HISTORY
Burma was unified by Burman dynasties
three times during the past millennium. The first such unification
came with the foundation of the Pagan Dynasty in 1044 AD, which
is considered the "Golden Age" in Burmese history. It is during
this period that Theravada Buddhism first made its appearance
in Burma, and the Pagan kings built a massive city with thousands
of pagodas and monasteries along the Irrawaddy River. The Pagan
Dynasty lasted until 1287 when a Mongol invasion destroyed the
city. Ethnic Shan rulers, who established a political center at
Ava, filled the ensuing political vacuum for a short time.
In the 15th century, the Taungoo Dynasty succeeded again in unifying under Burman rule a large, multi-ethnic kingdom. This dynasty, which lasted from 1486 until 1752, left little cultural legacy, but expanded the kingdom through conquest of the Shans. Internal power struggles, and the cost of protracted warfare, led to the eventual decline of the Taungoo Dynasty.
The final Burman royal dynasty, the
Konbaung, was established in 1752 under the rule of King Alaungpaya.
Like the Toungoo Kings, the Konbaung rulers focused on warfare
and conquest. Wars were fought with the ethnic Mons and Arkanese,
and with the Siamese. The Burmese sacked the Siamese capital of
Ayuthaya in 1767. This period also saw four invasions by the Chinese
and three devastating wars with the British.
The British began their conquest
of Burma in 1824, expanding their holdings after each of the three
wars. At the end of the third war in 1885 the British gained complete
control of Burma, annexing it to India. Under British control,
which lasted until 1948, Burma underwent enormous change. The
British established strong administrative institutions and reorganized
the economy from subsistence farming to a largescale export economy.
By 1939 Burma had become the world's leading exporter of rice.
Burmese nationalists, led by General Aung San and 29 other "Comrades," joined the Japanese forces in driving out the British at the outbreak of World War II. However, the Burmese Army switched sides in mid-1945 and aided U.S. and British forces in their drive to Rangoon. After the war, the Burmese, with General Aung San at the helm, demanded complete political and economic independence from Britain. The British Government acceded to these demands. 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.
During the constitutional period from 1948 to 1962, Burma suffered widespread conflict and internal struggle. Constitutional disputes and persistent division among political and ethnic groups contributed to the democratic government's weak hold on power. In 1958, Prime Minister U Nu invited the military to rule temporarily to restore political order. The military stepped down after 18 months; however, in 1962 General Ne Win led a military coup, abolishing the constitution and establishing a xenophobic military government with socialist economic policies. These policies had devastating effects on the country's economy and business climate.
In March 1988, student-led disturbances broke out in Rangoon in response to the worsening economic situation and evolved into a call for regime change. Despite repeated violent crackdowns by the military and police, the demonstrations increased in size as many in the general public joined the students. During mass demonstrations on August 8, 1988, military forces killed more than 1,000 demonstrators. At a rally following this massacre Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of General Aung San, made her first political speech and assumed the role of opposition leader.
In September 1988, the military deposed Ne Win's Burmese Socialist Program Party (BSPP), suspended the constitution, and established a new ruling junta called the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). In an effort to "restore order," the SLORC sent the army into the streets to suppress the ongoing public demonstrations. An estimated additional 3,000 were killed, and more than 10,000 students fled into the hills and border areas.
The SLORC ruled by martial law until
national parliamentary elections were held on May 27, 1990. The
results were an overwhelming victory for Aung San Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy (NLD) party, which won 392 of the 485 seats,
even though she was under house arrest. However, the SLORC refused
to call the Parliament into session and imprisoned many political
activists.
The ruling junta changed its name to the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in 1997, but did not change its policy of autocratic control and repression of the democratic opposition. It continued to subject Aung San Suu Kyi to varying forms of detention and other restrictions on her movement, which it periodically lifted only to reinstate later. In 2000, the SPDC began talks with the political opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi. These talks were followed by the release of political prisoners and some increase in political freedoms for the NLD. In May 2002, Aung San Suu Kyi was allowed to leave her home, and subsequently traveled widely throughout the country, where she was greeted by large crowds. On May 30, 2003, Aung San Suu Kyi and a convoy of her supporters were attacked by a group of regime-affiliated thugs. Many members of the convoy were killed or injured, and others disappeared. Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of her party were detained, and the military government forcibly closed the offices of the NLD. Today, only the NLD headquarters in Rangoon is open, all the party's other offices remain closed, and Aung San Suu Kyi and NLD Vice Chairman U Tin Oo remain under house arrest.
In October 2004, hard-line members of the senior leadership consolidated their power by ousting Prime Minister Khin Nyunt and removing him and his allies from control of the government and military intelligence apparatus. In late November 2004, the junta announced it would release approximately 9,000 prisoners it claimed had been improperly jailed by Khin Nyunt's National Intelligence Bureau. Approximately 86 of those released had been imprisoned for their political beliefs. Those released since November 2004 include Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi, both key figures in the 1988 demonstrations. On July 6, 2005, authorities released 323 additional political prisoners and on January 3, 2007, the authorities released over 2,800 prisoners, of whom over 40 were political prisoners. In August 2007 the regime re-arrested Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi, and subsequently arrested thousands of political activists and young people after demonstrations in September 2007. Over 2,100 political activists are held in prisons around the country.
Following a sharp increase in fuel prices on August 15, 2007, pro-democracy
groups began a series of peaceful marches and demonstrations to protest the
deteriorating economic situation in Burma. The regime responded by arbitrarily
detaining over 150 pro-democracy activists between August 15 and September 11.
On August 28, as popular dissatisfaction spread, Buddhist monks began leading
peaceful marches. On September 5, security forces violently broke up
demonstrations by monks resulting in injuries and triggering calls for a
nationwide response and a government apology. Beginning on September 18, monks
resumed their peaceful protests in several cities throughout the country. These
marches grew quickly to include ordinary citizens, culminating in a gathering of
approximately 10,000 protestors in Rangoon on September 24. On September 25, the
regime tried to stop the protests by imposing a curfew and banning public
gatherings. On September 26 and 27, the regime renewed its violent crackdown,
shooting, beating, and arbitrarily detaining thousands of monks, pro-democracy
activists, and onlookers. Underestimating the number of deaths during the
crackdown, the regime confirmed the deaths of only 10 protestors. Some
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) estimated the number of casualties to be
much higher, and in his December 7, 2007 report to the UN General Assembly,
Special Rapporteur Paulo Sergio Pinheiro stated that there were over 30
fatalities in Rangoon associated with the September 2007 protests. In
retribution for leading protest marches, monks were beaten and arrested, many
monks were disrobed, and several monasteries were raided, ransacked, and closed.
In addition to the more than 1,100 political prisoners whose arrests predate the
September 2007 crackdown, another thousand or more were detained due to their
participation in the recent protests. Additional people continued to be arrested
through the end of May 2008.
In February 2008 the government announced that it had completed its draft of a new constitution and it would hold a referendum in May to be followed by multi-party elections in 2010. While the referendum law provided for a secret ballot, free debate was not permitted and activities considered "interfering with the referendum" carried a three-year prison sentence. Despite the major humanitarian disaster precipitated by Cyclone Nargis, which struck Burma May 2-3, the regime insisted on carrying out the referendum, and voting took place on May 10 in most of the country and on May 24 in areas affected by the cyclone. The referendum was rife with irregularities; voters arriving at polling stations were advised that their ballots had already been cast; officials distributed ballots that had previously been completed; vote counts in most areas were conducted in secret; and voters were intimidated by officials to vote in support of the constitution. On May 27, the government announced that 92.5% of voters approved the constitution, with a 98% voter turnout.
