 Burma - Prehistory
Burma's prehistory is among the worst explored in Southeast Asia, and dating
of finds is fraught with great uncertainty. In 1937-38, an American expedition
found a series of roughly hewn tools from both the older and
younger Paleolithic in the river terraces along the east side of the Irrawaddy
River from Magwe south of Mandalay to Nyaung-Oo near Bagan north of Mandalay.
- Countryaah:
What does the flag of Burma look like? Follow this link, then you will see
the image in PNG format and flag meaning description about this country.
In 1969, excavations of the Padah-Lin Caves west of the Shan Plateau near
Taunggyi began. The finds belong to the Hoabinh culture, known throughout
mainland Southeast Asia. Most interesting about the Padah-Lin caves, however,
are some cave paintings of people and animals, but it is unknown to what period
or culture they belong. Sharp stone axes from the Neolithic are known as loose
finds from many places in the country, which also applies to surface finds of
bronze axes. These especially show similarities from similar types
from Yunnan in southern China and from northern Thailand. Boiler drums have been
used and produced all the way up to modern times.
Burma - History
The first great kingdoms of present-day Burma were dominated by the Pyu
people of Upper Burma and the monks of southern and present-day Thailand. Pyu
and Mon had close contact with India, and from here Buddhism was introduced
before the year 500 AD. First Mahayana and then Theravada Buddhism left their
mark on the social order of the country. The kings built monasteries and
pagodas, and the king's power was built on his karma, which in turn depended on
support for Buddhism in the form of gifts to the monastic order.
The Bagan Empire was the first kingdom to be ruled by a Burmese ruler,
Anawratha (regent 1044-77). Anawratha built a large-scale temple building in
the capital Bagan, which fell after the Mongol invasion in 1287.
Thereafter, the Shan people came to power, and the capital moved in 1364
to Ava. The following centuries were marked by economic decline. A new dynasty
expanded from Toungoo and conquered in the mid-1500's. Pegu and Ava with the help
of Portuguese soldiers. In addition, the Burmese invaded Thailand and conquered
the capital Ayutthaya. In the early 1600's. the Portuguese ruled the Brito (d.
1613) using cannons and only 400 soldiers in southern Burma.
In the 1700's. Burma was again subjected to a central power, this time the
Konbaung dynasty, founded by King Alaungpaya (1714-60), who ruled 1753-60. He
conquered the last monarchy and fought hard with a revolt that sent thousands of
monk and Karen refugees into Thailand. Alaungpaya allowed the British to set up
timber stations and factories at Bassein and at Cape Negrais, but he then
launched a massacre on them because he suspected them of supporting the
monopoly. He and his sons invaded Thailand several times, seizing more direct
power over border areas and minorities, and building a new
capital, Amarapura.. In 1824, British rulers in India sought to halt Burma's
expansion. The Burmese made strong resistance until 1826; the British lost
approximately 15,000 men and sought and received help from Karen. Burma
ceded Arakan (present-day Rakhine) and the Tenasserim Peninsula to the British,
who were particularly interested in the country's extensive teak forests for
shipbuilding. In 1852, Burma and Britain returned to war. Conversely, American
and British missionaries had a number of Karen, and the King of Burma feared
that the conversion would undermine Buddhism, monarchy, and Burmese culture. The
British conquered Rangoonand the entire Irrawaddy Delta as well as central
Burma, which became part of British India. Under King Mindon (regent 1853-78)
trade with the British expanded. Several border conflicts and Burmese opposition
to British rule triggered the last war between the countries in 1885.
Concessions on the teak trade were a major cause of the conflict, and moreover,
the British feared growing French influence. The weak King Thibaw underestimated
the British, who easily captured Mandalay. Thibaw was sent into exile, the royal
palace and its temples were transformed into respectively. officers' club,
church and prison, and the crown regalia were sent to London. The Burmese were
the most stubborn of all peoples, the British colonized, and their revolt
continued, with the participation of Buddhist monks. In 1930, the
resistance culminated in a major uprising led by the former monk Hsaya San
(1876-1931). The British crushed the revolt; approximately 10,000 Burmese were killed and
Hsaya San and 125 rebels executed.
The British largely administered Burma without involving Burmese. Instead,
doctors, engineers, merchants, money lenders, and workers came in large numbers
from India and China. 'Share and rule' was the model, and the minority areas of
Shan, Kayah, Chin and Kachin were administratively separated from central Burma
and given better terms than the Burmese - a legacy that continues to torture the
Union of Burma. In the 1930's, the organization Dobama ('We Burmese')
was formed by young students under the leadership of Aung San. The movement
supported Japan during World War II, perceiving the war as anti-colonial. The
brutal occupying power of the Japanese, however, caused General Aung San and his
"30 comrades" to change sides. But the British were skeptical of conversion and
distrustful of Aung San and his Anti-Fascist League. The British believed that
the ethnic minorities were entitled to self-government, while Aung San fought to
keep the country united. British companies and individual officers wanted to
preserve the colony, and some secretly supported Aung San's political opponent U
Saw, who in 1947 was behind the assassination attempt on Aung San and seven of
his closest associates.
Independent
After independence in 1948, Burma was divided into a tangle of
insurgency. The country was already heavily affected by the devastation of the
war, and Aung San's successor, U Nu, sought to create peace and build a
democratic tradition, inspired by Buddhism. In the 1950's, remnants of the
nationalist Chinese Guomindang army moved south to Burma and continued to fight
Chinese Communists from there. The uprisings in the country continued and many
feared that the Shan State would leave the union. This led in 1962 to the army
taking power in a coup. Ne Winformed the Burma Socialist Program Party as a
civilian facade, but the military and its intelligence ruled dictatorially and
arbitrarily. Ne Win nationalized the economy and cut off the country from the
outside world. The missionaries were expelled, Indians and Rohingya were
deprived of their citizenship. The students tried to change the regime in
several uprisings. In 1988, the economy collapsed, and Ne Win formally withdrew,
dissolving his party and repealing the constitution. The military retained power
and a popular uprising was brutally defeated. At least 3,000 were killed,
approximately 4000 were imprisoned, and thousands fled. In 1990, the regime held
elections. The opposition was led by Aung San's daughter, Aung San Suu Ky i, and
her National League for Democracy, NLD, which won 80% of the seats in the new
parliament. But the regime, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC),
ignored the result and brutally persecuted the election winners. In the years
1989-2010, Aung San Suu Kyi was under house arrest for a total of over 15
years. Her employees and friends were persecuted and imprisoned. In 1997, SLORC
changed its name to the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), whose
strongman remained General Than Shwe.
During the 1990's and earlier zeros, the military junta entered into ceasefire
agreements with a number of ethnic rebel movements. A constitutional convention
was initiated, ostensibly for the sake of democracy; Aung San Suu Kyi's
supporters boycotted the meetings, which did not lead to a relaxation of the
regime. The regime's powerful man, Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, was surprisingly
removed in 2004, convicted of corruption and placed under house arrest. Than
Shwe took over the formal management of the country. Without notice, in 2005 the
capital was moved from Rangoon to near Pyinmana. Extensive demonstrations
against the regime in 2007 again led to brutal crackdown, not least by Buddhist
monks, who spearheaded the protests. In May 2008, Hurricane Nargis struck
southern Burma, killing at least 138,000 people and causing extensive material
damage in the Irrawaddy Delta. For three weeks, the military government opposed
international aid. The disaster coincided with a referendum on a new
constitution that - after 20 years without a constitution - should legitimize
military rule in the future.
On November 7, 2010, the regime held elections, which the military party for
the occasion, the Union and Solidarity Party, USDP, won with 80% of the
vote. The election was mostly peaceful, but there were many irregularities. The
leading opposition party, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, NLD,
boycotted the election. Democracy activists complained about election
fraud. Shortly after the election, clashes broke out between the army and first
Karene rebels, since conflicts in the Shan and Kachin states also flared up.
Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest a week after the election,
and in March 2011, a nominal civilian government led by former General Thein
Sein inserted; he met in August with Aung San Suu Kyi, and mutual trust paved
the way for a bizarre pairing of democratization and reforms. In October and
again in January 2012, a large number of political prisoners were released. The
outside world's support for the renewals was clear with the US Secretary of
State, Hillary Clinton's visit in December 2011 and, for example, Denmark's
Minister for Development Aid, Christian Friis Bachs shortly after. Subsequently,
demonstrations have been allowed, the parliament has passed a large number of
constructive laws, censorship has been significantly reduced, and in December
2011 and January 2012 the government signed ceasefire agreements with,
respectively. shan and karen groups.
Parliament has proved far more resilient and headstrong than the profile-less
blue-stamping body predicted. The military's quota allocated 25% of members as
well as USDP people ask critical questions and also sometimes vote against the
government's proposal. The NLD gave up its boycott and ran in the by-elections
on April 1, 2012, gaining two-thirds of the vote, which, in line with Burma's
electoral system, gave the party 43 out of 44 possible seats in parliament. Aung
San Suu Kyi thus became opposition leader in the Legislative Assembly
instead of just outside.
In June 2012, violent conflict erupted between the Buddhist majority and
Muslim Rohingya in the southwestern state of Rakhine. The violence flared up
again in March 2013 and spread to other parts of the country. A radical Buddhist
movement led by rabid monks tried to isolate the Muslims, and numerous violent
assaults claimed the lives of hundreds of people, most of them Muslims, and more
than 100,000 were forced to flee.
In the November 2015 election, the NLD under Aung San Suu Kyi won a landslide
victory (approximately 60% of the vote) and the party was given sufficient
representation to form a government. In April 2016, the NLD's Htin Kyaw became
the country's first civilian president since 1962. Aung San Suu Kyi was
prevented from occupying the post due to a rule in the constitution. In return,
she became a special state adviser and it is considered that she is the actual
leader of the government.
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