Far East Kingdoms

Colonial Burma (British Empire)
AD 1886 - 1948

Burma / Myanmar All Modern States Cambodia China East Asia Laos Oceania Thailand Vietnam

Burma became a province of British India, with territory captured by Siam in the 1780s now being returned. Post-war independence followed in 1948.

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(Information by Peter Kessler and John De Cleene, with additional information from Strange Parallels: Southeast Asia in Global Context, c.800-1830, Volume 1, Victor B Lieberman (2003), from Early civilizations of Southeast Asia, Dougald J W O'Reilly (2007), from Mental Culture in Burmese Crisis Politics: Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy, Gustaaf Houtman (1999), from The River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma, Myint-U Thant (Faber and Faber, 2008), and from External Links: Myanmar's Royal Legacy (The Diplomat), and Gov.UK, and South China Morning Post, and Aung San Suu Kyi's party returns to power in Myanmar (The Guardian), and Aung San Suu Kyi calls for Myanmar protests in wake of coup (The Guardian), and Prosecute Myanmar for alleged Rohingya crimes (The Guardian), and Myanmar (World Statesmen), and Myanmar junta extends state of emergency (The Guardian).)

1886 - 1916

Exiled last king of Burma.

1903

The Akha establish their first hill tribe village in Thailand, in the Phaya Phrai region near the border with a Burma which is now a province of British India.

1916 - 1948

Daughter. Head of the royal family (to 1956).

1937

Britain separates the lieutenant-governorship of Burma from India and makes it a crown colony. It is now administered by the Burma Office under the Secretary of State for India and Burma. An outspoken advocate for independence, Ba Maw becomes Burma's first premier and prime minister.

1942

Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, Britain had been openly supplying China in its fight against Japanese occupation. Now Japan launches its own operation to capture Burma, using its puppet formation, the 'Burma Independence Army' which includes founding recruit Aung San. The Japanese military invasion is launched in January 1942, and the country is captured from the low-key British forces by the spring.

1943

In August 1943 Ba Maw becomes premier of a Burma which has been guaranteed nominal independence by Japan. Aung San becomes his Minister of Defence and commander-in-chief of the renamed Burma National Army (BNA). Despite this show of democracy, the country remains under firm Japanese control and the Burmese people soon begin to feel more oppressed than ever.

1945

Following long-running talks with the Britain, the Burmese launch a joint uprising against Japanese dominance, with British forces supplying weaponry and support. Together they drive the Japanese out of southern Burma and form a civilian government and new army from many of the BNA recruits. Ostensibly, for now, British colonial rule remains the principle authority in the country, but everyone knows that this is a short-term solution to the potential chaos which threatens to engulf Burma.

1947

In a sign of things to come, Aung San is assassinated by political rivals on 19 July 1947. The attack itself is undertaken by a jeep-load of armed gunmen who burst into the secretariat building and spray him with sten gun bullets. Only three people in a room of at least eleven survive the attack.

Aung San is shown here in uniform on a visit to 10 Downing Street in London in his role as vice-president of Burma in 1947, shortly before he was assassinated in Burma

1948 - 1949

Burma is granted official independence from British rule as the 'Union of Burma'. Hopes of a restoration of the monarchy are snuffed out when the current male claimant, the eldest son of Myat Phaya, is killed in mysterious circumstances.

Within a year the newly-independent Burmese government finds itself locked in civil war with the Red Flag Communists and the White Flag Communists. Another group of communists, the Revolutionary Burma Army, also joins the fray. The situation stabilises somewhat into the 1950s.