Page 32 - myanmar

SPOTLIGHT ON
HISTORY
The people of modern-day Myanmar have been through decades of uncertainty and unrest. Several generations have grown up under military rule, and before that came wartime occupation and colonial British administration. Now, the country is embarking on a new era in its history.
EARLY HISTORY
(1057 – 1823)
The first unified state in what is now Myanmar was founded in 1057 by King Anawrahta. Theravada Buddhism was adopted and the country was ruled from Pagan, in the north. Mongols led by Kublai Khan conquered Pagan about 200 years later, and when they left in the mid-14th century, the country had been broken up into small kingdoms. It was not until 1531 that these kingdoms were unified again, with Portuguese help, as Burma. Burma fought a series of wars with Siam (now Thailand) and China in the early 1800s.
COLONIAL ERA (1824 – 1941)
The first Anglo-Burmese war ended with the Treaty of Yandabo, which involved Burma ceding to British India the Arakan coastal strip. After the second Anglo-Burmese war, in 1852, Britain annexed lower Burma, including the capital Rangoon (now Yangon). Mandalay was taken later, and in 1886 Burma became a province of British India. In 1937, Burma was separated from India and became a crown colony. Many remnants of British rule still remain in present-day Myanmar – much of the architecture in the capital reflects its colonial past. Curiously, Myanmar is one of the few former British colonies in which motorists no longer drive on the left side of the road – the decision was made to switch to the right-hand side in 1970 – but most vehicles on the roads are made for left-side driving.
ROUTE TO INDEPENDENCE (1942 - 1961)
With World War II spreading beyond Europe, Japan invaded and occupied Burma in 1942. The occupying forces fostered and trained the Burma Independence Army, which later transformed itself into the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League and resisted Japanese rule. The League was led by Aung San – father of Aung San Suu Kyi – who became leader of the interim government when Britain and the AFPFL liberated Burma from Japanese occupation. Aung San and six members of his government were assassinated in 1947
by political opponents. U Nu, who had served
as foreign minister during the occupation years, became the country’s first prime minister when Burma declared independence a year later.
MILITARY TAKEOVER (1962 - 1986)
U Nu won an election in 1960 but his promotion of Buddhism as the state religion angered the military, led by General Ne Win, and in 1960 U Nu was ousted by a military coup and a one-party, military- led state was established. The “Burmese way to socialism” was gradually introduced, which in the coming decade meant nationalizing the economy, banning independent newspapers and drawing up a new constitution. In 1982, a law effectively barred people of non-indigenous background from holding public office by making them “associate citizens”.
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