minister U Nu invited the army to help restore the government's political power, which for 18 months; the army had pretty much limit less power.
In 1962 Burma's troubled democracy was ousted in a military coup by General Ne Win. During the coup the constitution was abolished and a military government took over the running of the country. Consequently, the government's policies also changed, they became xenophobic and put the country on the path to socialism.
Very quickly the country changed. In 1939 under the British Burma was the world's largest rice exporter and it had a successful export business in teak and gems. Burma was one of the richest countries in South East Asia. After 1962, it became the poorest. All business were nationalized, all privately owned stores were closed and replaced with ones that were controlled by the state. No one received compensation for these seizures. Many people lost their jobs. A black market emerged and it was the only way to find essential items.
Also due to the xenophobic nature of the military leaders, people who were not Burmese were encouraged to leave the country. A lot of Indian and Chinese who were entrepreneurs were expelled from Burma.
The situation was bad. The people were poor. They had no control over their situations, they were desperate. This situation led to social unrest within the population.
On August 8th, 1988 the unrest came to a head with pro-democracy protest against the Ne Win government, lead by students. The protestors clashed with military forces and at least 3000 students were killed, a large number of people went missing, and all universities were closed. Many students, especially in the ethnic areas joined the armed struggle, other students fled into neighbouring countries. Approximately 10,000 students fled to the hills and border areas.
After the protests there was another military coup and Ne Win was replaced by General Saw Maung and his State Law and Restoration Council (SLORC). Maung declared Burma to be in a state of emergency which resulted in the military-law. Many more people were killed during this period. Maung also suspended the constitution and changed the name of the country to the Union of Myanmar, because the Union of Burma, as it had previously been known, was an outdated colonial term.
However, he also agreed to hold free elections in 1989. A group quickly formed a coalition party in opposition to the military run dictatorship, called the National League of Democracy (NLD). Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of independence crusader Aung San, emerged as the leader of the NLD. Following the protests she began giving speeches about democracy and Burma's future which gained support from the people.
During this time SLORC began to change some of their policies in an effort to boost their support from the people. The most notable change was from that of the closed door socialism to, while still controlled, capitalism. Despite SLORC's efforts Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD's support continued to grow.
The popularity and support for Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD was obvious and the SLORC began to realise that they would not win the elections. They put Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of the NLD under house arrest so they could not campaign. They also relocated villagers, as to alter the voter make up in SLORC's favour, and they began a campaign of fear and intimidation.
Despite these efforts the NLD won by a landslide, 392 of the 485 seats in fact. However after the results were announced SLORC tried to claim that the election was not to see who would become a member of government, but rather as steering committee for the new constitution. SLORC refused to acknowledge the results and imprisoned the elected members of parliament who would not go along with SLORC's ideas.
SLORC continued its xenophobic policy and continued to oppress the ethnic minorities of Burma (Click here to see more about these ethnic groups). They continued the "Four Cuts" policy, which had been in action since the 1960s, and aimed to cut
Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest in July 1995; however she could not travel outside of Rangoon. Her release followed an increase in international attention on her, her imprisonment and Burma itself. In 1991 she was received the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1997 SLORC abolished itself and formed the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). This party was under the leadership of General Khin Nyunt who had instrumental in suppressing the pro-democracy protests in 1988. While the party may have changed, and some of the senior SLORC ministers had been fired, in essences the same unelected people continued running the country.
The SPDC started to hold talks with the NLD in 2000; however they re-arrested Aung San Suu Kyi after she tried to leave Rangoon. Through talks between the SPDC and NLD with the help of a UN negotiator, Aung San Suu Kyi was released again in May 2002. Both sides agreed to continue talking, and there was hope for democracy to come to Burma.
But in May 2003 a group of democracy supporters, NLD members and Aung San Suu Kyi were attacked by pro-government supporters in northern Burma. Many people were imprisoned, raped, murdered and injured, and Aung San Suu Kyi was again placed under house arrest.
Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt announced in September 2003 a seven-point 'road-map' to democracy. However, this road map came under criticism from the international community and from opposition groups in Burma. In May 2004 the SPDC reconvened a national convention to draft a new constitution. Delegates of the national convention were selected by the SPDC and the NLD and other ethnic opposition groups boycotted the event. It was suspended indefinitely in JULY.
At the end of October 2004, there was another coup in Burma, with General Khin Nyunt being allowed to resign for "health reasons" while being under house arrest. He was allegedly ousted for being too inclined for democratic reformed, and his successor, General Soa Win, is a military hardliner.
