The first session looks at how the British dismantled the Burmese state upon annexing the country in 1885. This led to almost continuous expressions of popular dissent, the most dramatic of which was the Hsaya San rebellion of 1932. Rob outlines how this fed into the `thakin` campaign for Burmese independence headed by student leader Aung San – who led the ‘thirty comrades’ to receive military training with the Imperial Army. There Aung San formed the Burma Independence Army and marched with the Japanese into Burma in 1942. Rob examines Aung San as a “great man” of history and focuses on the authenticity of his nationalist quest. Aung San was wildly popular in Burma but was assassinated by a political rival in 1947 – less than a year before his country achieved independence. The country saw a decade of democracy before General Ne Win – one of Aung San`s thirty comrades – seized control of Burma and initiated decades of military rule. Rob looks at WW2`s legacy of fragmentation in the country – the fault of colonialism or something more fundamental about Burma?

1. Dr Robert Lyman | Sampan Travel

2. The Konbaung Empire (1752-1885), for all its failings, was nevertheless Burman: it was united, purposeful and
focused around the monarchy, supported by Buddhist monks who held power in every village inthe land. Burma was,
unlike India, a nation with a strong sense of self and a clear hierarchy of power with a tight relationship between
monarchyandBuddhism.
The arrival of the British was a national humiliation. The king was sent into exile. When trouble occurred, it was partly
becausethecolonial governmentbegantoremovethesecularpowerofthereligious.
Villages had to appoint a headman, separate and distinct to the monks. Land titles, payment of taxes to the British,
recordsofbirthsanddeathsand theintroductionofcensuswereallestablished.
Buddhist monks argued amongst the population these changes were ‘un-Burmese’. Even public healthcare was
denounced as un-Burmese and became a weapon in the armoury of the Buddhist monks in their battle to regain
power.
Dr Robert Lyman | Sampan Travel
The arrival of the British

3. Uprising
The first major organised armed rebellion occurred between 1930 and 1932 and was called
The Hsaya Rebellion. The former monk Hsaya San sparked a rebellion by mobilising Bamar
peasantsusingthepretextofBritishdisrespecttowardsBuddhism.
This was followed by Dohbama Asiayone (‘We Burman Association’). A reassertion of a
Buddhist-dominated Konbaung culture but with a mixture of Marxist/socialist and
aristocratic imperatives – strange bedfellows. The General Secretary from October 1938 to
August1940wasa studentactivist,AungSan
On 18 January 1939 the Dobama Asiayone declared its intention to use force in order to
overturn the government. The following month, Aung San proposed a strategy of pursuing
Burmese independence by staging countrywide strikes, anti-tax drives and guerrilla
insurgency.
Dr Robert Lyman | Sampan Travel

4. The accidental tourist
With a reward of 500 rupees on his head Aung San’s escaped Burma for China with his
Dobama colleague Hla Myaing. They were intercepted by a Japanese agent who convinced
them to go to Japan instead. The pair left for Tokyo via Taiwan and arrived in Japan on 27
September1940.
In Tokyo Aung San learned Japanese and developed his brand of political ideology. At the
time he wrote that he was opposed to Western individualism and that he intended to create
anauthoritarianstatemodelled onJapanwith"onestate,oneparty,[and]oneleader".
In February 1941 the organisation Minami Kikan had been formed to support Burmese
resistance groups and to close the Burma Road to China. Aung San, Hla Myaing and 28
others– The ThirtyComrades– subsequentlyreceivedmilitarytraininginJapan.
Dr Robert Lyman | Sampan Travel

5. On 7 December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and Britain. On 28 December, at a ceremony in Bangkok,
the Burma Independence Army (BIA) was officially formed. The Thirty Comrades, as well as Colonel Suzuki, had their
blood drawn from their arms in syringes, then poured into a silver bowl and mixed with liquor from which each of
themdrankpledging"eternalloyalty"amongthemselvesandtothecauseofBurmeseindependence.
The BIA was assigned to participate in the invasion of Burma in January 1942, initially as intelligence-gatherers,
saboteurs and foragers. As they entered Burma, the BIA gained support from the civilian population and were
bolstered by many Bamar volunteers. By the time the Japanese reached Rangoon on 8 March, the BIA numbered
10,000-12,000,andeventuallyexpandedtobetween18,000and23,000.
Throughout the invasion, the swelling numbers of the BIA were involved in attacks on minority populations and
preyed on Indian refugees fleeing from the Japanese. Elements of the BIA in Irrawaddy destroyed 400 Karen villages
witha deathtollreaching1,800.
Dr Robert Lyman | Sampan Travel
Return to Burma

6. ”[We]thoughtthatiftheJapaneseinvadedBurma,theBritishwouldbelockedina
bitterfightontheborders,andwecouldriseanddeclareourindependence…It
maybeeasynowtobewiseaftertheevent,andridiculeourtactics,but atthat
timeBritishpowerwasgrosslyover-estimated,andtheJapaneseweregrossly
under-estimated...Wewantedtoplaysafe,andavoidrisks.Thatwas[why] we
associatedwiththeJapanese,notbecausewewereFascists, butbecauseto
someextentwerenaiveandtimid."
Dr Robert Lyman | Sampan Travel

7. Strategic realignment
With Burma captured, the Japanese refused to accept the idea of a BIA-run government. The Japanese
createdcivil organisationsdesignedtoguide Burmatowardpuppetstatestatus.
After a year of occupation, on 1 August 1943, the newly created State of Burma was granted nominal
independence by Japan. Aung San became Minister of Defence and Bo Ne Win (who would much later
become the dictator of Burma after World War II) became Commander-in-Chief of the expanded Burma
NationalArmy(BNA).
Aung San soon became disillusioned about Japanese promises of true independence and of Japan's ability
to win the war. In late March 1945, the BNA paraded in Rangoon and marched out ostensibly to take part
in the battles thenraging inCentral Burma. Instead, on 27 March,they openly declared war onthe Japanese
androseupin acountry-widerebellion.
Dr Robert Lyman | Sampan Travel

8. Dr Robert Lyman | Sampan Travel
After Allied victory in WW2, the issue now for the British was whether to rebuild the past or to create the
future. Prime Minister Attlee recognised the need for the future. Independence was inevitable. There was no
rationaleforimperialisminBurma.
Aung San travelled to London and made the statement on the BBC: "The demand of our people is complete
independence. … We want also the peoples of what is called the frontier areas to have the same freedoms
withussimultaneouslyandjoinhandswithus.”
The BBC described him as the man that would lead independent Burma. However it wasn’t to be. On 19 July
1947, U Saw, a conservative pre-war Prime Minister of Burma, engineered the assassination of Aung San and
severalmembersofhiscabinet includinghis eldestbrotherBa Win,while meetingin theSecretariat.
U Nu was asked to form a cabinet, and he presided over Burmese independence instituted under the Burma
IndependenceAct1947on4January1948.
Post-war

9. Although incredibly popular amongst the Bamar, Aung San is a divisive figure in
Myanmartoday.
Statues of him can be seen in almost all central Burmese towns in Myanmar. The
erection of his statue under the Aung San Suu Kyi`s National League for Democracy
administration in ethnic areas (instead of statues of ethnic heroes and leaders) has been
controversial. This picture is from Loikaw, capital of Kayah (Karenni) State, where Aung
San`s statue has been subject to repeated vandalism. And the perpetrators severely
punished.
Aung San was undoubtedly a `great man of history’. His capacity to unite Myanmar was
untested. Is the failure to achieve political stability without authoritarianism since 1948
the fault of colonialism or something more fundamental about Burma’s national make
up? Continuedinparts2 and3.
Photosource:Frontier
Dr Robert Lyman | Sampan Travel
Legacy of fragmentation